Is jewish an ethnicity?

[Andria]

Judaism is a religion but being jewish is also an ethnicity. You can practice judaism but you would only be spiritually jewish. Technicially jewish people are not allowed to marry outside of their race, which would be a part of their religion. But increasingly now it is more common to do so. Historically jews have been persecuted based on race/ethnicity. Also according to jewish belief it started out as an ethnicity first and then became a religion because they are Gods chosen people. Besides i have been told by all my instructors that it is a relgion and an ethnicity. But if someone were to trace it idk.

[H]

Jews are a people, a tribe, with common ancestors, not a religion.

[narrowpancake572]

Judaism is a religion. People misunderstand this all the time, including people who are Jewish but aren't actively involved in the religion.

The deal breaker in Judaism is practicing another religion and/or worshiping another god/god-concept. So a Jew who isn't involved in Judaism will still be considered Jewish. This is different from Christianity of course, but many people still persist in using Christianity as a model for other religions.

If you want to use a model, citizenship is better. Judaism isn't a matter of blood or ethnicity. There are Jews of every race, and nearly every ethnicity on the planet. It's a religion.

[Kevin7]

Most Jews in the world come from ethnic groups with a common origin in Israel such as Ashkenazim and Sephardim.Jews can be of any race or ethnic group.Judaism fully accepts converts

[Sophia]

i took a history class on this and there is a lot of confusion about this. historically, jewish people were considered an ethnic group with no home country, which was the catalyst for the zionist movement. there are people of many different ethnic backgrounds who are jewish today, but anybody who says there is no jewish ethnicity is misinformed.

[Feivel]

No. It is a religion.

I am Jewish. That is my religion. My ethnicity is Russian, Lithuanian, Czech, Ukrainian, Polish, Egyptian, etc. My skin color is beige.

My friends are all Jewish (Orthodox actually) and of them I have a black friend (African and Morrocon), an Irish friend (Irish ethnicity all the way), a guy who is of Chinese descent. I mean, the grandson of either Sitting Bull or Geronimo (can't remember which) is a Jewish American Indian. You can convert into a religion. I cannot ever be Hispanic or black. I will never be a Hopi Indian nor will I ever be a member of the Arctic Sami tribe but they can all convert and be Jewish.

Part of the problem is that sociologists for so long called Judaism an "ethno religion". That is not quite accurate. Many of us may have roots in the Middle East but those who do not are no less Jewish. Jewish LAW says if you are born to a Jewish mother you are Jewish. That is a law about who we recognize as a Jew. Either born to a Jewish mother or converted. That has nothing to do with secular law or who our ethnicity is. It is who we see as a Jew and who we see as having an obligation to Torah.

I do not add this to my ethnicity. If some do, I guess that is something they feel the need to do but I honestly do not know why.