Jewish Identity:

What Defines a Jew?

Coby Farkovits, Sarah Gorbatov, Elie Rawson, Nurit Schlosberg
Do Jews have to partake in characteristically
“Jewish” things to be considered jewish?

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 Coby
Once a Jew, Always a Jew? – Part 1 by Shmuel Kadosh: What is a Jew?
At what point is a Jew no longer a Jew?

There is no one characteristic that defines a Jew. There are certain things we eat and certain things we do, as well as
helping other Jews and being helped in return. However, people are still considered Jewish even if they do not fulfill all
these “requirements.”

Torah: Yevamot 47b:

It says in the Torah that even if you convert, If a convert bathes in a Mikvah, they are
you are still a Jew. considered Jewish, but if they turn their back
on Judaism, they are no longer considered
Jewish.

Sanhedrin 44a: Yevamot 16b:

Hashem tells the Jews not to take the spoils of Judaism is hereditary but one’s Jewish status
war, and when one does and He turns His back may be revoked if need be.
on them, He still calls them Jews, just “bad”
Jews.

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“ The 2020 Netflix original series
“Unorthodox” tackles the
unexplored territory of
modern-day orthodox Jewish
communities. Themes such as
marriage, pregnancy, religious
obligation, belonging, spiritual
connection, the definition of
“Jew-ish,” and apostasy are
discussed within the Haredi
context.

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 Sarah
Once a Jew, Always a Jew? – Part 2 by Shmuel Kadosh: III. Ge’onic and Medieval Attitudes Regarding Apostates
*Ge’onim, the spiritual leaders of the Jewish community during the early medieval era, believed that an *apostate should be stripped of all associations and
status as a Jew in terms of inheritance, marriage, and children.

Inheritance Yibum (Levite marriage)

Rav Natronai: the apostate loses their Kedushat Yisrael Mordechai Ben Hillel: if the Yavam is an apostate at the time
(Jewish sanctity) and is not legally considered a that the potential Yibum obligation is created, then the
Biblical mandate to perform Yibum or Chalitzah does not
descendant of his Jewish father = no inheritance.
apply.

Rav Chananel: the Yibum obligation is created at the time of

Biblical perspective: Hashem promises Avraham that He the husband’s death, but so as long as the Yavam converted
will give the Land of Kena’an to “you and your before his brother’s death, no Yibum or Chalitzah is required.
descendants after you,” meaning only those who
acknowledge that Hashem is God are considered Rav Yosef Ben Isaac Ibn Abitur: Yibum and Chalitzah are not
descendants of Avraham. The promise was only fulfilled required when the husband himself is the apostate b/c he is
not considered the Yavam’s brother.
through the ‘non-apostate’ Yitzchak and later Ya’akov.

*An apostate is an individual who officially renounces their religion and declares themselves no longer a member.
*Yibum or Chalitzah is the process by which a childless widow and a brother of her deceased husband may avoid the duty to marry.

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 Sarah continued
Marriage
Context: annulling the apostate’s marriage and allowing
his wife to remarry without a Get can potentially result
in adultery and the creation of Mamzeirim.
Sefer HaIttur: the marriage of one who habitually
violates Shabbat publicly is invalid. One who desecrates
the symbol of of Hashem’s covenant with the Jews
breaks the covenant, and is no longer part of Jewish
people.
Rav Menachem Me’iri: an aposate’s marriage to a Jew
bears no significance and the marriage is therefore
invalid, similar to the case of the Talmud declaring the
Ten Lost Tribes gentiles.
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Status of children
Me’iri: although the apostate is a Jew, her children are not—this is consistent with Talmudic
precedent.
However: Maintaining that Jewish identity passes on indefinitely without any affirmative Jews
gives rise to the complicated possibility that every gentile is of Jewish origin. To avoid this, we
cut off those with no Jewish identity even if they are ethnically Jewish.
The Medieval Attitude
Rashi: an apostate does not forfeit his right to inherit his Jewish parent, is fully Jewish,
has a valid marriage, Yibum or Chalitzah are required—“even though they sinned, they
are still Yisrael.”
Ra’avyah: even though the apostate is a Jew, he still does not inherit from his parents
because the Jewish courts have plenary authority to declare one’s property ownerless,
and do so with respect to an apostate’s inheritance.
Rav Avraham HaGadol of Regensburg: a Yevamah whose Yavam is an apostate does not
require Yibum and likely not Chalitzah—Jew is forbidden to cohabitate with an idolater.
Rav Samson of Sens: it is possible that he repented prior to proposing, and therefore,
we consider his marriage valid.
The Nuremberg
Race Laws,
enacted in 1935
before the start of
WWII, were a series
of antisemetic and
racist decrees that
which did not
define a Jew as
someone with
certain religious
beliefs or
affiliations, but
rather, as anyone
who had three of
four Jewish
grandparents.

