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Where in the bible is it recorded that if the mother is Jewish the child is Jewish?
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Matrilineal descent as the determiner of Jewish identity isn't explicitly a biblical law, it is a rabbinic law (codified later by rabbis). However, in the Torah God assures Abraham that the covenant that He established with Abraham will pass to Sarah's son. So this is a precedent for it, if not exactly a commandment. See Genesis 17, esp. 17:19 Then God said [to Abraham] "... your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael [Abraham's son with his concubine Hagar], I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
Behind matrilineal descent are some commonsense reasons. In ancient times wars often resulted in Jewish women being raped or abducted by non-Jewish males. Thus, in order to ensure the survival of the Jewish people, these women's children had to be considered Jews; otherwise they would be whatever the fathers were. Another reason why Jewish identity is traced through the mother is aptly summarized in the modern expression "Mama's baby is Papa's maybe." While sometimes the paternity of a child may be in doubt, we always know who the mother is. (At least this was so in ancient times, pre-DNA.) Therefore, it made sense to trace Jewish identity from the mother.
Answer:
The Tanach (Jewish Bible) doesn't specifically state that Jewish lineage is through the mother. However, there are several passages where it is understood that the child of a non-Jewish woman and a Jewish man is not a Jew. These passages form the basis for matrilineal descent.
Ezra 10:2-3:
And Shechaniah, the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, raised his voice and said to Ezra, "We have betrayed our God, and we have taken in foreign wives of the peoples of the land, but now there is hope for Israel concerning this. And now, let us make a covenant with our God to cast out all the wives and their offspring, by the counsel of the Lord and those who hasten to [perform] the commandment of our God, and according to the Law it shall be done.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4
You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, and you shall not take his daughter for your son. For he will turn away your son from following Me, and they will worship the gods of others, and the wrath of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you.
Leviticus 24:10 (This is actually talking about the son of a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man being a part of the Jewish community)
Now, the son of an Israelite woman and he was the son of an Egyptian man went out among the children of Israel, and they quarreled in the camp this son of the Israelite woman, and an Israelite man.
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoThis law (Talmud, Kidushin 68b), is indicated by several verses. Its source is not the Talmud itself, but rather the much older oral tradition, as ancient as the Torah itself, which is quotedin the Talmud. One such verse is Deuteronomy 7:4 (see Rashi commentary, ibid).
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Why does a Jewish mother determine your ethnicity if the father is not what if he black or hispanic or you decide your own religion?
As per Jewish law, as recorded in the Bible, the mother's religion determines the child's religion at birth. If the mother is Jewish then the child is Jewish, irrelevant of who the father is. If the mother is not Jewish then the child isn't Jewish, no matter who the father is. Non-Jews can always convert to Judaism if they really want to. Only a Jewish Beth Din can do conversions. Ethnicity plays no role in Judaism. Jews of all skin color are equal.
Is Judaism passed on at birth?
According to Jewish law (which is based on the 613 commandments which G-d communicated to Moses and the Jewish people, and which are recorded in the first five books of the Bible), the child of a Jewish mother is Jewish. The only other path to Judaism is a valid orthodox conversion.
Are you Jewish if your mother's mother was Jewish?
Yes. According to all sects of Judaism, a child is Jewish if the child's mother is Jewish.
Were Jewish children already Jewish if there parent was Jewish?
A child is born Jewish if the child's mother is Jewish.
Is a child that is born to Jewish parents a Jew?
Yes. In fact, a child born to a Jewish mother is a Jewish child.
How does someone get called to the Torah when the mother is Jewish and the father is not?
In Judaism, if the mother is Jewish, the child is Jewish.
What if one parent is Jewish?
According to halacha (Jewish law), if the mother is Jewish the child is Jewish. If the father is Jewish, the child is not Jewish.
Which parent has to be Jewish in order for a child to be Jewish?
The mother.
Why does having a Jewish mom make the child Jewish and not just having a Jewish father?
Because the child would at least get part of the Jewishness. the child wouldn't be 100% Jewish but they would still be considered somewhat half. __________ A child born to a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man is 100% Jewish. Jewish law states that religion is through the mother because of a number of statements in the Tanach (Jewish Bible). Deuteronomy 7:1-5 Leviticus 24:10 Ezra 10:2-3
What happens in circumcision for child born to Jewish mother and Christian father?
In Jewish Law, the baby is Jewish because of the mother, so he can have the ritual circumcision.
Why is a son whose mother only is Jewish is not considered Jewish?
If you are asking about the child of a Jewish parent and a non-Jewish parent, there are three possibilities:1. In traditional Judaism: a son or daughter is considered Jewish only if the mother is Jewish. The religion of the father does not matter. If the mother is not Jewish, then the child is not Jewish.2. In Reform Judaism (North America) and Liberal Judaism (U.K.): a child is considered Jewish if either parent is Jewish and the child is raised Jewish.3. In the Torah, in ancient times, a child was only considered Jewish if the father was Jewish. This practice ceased by the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and is not followed today by any branch of Judaism.
Can a Jewish man and a non-Jewish woman have a happy marriage?
Yes, but Judaism says that the faith of the child depends on the mother. If she's not Jewish, but wants her child raised Jewish, he or she has to convert after birth.
