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Who is born a Jew?


The question of who is born a Jew has been much debated. We consider first the views of Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism and Karaite Judaism.

Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism considers that according to the Torah a person is born a Jew only if that person's Mother is Jewish. On the other hand, Karaite Judaism considers that according to the Torah a person is born a Jew only if that person's Father is Jewish.

We will examine the two readings in the Pentateuch that imply a status of the child of Israelite intermarriage to a non-Israelite. We will examine these two readings in light of the Rabbinical position as well as in light of the Karaite position. The two readings are: from Deuteronomy 7:3-4, and Leviticus 24:10-16.

Deuteronomy Chapter 7
1 When YHWH thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
2 and when YHWH thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them;
3 neither shalt thou make marriages with them: thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
4 For he will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of YHWH be kindled against you, and He will destroy thee quickly.

First, from Deuteronomy 7:3-4 "Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son, nor his daughter shall you take unto your son. For he will turn away your son from following Me, that you may serve other gods."

The first interpretation of this is as follows (we have added in brackets the interpretation of the text):
";Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son ["he" being the Canaanite man, and "his son" being the son of that Canaanite man], nor his daughter [again "he" being the Canaanite man, and "his daughter" being the daughter of that Canaanite man] shall you take unto your son ["you" being the Israelite to whom the Torah speaks to, and "your son" being the son of that Israelite]. For he ["he" being the Canaanite man] will turn away your son ["your son" being the son of the Israelite] from following Me, that you may serve other gods. " In this interpretation, the concern expressed in the Torah is that the Israelite's son is given in marriage to a pagan woman and the pagan woman's father will teach paganism. In this interpretation there is no implication being made on the status of any possible offspring between the mixed couple.

The second interpretation of this is as follows (we have added in brackets the interpretation of the text):
Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son ["he" being the Canaanite man, and "his son" being the son of that Canaanite man], nor his daughter [again "he" being the Canaanite man, and "his daughter" being the daughter of that Canaanite man] shall you take unto your son ["you" being the Israelite to whom the Torah speaks to, and "your son" being the son of that Israelite]. For he ["he" being the son of the Canaanite man] will turn away your son ["your son" being the grandson of the Israelite, i.e. the son of the daughter of the Israelite] from following Me, that you may serve other gods. So, in this interpretation, the concern expressed in the Torah is that the Israelite's daughter's son will be taught paganism (i.e. the Torah is concerned about that because the Israelite's daughter's son must be a Israelite).

A third interpretation of this is as follows (we have added in brackets the interpretation of the text):
Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son ["he" being the Canaanite man, and "his son" being the son of that Canaanite man], nor his daughter [again "he" being the Canaanite man, and "his daughter" being the daughter of that Canaanite man] shall you take unto your son ["you" being the Israelite to whom the Torah speaks to, and "your son" being the son of that Israelite]. For he ["he" being the Canaanite man] will turn away your son ["your son" being the grandson of the Israelite, regardless of whether its from Canaanite father-Israelite mother or vice versa] from following Me, that you may serve other gods. So, in this interpretation, the concern expressed in the Torah is that the Israelite's grandchildren will be taught paganism (i.e. the Torah is concerned about that because the grandchild is Israelite from either situation, Canaanite father with Israelite mother, or vice versa.)

A fourth interpretation of this is as follows (we have added in brackets the interpretation of the text):
Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son ["he" being the Canaanite man, and "his son" being the son of that Canaanite man], nor his daughter [again "he" being the Canaanite man, and "his daughter" being the daughter of that Canaanite man] shall you take unto your son ["you" being the Israelite to whom the Torah speaks to, and "your son" being the son of that Israelite]. For he ["he" being the son of the Israelite] will turn away your son ["your son" being the grandson of the Israelite] from following Me, that you may serve other gods. So, in this interpretation, the concern expressed in the Torah is that the Israelite's grandchildren will be taught paganism, where the son of the Israelite is swayed from God by his Canaanite wife's clan and accepts his Israelite son to be taught paganism.

The Rabbinical position is that of the second interpretation (that the implication is that child of the Israelite mother is Jewish; keep in mind that even with this interpretation, there is no explicit implication that the child of a Israelite father with Canaanite mother is or isn't Jewish).

The Karaite position is either that of the first interpretation (that there is no implication made) or fourth interpretation (that the implication is that the child of the Israelite father is Jewish; keep in mind that even with this interpretation, there is no explicit implication that the child of a Israelite mother with Canaanite father is or isn't Jewish). Furthermore the Karaite position will highlight the first phrase of this quote: "Neither shall you make marriages with them". Who is this speaking to? Certainly it is speaking at least to male Israelites, which means that there is a concern about males Israelites marrying pagans. Why? because the offspring must be Jewish. of course, one may easily argue that this is also speaking to female Israelites, in which case the concern is also that female Israelites should not marry pagans because the offspring must be also Jewish.

The third interpretation in not adopted as a position by either Karaites or Rabbanites. However many Bible translations incorporate this view. For example the NSRV translates this passage in English as: Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for that would turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods.

