Friday, May 16, 2014

Profile: Wolf Messing

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=1850

Suggestion by Jake from GE.

7 comments:

  1. Well, his involvement is the KGB is solely according to himself and is most likely greatly exaggerated and/or completely fictional. He was mostly known in Russia as a famous actor.

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  2. Okay so let me get this straight. I trust you guys MORE than Wikipedia about Judaism. It says any of your 4 grandparents can be Jewish. And that means you can participate in Jewish rituals, traditions etc, etc, in Israel. But you're REALLY Jewish if your Mother and her Parents ARE am I right? So if a man's Jewish Father, Father was Jewish he wouldn't "really" be considered Jewish would he? (Unless he self-identified) BUT What really matters is this... It's the Mother's side that really matters as to a person being Jewish. Right?

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  3. The traditional definition of Jewish is only if one's mother is so. We believe that's too limiting. See the FAQ.

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  4. Yeah, thanks for that. But... So to just reaffirm. (And yet I've forgotten what was the reason and futhermore why I asked this question in the first place... But... anyway...). The traditional definition of one being Jewish is through the Mother.
    But if YOU... ZEV AND YAKOV just believe it's too limiting do others (say for example) Jewish people in Israel, believe that oh I don't know, a Man's Father's Father's Mother was Jewish could and would that person be able to partake in, I don't know, Jewish traditions and celebrations and ceremonies, etc, etc??? Like I said I trust you MORE than Wikipedia. Not even Academics in Universities trust Wikipedia. Sorry if it feels like I'm harassing you, I'm just so curious and fascinated by your religion. Again, don't know what my point was. Sorry... *(Mumbles to himself and counts fingers)*

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  5. There are many different definitions of what it means to be Jewish. Read this.

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  6. Implicit in your question is the idea of, well, who are WE to decide who is Jewish and who isn't? Which is why this is a silly web site and not, you know, a scholarly journal of Judaism. That said, the inherent nature of Judaism is to argue and interpret, rather than to hear and obey. More importantly, I'd argue that by having such a strict definition of who is Jewish, we lose out on legitimate, learned, devout Jews. Matrilineal identification came from a place of necessity, there was a time when it was impossible to know the nature of a person's birth except by who birthed them. These days, we do not need such a limiting definition, and we believe strongly in an inclusive culture, rather than an exclusive one.

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