"Ask A Jew" Wednesday

[u/AutoModerator]

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

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[u/Sultan_Faruk]

Judaism. Many people in the west and all zionists I interacted with, say being a jew is an ethnic thing, some say it's a cultural group. I always saw jews as believer of Judaism. I do not see a connection between a jew in the US, a jew in Ethiopia and one in Russia besides their believe in the same religion, same as a Christian /Muslim in Egypt with one in China. They differ in ethnicity. Not only that, culturally the difference seem to be even bigger. I rarely would notice if someone is Jewish through his cultural aspects, same with Christians, only case if they are religiously more conservative. An aspect tied to my confusion is semitesim. The fact that the west bind jews to semites bothers me. Semites are a group of multiple ethnicities, non of them tied to a religion. Through research and extensive thinking I came to the conclusion, that the separation of Jews as an ethnicity and seeing them less of a religious group is the result of justification of racism towards jews as inferior people during the hight of European racism.

Now to my question after this long text.

Is there actually a connection, which I missed, that transcends the religion itself that ties jews together, which separates Judaism from Islam and Christianity in a meaningful way, meaning it being more then a religious school of thought?

No harm or disrespect intended of course. BTW. You guys are great. Know that you are appreciated and that u don't stand alone against zionisim.

[u/specialistsets → u/Sultan_Faruk]

say being a jew is an ethnic thing, some say it's a cultural group. I always saw jews as believer of Judaism.

The concept of Jewish peoplehood predates the concept of Judaism as a religion, which has evolved over millennia. Even the word Judaism comes from "Jews", it originated as the religious tradition of the Jewish people. There is no requirement for a Jew to believe in Judaism or God (or any theology) to be considered a Jew. Conversion has always been rare, but converts become ethnic members of the Jewish people, not simply practitioners or believers of a religious faith.

I do not see a connection between a jew in the US, a jew in Ethiopia and one in Russia besides their believe in the same religion

But Jews do see a connection. Ashkenazi, Sephardi and the overwhelming majority of Mizrahi Jews share genetic ancestry, ancient culture, the Hebrew language, a distinct Jewish calendar system, ethno-religious lifecycle traditions, and most importantly, the belief that all Jews are descended from the same people. I always find it interesting that Ethiopian Jews are so often brought up to "challenge" the concept of Jewish ethnicity, as they are a very unique outlier group who were isolated from the mainstream Ashkenazi/Sephardi/Mizrahi Jewish world until the last century and have a religious tradition that differs significantly from other Jewish groups. As for Jews from the US and Russia, they are very close cousins: Russian and Ukrainian Jews (and most former-USSR Jews) are descended from the Ashkenazi Jews who did not leave Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th century and didn't perish in the Holocaust, and American Jews were vital in securing the ability for them to escape rampant institutional persecution in the USSR until the 1990s.

They differ in ethnicity. Not only that, culturally the difference seem to be even bigger. I rarely would notice if someone is Jewish through his cultural aspects

This is probably because you aren't Jewish. The cultural and ethnic similarities that bind Jewish diaspora groups are far too numerous to list here, though my list above touches on some of the foundational similarities. Bear in mind that "ethnicity" doesn't refer to genetics (and certainly not phenotype), nor does it mandate total cultural homogeneity. One can also belong to multiple ethnic groups, as well as multiple Jewish ethnic sub-groups.

An aspect tied to my confusion is semitesim. The fact that the west bind jews to semites bothers me. Semites are a group of multiple ethnicities, non of them tied to a religion.

Semitic only refers to language. There is no such thing as semitic people or ethnicity, it is a fabrication of entirely non-scientific 19th century European race classifications. The word "antisemitism" was imposed on European Jews by their oppressors, but it has always meant Jew hatred.

[u/mysecondaccountanon → u/specialistsets]

Beautifully put!!