Would you say that Judaism is a religion or nationality?

[jacktripper1942]

I really would like to know. It seems that throughout history when the Jews were persecuted Judaism was treated as a nationality. The ones that live in Israel are called Jews more than Israelis. What's the deal?

[§mmmmmmmgmmmmmm]

Judaism is a religion case closed

[SentineltTRCt]

From what I have seen and read it is most certainly more of a national identity than a religion today,search for, and read the `Babylonian Talmud` and it will become so very clear.

[Euphemismo]

Judaism is the religion. Whether or not it was ever the nationality, it isn't now. Jewish can refer to the race or the religion. Israeli means to do with the country Israel, so not necessarily Jewish. And finally Hebrew is the name for both the ancient group of people and their language.

[Nick]

These kinds of questions confirm the uniqueness of the Jewish race. It all has to do with being "chosen". God chose one man (Abraham) and made from him a people, that He then gave the law to and that became a religion.
Judaism itself would be the religion part. Many people with Jewish blood are very liberal in their thinking and don't accept the OT as truth so they would be Jewish but not participate in Judaism, even though they may observe certain festivals and rituals.

[KyleJ]

Jewish people are a nationality, but Judaism is only a religion. You can be Jewish by birth, and Jewish by religion, as most Jews are, but you don't have to be both. There are Jewish atheists, who qualify as Jews because of their heritage, but not because of their religion. Similarly, there are non-Jewish people who have converted to Judaism and are considered Jews by religion, but not by heritage.

[STEPHEN]

I'd say both, because they are a unique people, and religion

[TonyStark]

It can be both. You can be a Jew(nationality) and not follow the Jewish faith, and vice versa.

[AmbivalentBitternPJA]

It's not a case of what I would say. There is an objective reality. Judaism is a religion.

No way is Judaism a nationality because there is no nation to which that could refer. There are Christians, Muslims, Druze, atheists, agnostics and others living in Israel with Israeli citizenship/nationality.

What I think people get confused by is that one is accepted as Jewish if one is born Jewish. This isn't actually so very different from the fact that many Christian denominations do infant baptism, so in effect anyone born to Christian parents becomes that variety of Christianity within a fairly short time of birth. However, in Judaism we don't have baptism (though baby boys are circumcised); we have very specific laws that relate to the fact that our religion is covenant-based rather than faith-based. We don't need to be 'saved' (which is what Christians see as the underlying result of baptism and/or 'confession of faith') and we don't place the same sort of emphasis on 'belief' as Christianity and Islam. As a covenant-based religion, it's all about keeping to the covenant which is based in community i.e. it's not individual in the way Christianity is. So our laws say that by being born to a Jewish mother you are automatically part of the Jewish 'family' or 'tribe' or 'community'. And because Judaism is about action rather than faith, many people who don't particularly 'believe' retain an adherence to the 'doing' of Judaism with which they were brought up, without feeling a conflict. Hence, throughout history, Jews have been easily identified as a group. I don't see the parallel with nationality at all. Don't forget that there have been converts to Judaism throughout its history, too.

The notion of being Jewish as having a racial component is a notion of fascism. It's distressing how many people perpetuate it today. Now I know you didn't use the word 'race' in your question and I'm not trying to imply that you did, only to point out that the misunderstandings of what Judaism is do get into some very murky waters. It's a religion, but it's a way of life and therefore people who aren't interested in religious practice may also adhere to aspects of its forms. In some ways, I might compare this to 'cradle Catholics', of which I've known many, who often abandon Catholicism, some for other varieties of Christianity, some for a totally different religion, some for atheism, but who still feel a pull to some of the significant traditions with which they were brought up.

Judaism is a religion, pure and simple. If you convert to another religion, you cease to be Jewish other than by heritage.

EDIT: To The angels have the phone box - SNAP!! I picked up the same things as you did, and wrote while you were writing and posting.......

[It'sThatGuy]

Not a nationality but an ethnic heritage. For most of history, Jews haven't had a nation--like the Basques or the Kurds. It is a cultural thing, a ethnic thing.

Judaism is also basically a belief system, of course. But Judaism is not -about- belief in the way Christianity is. So it really comes down to customs, foods, language, etc. etc., and that is ethnicity at least as much as religion.