Leviticus Chapter 24
10 And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp.
11 And the son of the Israelitish woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him unto Moses. And his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.
12 And they put him in ward, that it might be declared unto them at the mouth of YHWH.
13 And YHWH spoke unto Moses, saying:
14 'Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying: Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
16 And he that blasphemeth the name of YHWH, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him; as well the stranger, as the home-born, when he blasphemeth the Name, shall be put to death.

Now, regarding Leviticus 24:10-16 "A man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian came out among the people of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a certain Israelite began fighting in the camp. The Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name in a curse. And they brought him to Moses - now, his mother's name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan - and they put him in custody, until the decision of the Lord should made clear to them. The Lord said to Moses, saying: Take the blasphemer outside the camp and let all who were within hearing lay their hands on his head, and let the whole congregation stone him. And speak to the people of Israel saying: anyone who curses God shall bear the sin. One who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name shall be put to death."

The Karaite interpretation is as follows:
a) Twice, the son of the mixed couple is referred to as "The Israelite womans's son", as opposed to the individual who he was fighting with, who is referred to simply as "a certain Israelite"). That must mean that the Israelite woman's son is not considered a Israelite. If he was, the entire passage wouldn't even bother discussing the fact that the person was a child of intermarriage. Instead, the passage would simply say that there were two Israelites that engaged in a fight, and then one of the blasphemed.
b) As if to stress the point, the reference at the end of the passage is made to the fact that "Aliens as well as citizens... shall be put to death", probably indicating that the "Israelite Woman's son" was considered a Egyptian (alien). Otherwise there would be no need to state that aliens too should be put to death for blasphemy.

The Rabbinical interpretation is that the passage says that the son of the Israelite woman "came out among the people of Israel", which must imply that he was "of the people of Israel". A rebuttal to this point is that "came out among the people of Israel" is similar or identical to the way in which resident aliens (Ger Toshav) are normally referred to (i.e. as aliens living among the people of Israel) and therefore just saying "came out among the people of Israel" could easily refer to a resident alien and does not imply "of the people of Israel".

The reader will need to assess for her/himself what is the best interpretation of the two passages. The fact that the Karaite position is for patrilineal descent, and the Orthodox Rabbinical position is for matrilineal descent, the result is that for the vast majority of children of intermarriage, one of these two Jewish institutions already accepts them as born Jewish (which institution depends on whether the person is a child of Jewish mother or Jewish father).

There is one small subset of children of intermarriage that will not fit either criteria: that is for a person with Jewish Maternal Grandfather, non-Jewish Maternal Grandmother, Jewish Paternal Grandmother, non-Jewish Paternal Grandfather. In this case the person is not considered Jewish-born by Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism (because the Mother is not Jewish, because the maternal grandmother is not Jewish) and is not considered Jewish-born by Karaite Judaism (because the Father is not Jewish, because the paternal grandfather is not Jewish).

Conversely, there is also a subset that is considered Jewish-born by both. That is for a person with Jewish Maternal Grandmother, non-Jewish Maternal Grandfather, Jewish Paternal Grandfather, non-Jewish Paternal Grandmother. In this case the person is considered Jewish-born by Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism (because the Mother is Jewish, because the maternal grandmother is Jewish) and is also considered Jewish-born by Karaite Judaism (because the Father is Jewish, because the paternal grandfather is Jewish).

In case the reader concludes that the Orthodox position is correct, and the reader is of Patrilineal descent but wishes to be Jewish (according to the Orthodox Rabbinical definition), there are many resources in Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism that can assist with conversion requests. Some of these are:
http://www.convertingtojudaism.com
http://www.conversion2judaism.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxconversiontojudaism/

In case the reader concludes that the Karaite position is correct, and the reader is of Matrilineal descent but wishes to be Jewish (according to the Karaite definition), the following resources are available:
http://www.kjuonline.com/FAQ.htm (website of Karaite Jewish university)
http://www.karaite-korner.org/conversion_faq.htm (Karaite corner website).

Interestingly, and correctly, the following specifies Orthodox support for the below.

In case the reader concludes that the Orthodox Rabbinical position is correct, and the reader is of Patrilineal descent and wishes to remain a non-Jew (from a Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism standpoint) but still wishes to honor and uphold the Torah as a non-Jewish descendant of Jewish intermarriage, there are resources also available:

http://www.bnainoach.com ("Children of Noah". Website for observants & friends of the Noahide covenant)
http://www.bnti.us/ (Bnai Noah Torah Institute website)
Also, this website http://www.half-jewish.org contains information about how Torah applies to Gentiles who descend from Intermarried Jews as well as information about other belief systems and their compatibility or incompatibility with Judaism.

I do not believe Karaites support the Noachide religion - need reference.

