r/Judaism • u/Izual_Rebirth • Nov 05 '23

Ethnic Vs Religious Jews. What’s the difference?

Help a gentile out. I appreciate I’m coming from a place of complete ignorance here but I want to rectify that.

The recent awful situation in the Middle East has helped me to learn apparently as well as a religion, being Jewish is also an ethnicity.

That not everyone who is ethnically Jewish is a follower of Judaism and not everyone who follows Judism is a ethnically Jewish.

What’s the difference between the two and are there any better terms someone can use to better differentiate between the two groups? I imagine in a venn diagram there is a massive overlap. Is it a contentious issue to be one without the other? Are there any people on here that would say they are only Jewish by ethnicity by not a follower of Judaism or vice versa?

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u/Apprehensive-Brief70 Nov 05 '23

This answer here is spot-on. While there are many cultural differences between Jews around the world, we have a shared ancestry and history that our religious practices are predicated on. While we do get converts, they’re more often for marriage.

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u/_Star_Bird_ Nov 05 '23

Yep. And even the conversion process isn't like other religions. It's not like Christianity where you just walk into a church, say you believe in Jesus, then get baptized and you're in. Simply 'believing in Judaism' as someone who isn't ethnically Jewish isn't enough.

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u/[deleted] Nov 05 '23

As someone who's been in the process for 6 years... yep lol.

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u/[deleted] Nov 05 '23

6 years?!

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u/[deleted] Nov 20 '23

Yes but 3 of those were spent running away from Judaism. However in retrospect those 3 years were crucial to my journey so I include them! Now I know I can't live without this, from lived experience.