jewish or not

[kahanewarrior]

i have always wondered if i am jewish or not
here is my profile
-my mother is jewish
-i was not circumssised at birth
-i did not have a bar mitsvah
-i have been going to temple each friday and saturday for 2 years now

am i jewish?

[decimos]

Rabbi can best respond here.

[kahaneloyalist]

If your mother is JEwish you are Jewish

[Dexter]

Yes you are Jewish .
But if you want to be "more' Jewish, you should do circumcision in operation or something .

[Lubab]

You're as Jewish as the greatest Rabbi. 


I recommend finding a Chabad House nearby using "locate a center" (chabad.org) so you can start expressing your Jewishness on the outside too!

[Tzvi Ben Roshel1]

you should try to investigate your background,
and lubab-not true. one who is mihalell Shab-h + no brit milah doest have the signs of being Jewish. (+ Tefillin).

[kahaneloyalist]

Perphaps not the signs but still a Jew is a Jew, we must not be disbariging towards Jews who love the Jewish people and who may not have the same background as us

[MarZutra]

I believe firmly that you should go to dr. and ask for circumcision.  A friend of mine converted when he was 36 and had it done.  They give you meds to keep you "comfortable" so it heals without pain.  That is the first thing. But if you are from a Jewish mother, you are Jewish.  I'd research your family's history...especially that on your mother's side.  Was your grandmother....great grandmother etc. Jewish?

The Bris is an essential formality that can be embraced...  That would be the closing of any questions....  As well, if you have ANY questions whatsoever, you can go to an Orthodox Synagogue and ask the Rabbi.  You can also, for education and solidification sake, go through the conversion yourself...  That way there will be no questions..period end full stop..

[Tzvi Ben Roshel1]

actually you should first go to a Torah true Rabbi and he will advise you on your Brit Milah. Just going to a doctor, or for example the people who have their kids get a brit by a random doctor who doesnt know Jewish law are making a big mistake.

[Lubab]

Tzvi is right. Go to an Orthodox Rabbi and do it the Jewish way.  It's not something you'll want to have to do twice.

Many people are already circumscised by the doctors (as you seemed to imply you were) in which case the procedure neccesary for a Jewish bris is not a big deal at all.

He may not have the "signs" of a Jew but that can easily be fixed. He's a Jew just the same.

[Ehud]

You're as much of a Jew as I am (Jewish mother) or anyone else here, you are Jewish period.  You should consider getting circumcised though.  My friend did it when he was 17 and he said it wasn't painful at all and it healed really quickly.  It's supposed to be easier to have the procedure done when you're older, so there should absolutely no problem in that regard. 

Also, as Mel Brooks said in Robin Hood: Men in Tights "the ladies love it!" (not that that should be a reason to get one)

[Tzvi Ben Roshel1]

actually it hurts more when your older (but dont let me discourage you), but it changed maybe becuase of the drugs they might give you before hand (maybe put you to sleep- I dont really know).

[MarZutra]

actually it hurts more when your older (but dont let me discourage you), but it changed maybe becuase of the drugs they might give you before hand (maybe put you to sleep- I dont really know).

Actually, my friend had this done when he was 35 years old when he converted and the proceedure was painless.  He said that, like you, thanks to the medication it was very easy.  In a few weeks he was back to....blessed....normal..   

[kahanewarrior]

thanks for the advice guys i think im gonna contact my rabbi to ask him about my position but i abide by the rulers of :"if your mother is jewish you are jewish"

[MarZutra]

Gen 17:13 my friend...  I'm not sure which comes first the "mother" or the Brit Milah.  According to Jewish law, ritual circumcision of male children is a commandment from God that Jews are obligated to follow, and is only postponed or abrogated in the case of threat to the life or health of the child. Jews do not believe that non-Jews are obligated to follow this commandment. Many Christians have the same understanding of this issue (i.e., that it is a law intended for Jews, but not for Christians). See also Noahide laws....

[kahanewarrior]

the french conservative rabbis do not practice circumsicion on french jewish children
only in orthodoxe jewish synagogues do they do that
im conservative so i was not circumsised at birth.
i hate when people say that i should go throgh an operation
i eat kosher i pray on friday and yet i am treated like a fake jew by most orthodoxe jews when i really
do belive in the principles of judaism

[MarZutra]

the french conservative rabbis do not practice circumsicion on french jewish children
only in orthodoxe jewish synagogues do they do that
im conservative so i was not circumsised at birth.
i hate when people say that i should go throgh an operation
i eat kosher i pray on friday and yet i am treated like a fake jew by most orthodoxe jews when i really
do belive in the principles of judaism

That is because "Conservative" Judaism and Deformed "Judaism" have the same starting point, Abraham Geiger and those that later formed the Communist Bund...

[KalmanBenMenachem]

Hi,

I am not a rabbi, but Chaim said on this week's Q&A what I have always understood to be the definition of "Who is a Jew?" under halacha (Jewish law). 

1.  Born of a Jewish mother
2.  Converted according to halacha (i.e., Orthodox conversion)

You would appear to be Jewish under # 1 above.

[Tzvi Ben Roshel1]

even option #1 is tricky (at least for the Syrian Sefardim as I have heard) someone who only has a Jewish mother I believe isnt necessarily encouraged to be Jewish and isnt accpeted in some schools (in order to show that the act his mother did was dispicable).

[mord]

I know an orthodox urologist who does circumcissions A [Bris] thats probably the best less pain he can give medication a mohel can'nt

[Tzvi Ben Roshel1]

even option #1 is tricky (at least for the Syrian Sefardim as I have heard) someone who only has a Jewish mother I believe isnt necessarily encouraged to be Jewish and isnt accpeted in some schools (in order to show that the act his mother did was dispicable).