Both Karaite and Rabbinical Jews support a "Stranger that Sojourns" or "Ger". There seems to be slight differences in responsibility between someone considered a Ger and someone considered a Jew; however, the Ger is attempting to become a Jew. The Torah does not specify how long someone can be a Ger - it does, in fact, allow the Ger to decide when he/she would like to become a Jew. This does depend on the Jew to consider that person a Ger (understanding and following the commands of YHWH) - especially, since the children of Israel are commanded to prevent foreigners from attending the Passover.
Exodus Chapter 12
43 And YHWH said unto Moses and Aaron: 'This is the ordinance of the passover: there shall no alien eat thereof;
44 but every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.'
50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as YHWH commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
51 And it came to pass the selfsame day that YHWH did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Ezekiel Chapter 47
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord YHWH.

Likewise if the reader concludes that the Karaite position is correct, and the reader is of Matrilineal descent and wishes to remain a non-Jew (from a Karaite standpoint) but still wishes to honor and uphold the Torah as a non-Jewish descendant of Jewish intermarriage, the same resources mentioned above are applicable.

So far we have discussed the issue of "who is a born-Jew". In addition to Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism, there are three other Rabbinical Judaism denominations: Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist. Conservative Judaism accepts the same position as Orthodox Judaism. Reform Judaism has adopted the position that a person with one Jewish parent (whether mother or father) is considered Jewish if that person was raised as a Jew; and, conversely, that such a person is not considered Jewish if he/she was not raised as a Jew (regardless of whether the Jewish parent is the mother or the father). Finally, Reconstructionist Judaism generally recognizes as Jewish anyone of Jewish descent who was raised as a Jew or identifies with the Jewish people. It is not as concerned with scriptural / halachic interpretation, as much as it is concerned with providing peoplehood to all generations of Jews.

For those readers who are interested in learning more about, and possibly converting to Reform, Conservative, or Reconstructionist Judaism, there are a multitude of resources available. We list only a few:

http://www.mindspring.com/~brownstev/conversion.htm (Reconstructionist)
http://www.jrf.org/ (Reconstructionist)
http://urj.org (Reform)
http://www.liberaljudaism.org (Liberal Judaism, UK)
http://www.uscj.org (United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
http://www.convert.org
http://www.ujc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=32584
http://www.joi.org (The Jewish Outreach Institute - dedicated to creating a more open and welcoming Judaism)

The laws of inheritance are revealing as well. After a woman marries a Jewish man, she becomes part of the husband's tribe.

If the husband dies after having a son, the son receives the inheritance. If the husband dies after having a daughter but no sons, the daughter receives the inheritance on the condition she marries within her dead father's tribe. This prevents a tribe's inheritance from transferring from one tribe to the other.

If the husband dies childless, it becomes the duty of his brother to build his dead brother's legacy by taking his sister-in-law (a widow) as a wife and giving her a child in his dead brother's name... Should the brother refuse this duty, the widow disgraces him in front of the elders of the tribe. However, the disgraced brother still gets the dead husband's inheritance (Num 27). The widow, no longer a member of her dead husband's tribe, returns to the tribe of her youth (back to her father).

Seems pretty clear. If a Jewish woman marries a non-Jewish man, how are her children receiving the inheritance of the children of Israel? According to these verses, they do not.

The implications are profound. So, where are the tribes?
Numbers Chapter 27
8 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.
9 And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.
10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.
11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. And it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as YHWH commanded Moses.'

Numbers Chapter 36
8 And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers.
9 So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave each one to its own inheritance.'

Deuteronomy Chapter 25
5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad unto one not of his kin; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her.
6 And it shall be, that the first-born that she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that his name be not blotted out of Israel.
7 And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders, and say: 'My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother unto me.'
8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him; and if he stand, and say: 'I like not to take her';
9 then shall his brother's wife draw nigh unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say: 'So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.'
10 And his name shall be called in Israel The house of him that had his shoe loosed.

Leviticus Chapter 22
12 And if a priest's daughter be married unto a common man, she shall not eat of that which is set apart from the holy things.
13 But if a priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's bread; but there shall no common man eat thereof.

Another reference to the differences between Karaite and Rabbinical...

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew:
The origin of the rule that a person's Jewish status is determined in accordance with matrilineal descent is obscure. Traditional rabbis have pointed to Deuteronomy 7:3-4 and Ezra 10:3 as implicit sources,[2][3] while advocates of patrilineal descent point to Genesis 48:15-20 and Deuteronomy 10:15.[4]
Deuteronomy Chapter 7
1 When YHWH thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
2 and when YHWH thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them;
3 neither shalt thou make marriages with them: thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
4 For he will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of YHWH be kindled against you, and He will destroy thee quickly.

Ezra Chapter 10
2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra: 'We have broken faith with our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.
3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of YHWH, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
4 Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee; be of good courage, and do it.'
5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.
Genesis Chapter 48
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath been my shepherd all my life long unto this day,
16 the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.'
17 And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
18 And Joseph said unto his father: 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.'
19 And his father refused, and said: 'I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.'
20 And he blessed them that day, saying: 'By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.' And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Deuteronomy Chapter 10
14 Behold, unto YHWH thy God belongeth the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that therein is.
15 Only YHWH had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you, above all peoples, as it is this day.
16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.