Dont Jews have enough enemies. Now you decide to define a Jew as one who lives according to the torah,and this in turn decides who is a Jew as per the law of return. How ridiculous & pompous for these so called religious Jews to get into the fray on "the law of return". Let me remind you that large sects of these so called "Torah Jews" dont even recognise the state of Israel.So rather shut up & keep your hypocritical noses into deeper study of Torah & maybe you will learn some humility.What you propose is a racist orientated exclusive religion. Being Jewish is not just a religion, its also a national identity & tradition.

There is no group as bankrupt as Jewish rabbis. They have made the Jewish religion meaningless to the majority of the Jewish community. I live in an area with a Buddhist center with a large enough Jewish membership to make a minyan. They found no spiritual sustenance in the Jewish faith in which they were raised. I agree with Mordecai Kaplan that Judaism is a civilization worth preserving not a religion. In the Los Angeles area there is a big to-do about putting a string around a beach area in order to make it accessible on the sabbath. How many Jews think that this makes any sense? Jews marry outside their faith not because of Hitler's definition but because the rabbis have given them no good reason for marrying within the faith.

The rabbis intentions are noble, but naive. With 50,000 Jews leaving the tribe so speak yearly, and 200,000 Jews converted away, why the fuss over people who want to be Jews, whatever the depth of their affiliation? It is really absurd, and counterproductive. Let me be blunt, we secular Jews are as much Jewish as the most Orthodox. I won't make any generalizations, but the more fanatic Jews are not devoid of problems. Hitler should not define who is and who isn't a Jew. But the Hungarian fascists defined Jews somewhat differently. I shudder to think that "genes" have any say in this matter. Simply put, what makes a Jew is not racial. That is a dangerous concept, and a boon to every anti-Semite. Heck, I have blue eyes and light colored hair. Many religious Jews seem to have black hair and dark brown eyes. What say the good rabbi? We need more adherents..whether Reform, Conservative or Reform. Judiasm has room for all. This latest Israeli wrinke is tragic. Remember, those Katyushas didn't disciminate. Iran could care less about who is more Jewish and who is less., why should the Orthodox?

Rabbi, you are ignoring the fact that those who have converted according to halacha are Jews in every respect and it is against Torah law to establish one law for the convert and a different law for those born Jewish. Admittedly, there is a grave problem with the non-halachic conversions performed by the Conservative and Reform movements, the very least of which has to do with them flooding the entrance to Ben Gurion airport. Most of those affected truly do not know or understand that they are unacceptable to all streams and why. Many Jews do not know that the Conservative movement does not accept Reform conversions. The candidates are not made aware of these facts beforehand. The only reason I can think of is that the R and C rabbis feel they would lose the business if they tell. This causes a terrible burden on the converts-to-be who may later decide, like many born Jews, that they want to become more observant or marry an Orthodox Jew. Or their future generations decide only to find that they are not halachicly Jewish. The answer to this problem does not rest with the Chief Rabbinate but with the leaders of the Reform and Conservative movements. They should refuse to perform any conversions on the basis that what is best for the potential convert is a conversion that is acceptable to all Jews everywhere. When a less observant Jew wants to make a seuda mitzva that everyone can partake of, he selects the highest level of kashrut available. I daresay the issue of conversion is at least as important as kashrut. If the R and C cannot see their way clear to acquiese on this matter, it is proof positive that they have entirely self-serving motives and care nothing whatever for the convert. It is a violation of several commandments including not placing a stumbling block before the blind and not causing the convert pain.

'Whichever way one puts it, the majority of religious Jews in Israel are Traditional and not Reform, Conservative or Liberal; thus, Judaism in Israel, a democratic country, is defined by Traditionalists such as the Sephardic Chief Rabbi.' The above seems nonsense since only around 20% of Israelis are observant and many of those are not orthodox ! So what is this man talking about ?

Is that each year?