May a Yeshiva Accept a Child Born to a Jewish Mother and Non-Jewish Father? 
   
The question was posed to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Russia-New York, 1895-1986) whether a Yeshiva may accept a child born to a mixed marriage, where the mother is Jewish but the father is not. According to Halacha, the child's status in such a case follows the mother, and therefore the child is a full-fledged Jew. But is there any reason for a Yeshiva to refuse to accept such a child, or for a congregation not to allow this child to observe his Bar Mitzva in their synagogue?

Rabbi Feinstein ruled (Iggerot Moshe, O.C. 2:73) that a Yeshiva should not accept a child born to a mixed marriage, and a congregation should not agree to host the Bar Mitzva celebration of such a child. Accepting the child in the Yeshiva or hosting his Bar Mitzva celebration may easily be misconstrued as implicit approval of his parents' lifestyle. In order to firmly establish the Torah's strict opposition to intermarriage, Yeshivot should not accept children from mixed marriages, and synagogues should not host Bar Mitzva celebrations of such children.

Needless to say, if the mother performs Teshuva, then clearly the Yeshiva or synagogue should welcome the child, even though he had been born to a non-jewish father. It should be noted that certain communities (for example the Syrian Sephardic Community in Brooklyn New York) are strict in all these situations no to accept.

http://dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=1355&txtSearch=non-jewish%20father

[Mstislav]

even option #1 is tricky (at least for the Syrian Sefardim as I have heard) someone who only has a Jewish mother I believe isnt necessarily encouraged to be Jewish and isnt accpeted in some schools (in order to show that the act his mother did was dispicable).

May a Yeshiva Accept a Child Born to a Jewish Mother and Non-Jewish Father? 
   
The question was posed to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Russia-New York, 1895-1986) whether a Yeshiva may accept a child born to a mixed marriage, where the mother is Jewish but the father is not. According to Halacha, the child's status in such a case follows the mother, and therefore the child is a full-fledged Jew. But is there any reason for a Yeshiva to refuse to accept such a child, or for a congregation not to allow this child to observe his Bar Mitzva in their synagogue?

Rabbi Feinstein ruled (Iggerot Moshe, O.C. 2:73) that a Yeshiva should not accept a child born to a mixed marriage, and a congregation should not agree to host the Bar Mitzva celebration of such a child. Accepting the child in the Yeshiva or hosting his Bar Mitzva celebration may easily be misconstrued as implicit approval of his parents' lifestyle. In order to firmly establish the Torah's strict opposition to intermarriage, Yeshivot should not accept children from mixed marriages, and synagogues should not host Bar Mitzva celebrations of such children.

Needless to say, if the mother performs Teshuva, then clearly the Yeshiva or synagogue should welcome the child, even though he had been born to a non-jewish father. It should be noted that certain communities (for example the Syrian Sephardic Community in Brooklyn New York) are strict in all these situations not to accept.

http://dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=1355&txtSearch=non-jewish%20father

What if the father makes a sincere conversion to Judaism either before or after marriage, before or after the birth of any children?

[Tzvi Ben Roshel1]

even option #1 is tricky (at least for the Syrian Sefardim as I have heard) someone who only has a Jewish mother I believe isnt necessarily encouraged to be Jewish and isnt accpeted in some schools (in order to show that the act his mother did was dispicable).

May a Yeshiva Accept a Child Born to a Jewish Mother and Non-Jewish Father? 
   
The question was posed to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Russia-New York, 1895-1986) whether a Yeshiva may accept a child born to a mixed marriage, where the mother is Jewish but the father is not. According to Halacha, the child's status in such a case follows the mother, and therefore the child is a full-fledged Jew. But is there any reason for a Yeshiva to refuse to accept such a child, or for a congregation not to allow this child to observe his Bar Mitzva in their synagogue?

Rabbi Feinstein ruled (Iggerot Moshe, O.C. 2:73) that a Yeshiva should not accept a child born to a mixed marriage, and a congregation should not agree to host the Bar Mitzva celebration of such a child. Accepting the child in the Yeshiva or hosting his Bar Mitzva celebration may easily be misconstrued as implicit approval of his parents' lifestyle. In order to firmly establish the Torah's strict opposition to intermarriage, Yeshivot should not accept children from mixed marriages, and synagogues should not host Bar Mitzva celebrations of such children.

Needless to say, if the mother performs Teshuva, then clearly the Yeshiva or synagogue should welcome the child, even though he had been born to a non-jewish father. It should be noted that certain communities (for example the Syrian Sephardic Community in Brooklyn New York) are strict in all these situations not to accept.

http://dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=1355&txtSearch=non-jewish%20father

What if the father makes a sincere conversion to Judaism either before or after marriage, before or after the birth of any children?

I dont know, but its sad that it has come to this point where we are asking these questions.

[Mstislav]

I dont know, but its sad that it has come to this point where we are asking these questions.

It is also sad that the child is shunned from the Jewish community although s/he is Jewish through the mother's side or by conversion. Is it not the goal to give the children Jewish upbringings?

[q_q_]

Gen 17:13 my friend...  I'm not sure which comes first the "mother" or the Brit Milah. 

fairly obvious!!
It`s not exactly chicken or egg!

Assuming his mother is jewish, then he is.   He should consult ****an orthodox rabbi***  chabad are a good idea they are all over the place.  Do not fall into the reform/liberal/conservative/reconstructionist trap.

I personally have a dozen rabbis that I like, and  one or two that I don`t like. You can "shop around", but stay within  Orthodox.  The rest are a scam, and do not believe the Torah is divinely revealed. One wonders why they the reform call themselves rabbis, but that`s another story. Any Orthodox rabbi, especially Rabbi Kahane was highly critical of reform/conservative/..