RE: Hello
June 10, 2015 at 10:07 pm
(This post was last modified: June 10, 2015 at 10:10 pm by beanepie.)
Hoping I'm even replying correctly. 
So there are lots of different types of Jews. As examples, you've got those who barely realize they're Jewish, those who go to synagogue on really big holidays but don't really follow any rules, conservative jews who maybe keep somewhat kosher and attend services semi regularly, and then you have the chassidim who are the ones you see in black hats with the curls by their ears. It's kind of just a matter of how many of the Torah rules you keep. In some cases, people have even added more rules. Modern orthodox Jews keep a good majority of torah rules. They keep kosher, they observe all holidays and the sabbath, send their kids to religious school. But other than a man sometimes wearing a Yarmulke (that's the little round head covering) you probably wouldn't recognize them as Jewish if you saw them on the street. They wear regular clothing and hold regular jobs. So they are observant of laws but still live in the modern world.
As to identifying as culturally Jewish, I'm not sure I know how to explain it. Perhaps this will make sense. Although I agree that Jews are not a "race," for most of history Jews have lived on the fringes of regular society. Jews were often were not allowed to integrate into society or chose to be separate. To integrate often meant to give up one's Judaism completely. Even when Jews did integrate, like in pre-holocaust Germany, things didn't go so well. So a jew was a Polish Jew or a Russian Jew or a Persian jew. The way they connected to the world was as a Jew. In modern history, it wasn't until the founding of Israel that the Jews had a homeland. Most Israelis are very secular and would identify as Israeli before Jewish because that's their country of origin. In recent times, things are better for Jews and we can assimilate into the surrounding culture without having to forgo our Judaism. But if someone asks me "what are you?" I say Jewish. My grandparents are from different parts of Europe but that isn't how I identify. My grandparents left Europe and came here because their lives were insecure. Pogroms, etc. So culturally Jewish to me means that's just who I am whether I'm religious or not. I'm an American of course. But as to my background... it's Jewish, unlike someone of Irish descent who might say "Irish."
I hope that helps a bit.
Hoping I'm even replying correctly.
So there are lots of different types of Jews. As examples, you've got those who barely realize they're Jewish, those who go to synagogue on really big holidays but don't really follow any rules, conservative jews who maybe keep somewhat kosher and attend services semi regularly, and then you have the chassidim who are the ones you see in black hats with the curls by their ears. It's kind of just a matter of how many of the Torah rules you keep. In some cases, people have even added more rules. Modern orthodox Jews keep a good majority of torah rules. They keep kosher, they observe all holidays and the sabbath, send their kids to religious school. But other than a man sometimes wearing a Yarmulke (that's the little round head covering) you probably wouldn't recognize them as Jewish if you saw them on the street. They wear regular clothing and hold regular jobs. So they are observant of laws but still live in the modern world.
As to identifying as culturally Jewish, I'm not sure I know how to explain it. Perhaps this will make sense. Although I agree that Jews are not a "race," for most of history Jews have lived on the fringes of regular society. Jews were often were not allowed to integrate into society or chose to be separate. To integrate often meant to give up one's Judaism completely. Even when Jews did integrate, like in pre-holocaust Germany, things didn't go so well. So a jew was a Polish Jew or a Russian Jew or a Persian jew. The way they connected to the world was as a Jew. In modern history, it wasn't until the founding of Israel that the Jews had a homeland. Most Israelis are very secular and would identify as Israeli before Jewish because that's their country of origin. In recent times, things are better for Jews and we can assimilate into the surrounding culture without having to forgo our Judaism. But if someone asks me "what are you?" I say Jewish. My grandparents are from different parts of Europe but that isn't how I identify. My grandparents left Europe and came here because their lives were insecure. Pogroms, etc. So culturally Jewish to me means that's just who I am whether I'm religious or not. I'm an American of course. But as to my background... it's Jewish, unlike someone of Irish descent who might say "Irish."
I hope that helps a bit.
So there are lots of different types of Jews. As examples, you've got those who barely realize they're Jewish, those who go to synagogue on really big holidays but don't really follow any rules, conservative jews who maybe keep somewhat kosher and attend services semi regularly, and then you have the chassidim who are the ones you see in black hats with the curls by their ears. It's kind of just a matter of how many of the Torah rules you keep. In some cases, people have even added more rules. Modern orthodox Jews keep a good majority of torah rules. They keep kosher, they observe all holidays and the sabbath, send their kids to religious school. But other than a man sometimes wearing a Yarmulke (that's the little round head covering) you probably wouldn't recognize them as Jewish if you saw them on the street. They wear regular clothing and hold regular jobs. So they are observant of laws but still live in the modern world.
As to identifying as culturally Jewish, I'm not sure I know how to explain it. Perhaps this will make sense. Although I agree that Jews are not a "race," for most of history Jews have lived on the fringes of regular society. Jews were often were not allowed to integrate into society or chose to be separate. To integrate often meant to give up one's Judaism completely. Even when Jews did integrate, like in pre-holocaust Germany, things didn't go so well. So a jew was a Polish Jew or a Russian Jew or a Persian jew. The way they connected to the world was as a Jew. In modern history, it wasn't until the founding of Israel that the Jews had a homeland. Most Israelis are very secular and would identify as Israeli before Jewish because that's their country of origin. In recent times, things are better for Jews and we can assimilate into the surrounding culture without having to forgo our Judaism. But if someone asks me "what are you?" I say Jewish. My grandparents are from different parts of Europe but that isn't how I identify. My grandparents left Europe and came here because their lives were insecure. Pogroms, etc. So culturally Jewish to me means that's just who I am whether I'm religious or not. I'm an American of course. But as to my background... it's Jewish, unlike someone of Irish descent who might say "Irish."
I hope that helps a bit.
Hoping I'm even replying correctly.
So there are lots of different types of Jews. As examples, you've got those who barely realize they're Jewish, those who go to synagogue on really big holidays but don't really follow any rules, conservative jews who maybe keep somewhat kosher and attend services semi regularly, and then you have the chassidim who are the ones you see in black hats with the curls by their ears. It's kind of just a matter of how many of the Torah rules you keep. In some cases, people have even added more rules. Modern orthodox Jews keep a good majority of torah rules. They keep kosher, they observe all holidays and the sabbath, send their kids to religious school. But other than a man sometimes wearing a Yarmulke (that's the little round head covering) you probably wouldn't recognize them as Jewish if you saw them on the street. They wear regular clothing and hold regular jobs. So they are observant of laws but still live in the modern world.
As to identifying as culturally Jewish, I'm not sure I know how to explain it. Perhaps this will make sense. Although I agree that Jews are not a "race," for most of history Jews have lived on the fringes of regular society. Jews were often were not allowed to integrate into society or chose to be separate. To integrate often meant to give up one's Judaism completely. Even when Jews did integrate, like in pre-holocaust Germany, things didn't go so well. So a jew was a Polish Jew or a Russian Jew or a Persian jew. The way they connected to the world was as a Jew. In modern history, it wasn't until the founding of Israel that the Jews had a homeland. Most Israelis are very secular and would identify as Israeli before Jewish because that's their country of origin. In recent times, things are better for Jews and we can assimilate into the surrounding culture without having to forgo our Judaism. But if someone asks me "what are you?" I say Jewish. My grandparents are from different parts of Europe but that isn't how I identify. My grandparents left Europe and came here because their lives were insecure. Pogroms, etc. So culturally Jewish to me means that's just who I am whether I'm religious or not. I'm an American of course. But as to my background... it's Jewish, unlike someone of Irish descent who might say "Irish."
I hope that helps a bit.
