How did you find that you are Jewish?

[momofsixbabes]

My girlfriend thinks I have Jewish roots. She, herself, is Jewish (her mom is Jewish). We share common ground in our love for the Torah and Jewish customs. I am now homeschooling my children, changing so much of the homeschool materials around to teach them about the Jewish customs. When I first found material to do this, I cried tears of joy. It was my heart captured. Anyway, she says that my heart being so focused and dedicated on the Jewish ways really confims it that God is calling his people back to him. This sounds strange to my ears. My husband's last name is Jobe. She says the e at the end was added after leaving Europe and coming to America to hide the Jewish background out of fear. I don't know much about that. My husband's family has given me some key names of decent but they don't even know much. They came from Germany. My family came from Chec., Ireland, and German. I know that the DNA can be tested for a particular preisthood. However, I am really curious. I am the only child in my family that has left the Roman Catholic church (my family became Catholic only three generations back). I am a Christian, believing in the Messiah of Jesus Christ. However, I don't know what to think of my girlfriend's words. They seem to keep coming up in my heart. I don't know if it is possible for me to find this out because my roots don't seem very traceable. I wouldn't know where to begin. I don't even know if I should investigate, but her words seem to have stirred up my heart.

[Moshe92]

You can't believe that Jesus is the messiah and be Jewish at the same time. I don't think you should bother looking into Judaism unless you become a noahide or a Jew.

Whether or not you have Jewish ancestors doesn't mean much since Judaism isn't a race.

[muman613]

There are two ways that you are Jewish...

A) Your mother was Jewish, either she was born of a Jewish mother or converted.

B) You converted.

There are no real records kept on who is Jewish and who is not. Generally you would have to investigate the places they came from, whether they were involved in the Jewish community. Less than a hundred years ago most of our Jewish ancestors were segregated from the Gentile population especially in Europe in the places called Shtetles. I have found my ancestry on the web going back almost 110 years {before that my ancestors came from Ukraine}.

If you want to be Jewish you really need to consider how 'attached' you are to the Catholic idol. Nobody will accept you as Jewish if you believe that Hashem has a body, he is incorporeal and eternal.

[mord]

I think they most probably come from the  German line.They have tests like you said

[JewishAmericanPatriot]

My mother grew up not knowing she was Jewish. She was always the outcast at Catholic school; kids teased her, calling her "Jew" and if she showed up on Jewish holidays, they would say, "Why are you here? Aren't you Jewish?" It confused her for a long time. She thought maybe it was because her last name was a very unusual Italian one, and her family was not religious (my grandmother had a Catholic Bible in the house, but said that statues were "idols" and crucifixes "are bad luck". I lived a sheltered life, and so my mom's family were the only Italians I ever knew till I was older (I was very shocked when I was a teenager and found out that yes Italians DO eat pork and DO wear crucifixes!)

My mom converted to Torah Judaism when she was 19, a few years before she met my Dad and married him. For years she was the ONLY convert she knew. Then in the 1980s I got interested in genealogy and to make a long story short, learned through a distant cousin (and the records he got from Italy) that my mom descended from Italian Jews who originally came from Spain at the time of the Spanish Inquisition.


That explained a lot of questions I'd always had, such as why grandmom would light two candles on Friday nights after closing the curtains, and why she refused to eat pork or let anyone in her house bring it in. I guess she was handed down just a few Jewish customs but not enough so would know she was really Jewish.

Grandmom also used to tie  a red string to the handle of a new car or house, saying it brought "protection". I always thought that was an Italian thing, I later learned its from the Kabbalah. Spanish Jews were heavily into Kabbalah, so that explains that, too.

So anyway, I grew up being taught my mom was a convert, but I found out later she really wasn't, but was technically born Jewish. I still regard her as a convert because she was not raised Jewish.

 Talk about someone with an identity crisis!

But anyway its because of all this that I identify as BOTh Jewish and Italian, even though by religion I am only Jewish.

[momofsixbabes]

There are two ways that you are Jewish...

A) Your mother was Jewish, either she was born of a Jewish mother or converted.

B) You converted.

There are no real records kept on who is Jewish and who is not. Generally you would have to investigate the places they came from, whether they were involved in the Jewish community. Less than a hundred years ago most of our Jewish ancestors were segregated from the Gentile population especially in Europe in the places called Shtetles. I have found my ancestry on the web going back almost 110 years {before that my ancestors came from Ukraine}.

If you want to be Jewish you really need to consider how 'attached' you are to the Catholic idol. Nobody will accept you as Jewish if you believe that Hashem has a body, he is incorporeal and eternal.

I have happily left the Catholic church. I have no warm fuzzies for that horrible religion. My family only became Catholic when my great grandfather could no longer stand the Catholic persecution in the Bahamas (according to grandma). Interesting response. Thanks for the input.

[freedomannie]

Through ancestry.com there is an option before you search for Jewish...I knew in my ancestry there was Jewish but when i used this info on ancestry.com, it did show up! 

[muman613]

When I was eight days old I discovered that I was a Jew... I hope many other Jews discovered it at that time too..

[AsheDina]

My mother grew up not knowing she was Jewish. She was always the outcast at Catholic school; kids teased her, calling her "Jew" and if she showed up on Jewish holidays, they would say, "Why are you here? Aren't you Jewish?" It confused her for a long time. She thought maybe it was because her last name was a very unusual Italian one, and her family was not religious (my grandmother had a Catholic Bible in the house, but said that statues were "idols" and crucifixes "are bad luck". I lived a sheltered life, and so my mom's family were the only Italians I ever knew till I was older (I was very shocked when I was a teenager and found out that yes Italians DO eat pork and DO wear crucifixes!)

My mom converted to Torah Judaism when she was 19, a few years before she met my Dad and married him. For years she was the ONLY convert she knew. Then in the 1980s I got interested in genealogy and to make a long story short, learned through a distant cousin (and the records he got from Italy) that my mom descended from Italian Jews who originally came from Spain at the time of the Spanish Inquisition.


That explained a lot of questions I'd always had, such as why grandmom would light two candles on Friday nights after closing the curtains, and why she refused to eat pork or let anyone in her house bring it in. I guess she was handed down just a few Jewish customs but not enough so would know she was really Jewish.

Grandmom also used to tie  a red string to the handle of a new car or house, saying it brought "protection". I always thought that was an Italian thing, I later learned its from the Kabbalah. Spanish Jews were heavily into Kabbalah, so that explains that, too.

So anyway, I grew up being taught my mom was a convert, but I found out later she really wasn't, but was technically born Jewish. I still regard her as a convert because she was not raised Jewish.

 Talk about someone with an identity crisis!

But anyway its because of all this that I identify as BOTh Jewish and Italian, even though by religion I am only Jewish.

Sounds almost EXACLTY like my life.

[ProudAndZionist]

Ask your oldest relatives about your family tree.