Was Einstein an ethnic Jew or a religion Jew (or both)?

smeogalla

they are all religious Jews. A Jew is a follower of Judaism, ethnicity is irrelevant hence we have german Jews, Russian Jews, Polish Jews etc just as we have Saudi Muslims, Iraqi muslims, Indonesian muslims. Feb 22 05, 9:46 PM

peasypod

This should help you TAW. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/global/jewish.php Feb 22 05, 9:47 PM

kaylofgorons

By religious Jew, I think he means faithful, practising Jew. It is possible to be born Jewish and not follow the religious customs. I hope I haven't misworded this... Feb 22 05, 10:55 PM

Arpeggionist

At different times of his life he observed different customs. He was circumsized and did celebrate his bar mitzvah. He did not observe the Sabbath or the Jewish dietary laws all his life. He did believe in God, but did not follow the customs and rituals to the letter. He did not reject his Jewish heritage, but was not all that religiously motivated. Feb 23 05, 2:59 AM

TheAlphaWolf

oh... someone told me a jew was also like a race. thanks for clearing that up :) Feb 23 05, 6:04 PM

Arpeggionist

There are two types of Jews: 1. A person who is born to Jewish parents (or at least to a Jewish mother) and does not renounce his/her Judaism later in life, and who is properly cercumsized (if he is male). 2. A person who choses to take on the Jewish religion and convert properly. These are not racial definitions. It is entirely a religious definition. The level of adherence to the Jewish religion also varies greatly from people who don't realize or care about their religion (and thus don't practice the customs and rituals) to people who will follow every law of the Jewish relision to the letter. These are the extremes of a very wide (in fact, almost infinite) spectrum of religious practice. Feb 24 05, 3:34 PM

Truther

Actually, ethnicity in short means "born of." Judaism is a religion that anyone of any ethnicity can follow. It is also an ethnicity: being born of a descendant of Abraham (born in a specific region of Israel. Technically, the question was, is Einstein born of Abraham or a follower of Judaism, or both? And, yes, one could be "born of" Abraham but not follow the religious custom of Judaism. It is called, freedom of choice. Aug 12 08, 1:58 PM

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Sorry to parade my ignorance, but could someone explain the difference between a Zionist, a Jew and an Israeli? Is it true that Adolf Hitler was actually a Jew? Is it true if you are an American non-Jew and decide to move to Israel after learning some Hebrew and Judaism, it is against the law to marry a Jewish girl? Is a non-Jew (Christian or Muslim) allowed to be a member of the Israeli government?

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