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 Elie
Once a Jew, Always a Jew? Part 3 by Shmuel Kadosh - Marriage

↼ A Yevamah requires *Yibum or Chalitzah even if the Yavam is an apostate - Rambam

↼ An apostate is fully Jewish and therefore rules that the marriage of an apostate is valid - Rav Yosef Caro
follows Rambam
↼ Yibum or Chalitzah is required even when the Yavam is an apostate, and the children of an apostate are fully
Jewish
↼ Yevamah who remarried without Chalitzah is not required to exit her marriage when the Yavam is an
apostate if she did not know at the time of her second marriage that her deceased husband had a brother. A
Yevamah that is aware that her future husband has an apostate brother can enter into a conditional
marriage that will be retroactively annulled if her husband dies with no children, obviating the need for
Yibum or Chalitzah from her apostate brother-in-law.

*Yibum or Chalitzah is the

process by which a childless
widow and a brother of her
deceased husband may
avoid the duty to marry.
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 Elie Continued
Once a Jew, Always a Jew? Part 3 by Shmuel Kadosh - Conversion

↼ The Rema rules that an apostate who returns to the Jewish community is required by Rabbinic
decree to immerse in the Mikvah and accept Divrei Chaveirot (commitment to fully observe Torah
Law), before three individuals.
○ This ritual clearly parallels the convert’s entry into Judaism, which similarly involves
immersion in the Mikvah, and the acceptance of the Mitzvot before a Beit Din of three. This
requirement for a “reconversion” is further evidence of the Rema’s hesitation to characterize
the apostate as fully Jewish.
↼ Rashbash said that Jewishness is irrevocable, and that the Conversos were fully Jewish.

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 Elie Continued Continued
Once a Jew, Always a Jew? Part 3 by Shmuel Kadosh - Who is a Jew?

Jew Not a Jew

An apostate and the children of an The children of an apostate - Rav Sa’adia

apostate - Rambam, Rashi, and Rav Yosef Caro Ga’on

Anyone who was born to practicing The children of someone who converted
Jewish parents - Rabbi Yaakov ibn Habib willingly - Rabbi Yaakov ibn Habib

The children of someone who was forced

to convert - Rabbi Yaakov ibn Habib

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What is a Jew in the modern context?

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 Nurit
Once a Jew, Always a Jew? Part 3 by Shmuel Kadosh - Who is a Jew?
Modern Halachic Opinions
Rav Moshe Feinstein Rav Yekutiel Halberstam

Rav Moshe argues that the Talmud considered it
obvious that an apostate was still Jewish; therefore, it
never stated that explicitly. In other words, anyone
born Jewish, no matter if they have apostated, is still a
Jew.
Rav Halberstam states that someone who turns away
from Hashem and does not listen to and observe
Hashem’s covenant is no longer considered a Jew.
Supporting text:

“
‫אֱ הֵ י הַ גּוֹי ִם הָ הֵ םפ‬-‫ אֶ ת‬,‫ ָל ֶלכֶת לַעֲ ב ֹד‬,‫ אֲ שֶׁ ר ְלבָבוֹ פֹנֶה הַ יּוֹם מֵ עִ ם י ְהו ָה אֱ הֵ ינוּ‬,‫שֵׁ בֶט‬-‫ה אוֹ‬
‫ י”ז‬:‫—דברים כ”ט‬

“ ַ‫ו ְע‬
‫ִי־לי כָּל־הָ ָא ֶֽרץ׃ת‬
֖ ִ ‫ָל־העַ מִּ֔ ים כּ‬
֣ ָ ‫יתי ו ִהְ ִ֨ייתֶ ם ִ ֤לי סְ ֻגלָּה֙ מִ כּ‬
֑ ִ ‫שָׁ ֤מוֹעַ תִּ שְׁ מְ עוּ֙ בְּק ֹ ִ֔לי וּשְׁ מַ ְר ֶ ֖תּם אֶ ת־בּ ְִר‬

‫ה‬:‫—שְׁ מוֹת י ”ט‬

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 Nurit
Concluding Thoughts: Brother Daniel

The question whether Jewish identity is based on

ethnicity or religious practice continues to this day.

The case of Brother Daniel emphasizes this point.

He was a practicing monk who was born a Jew and
requested to emigrate to Israel under the law of
return, which guarantees eligibility to anyone with
a Jewish grandparent. The Israeli Supreme Court
was asked to opine whether his ethnicity or his
practice would win when determining eligibility. It
ultimately decided that Brother Daniel would not
be allowed into Israel under the Law of Return, as a
monk in a robe with a cross was the farthest from
the popular conception of a Jew that one could
get. Although Jewish law recognized Brother
Daniel as Jewish, the Jewish state did not.

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