UncleCharlie said:
I'm sure you are aware that in the Jewish religion, most believe you are or are not a Jew based on the religion of your mother, so if she is not Jewish, then you are not considered a Jew at all and if the requirement for a male role in Funny Girl called for a Jewish actor to play it, then you and your 100% Ashkenazi Jew paternal genetic material would not qualify. Ask any Rabbi. Either you are or you aren't. There's no 50% this and 30% that. And that's based on the beliefs you follow, not your DNA test results.
In point of fact, most of the world's Jewish population, an estimated 75-80% are descended from Ashkenazi Jews, who largely originated in the Germanic parts of ancient Europe and then migrated throughout the continent. A large part of the remainder are Sephardic Jews from Spain and the Iberian Peninsula. Because Jews, especially in Europe, suffered from isolation and persecution for so many centuries, they tended to stay together in a very tightknit community and that's the basis on which DNA testing operates, the same genetic markers from tightly knit families and genetic predispositions to certain diseases like Tay-Sachs and the knowledge that those communities were practicing Ashkenazi Jews allows a DNA test to proclaim you as descending from that community. There are no genetic markers for "Jew", only markers that show you descended from closely knit communities that were known to be practicing Jews.
And the DNA data is much less clear for Sephardic Jews for whom DNA tests have not been shown to be nearly as accurate in predicting whether someone descended from practicing Jews. The use of DNA to confirm someone's Jewishness is a very controversial topic and not at all a settled issue as you dismissively tried to imply. The use of DNA to try to confirm whether someone descended from families known to be Jewish 200 or 300 years ago does not in any way provide any meaningful insight as the whether a distant descendent considers themselves Jewish in 2022 which was the point of the conversation about hiring a Jewish actress to play Fanny Brice. If someone in 2022 doesn't go to Temple regularly if at all, doesn't keep kosher doesn't follow any of the practices and traditions that distinguishes those that practice Judaism from other religions, doesn't adhere to a commonly accepted set of religious beliefs, are they still a Jew? In 2022 with migration, extensive intermarriage and less adherence to ancient customs, what it means to be a Jew in 2022 is an active discussion topic. The use of DNA testing to determine Jewishness is controversial and not al all uniformly accepted as in any way meaningful. The best definition of whether someone is a Jew in 2022 is what they believe and what they practice, not what their DNA test shows.
Yeah, i'm quite familiar with the halacha of judaism being passed via maternal line, and i'm not sure what that has to do with anything, unless you are saying (i) i disagree with the way jews define who is a jew, AND (ii) i reject the way science determines jewish ethnicity, and (iii) insist instead on my own "best" definition which is "do you practice judaism in some form"
in other words, youre simply declaring there is no ethnic/genetic component to it even as you share articles which confirm that there 100% is. are you suggesting the way DNA demonstrates my Jewish heritage is different than the way it identifies my Greek heritage or my African heritage? are those "groupings" somehow more significant? its a very modern form of bigotry (internalized by jewish people) to deny that non-practicing jews arent really jewish bc judaism is only a religion-- ie, an aetheist Jew is...what? how dare you? and to do this in the face of science is real chutzpah.
cast whoever you want in whatever you want. believe/practice however you want. but to wipe away the ethnic component (by sharing articles about the creepiness of "testing for jewish blood"--which has nothing to do with this conversation)... just ignorance on top of ignorance.
"I think the best definition of what a Jew is not what rabbis or scientists say, i know better!" would be pretty much the most ridiculous thing ive read here today but then, of course, theres the ongoing assault on Beanie to contend with, led by someone who apparently doesnt know who Myles Frost is as she rails on about Beanie across the street.
.jpg?format=auto&width=300)