Who gets to define "traditional, authentic," Judaism? For example, many who define themselves as torah-observant reject Chabad as a messianist abomination. The Satmar Rebbe once levied a herem against the Lubavicher Rebbe. The Neturei Karta hate every Zionist Jew and deride them as inauthentic, and many black hats consider the Dati Leumi and Hiloni camps insufficiently observant. In short, absent the return of Moshiach and reestablishment of central priestly authority from Har Zion, there is no definitive Jewish authority. Why imbue the Israeli state - as flawed and corrupt as it can be -- with the power to define who is a Jew? If a particular group of Jews wishes to conduct itself in a particular fashion, and not marry/associate with/accept the heschers of another, let them. But do not impose the will of one religious perspective on the entire nation. Rather than ensuring our survival, it will only cause further fractiousness - as with Lubavitch now, or the Satmar succession battles, or the inflighting at certain B'nei Brak yeshivot. Sinat chinam destroyed the Temple. Do not let it happen again.

Many here are quoting the many Jews who left their Judaism behind for something else, this is true. However when this is actually examined, we find these are almost overwhelmingly from non-observant families who never really were practicing Judaism to begin with. When a reform Jew who grew up celebrating christmas as many in america do, are you really surprised when they stop being Jewish?

The rather silly conclusion here is that rabbis in Israel, by virtue of sheer location, are better qualified to decide who is a Jew than Jews in other locations and that "Traditional" Judaism (which is actually pretty much identical to Conservative Judaism apart from name) should rule. Perhaps the Rabbi needs to remember that there is no Sanhedrin and that he is not entitled to appoint them. And Debbie is right on one issue - treating converts differently goes agains halacha.

I mean, why stop at saying it was defined by Hitler? What a ridiculous and insulting notion. Why is it that some Israelis are so impossibly hyperbolic? An Arab having babies is an existential threat, a Jew falling in love with a goy is genocide, bla bla bla. And heaven forbid you miss a chance to link something innocuous to Hitler. Hitler has the most famous moustache in history; does that mean that any Jew who's not clean shaven is a kapo? If it's any comfort, Israel was defined by Jews, not Hitler. Herzl was writing about the forced commonality of Jews when Hitler was in diapers.

According to you the most extreme rabbis are the only ones who can define Judaism. How about the Haredim who reject a Jewish state because they are waiting for a messiah? In order to be accepted by them you would have to reject Israel. By your logic, all Muslims should conform with the extreme Islamists and engage in jihad until the whole world is Islamic.

I believe a Jew is someone who believes in the tenets of Judaism, the religion, not Christianity, or Islam or Hinduism. A Jew is much more than practicing a tradition as suggested by one poster, who I think is simply wrong. Take the religion out of Jewishness, and you are left with a cult. There are some in Los Angeles, la la land in many ways and unreal in others, who have done just that. Torah is meaningless to them...it's all about eating bagels and lox (I call them bagel-lox Jews). They are devoid of any real substance (Jewish). With 10% at most, the Orthodox have no claim on anything except their own depth of observance and belief. No one observes all the 613 laws, and being kosher has become an end upon itself., and a huge business. A convert to Judaism must be accepted, as long as they are Jewish in their hearts, give charity, observe the Sabbath and adhere to the basic tenets (love of one G-d, not the trinity (3 G-ds),or a reincarnation theory or belief that Josepth Smith is a prophet. To expect converts to become more Jewish than 90% of the others, is nonsensical and very, very counterproductive. We as secular Jews should though be role models for every faith, should they decide to join us as the "chosen people", with the responsibility to save this planet from itself. Aren't we all aware that the Arabs put all of us in the same stew, labeling us as "Zionists", whether secular, or religious or involved. That says a lot. Simply put, we are all Jews, whether we like it or not.

us with the right approach to the survival? In awake of discovering the remaining of the10 lost tribes and brining to Israel Jews from Ethiopia, India; and connecting some clans in Afghanistan with the tribes of Asher, Gad, Naphtali, Reuben, Manasseh, Ephraim and Benjamin; How can we define the meaning of a Jew? First of all WE ARE DIFFERENT. Moses gave a chance to all the people who left the Egypt with the Jews to make their decision: to embrace the 10 commandments or else. We can go on and on with the parallels. But this is my favorite: Even a Zoo keepers making selection for better breading offspring. And for this matter they are trying to avoid the cross-breed. The intellectual progress comes from the wider connections and not from the ghetto-like shtettles, where Jews were preserving for a while their traditions and Torah but couldn’t participate and enjoy the main progress due to a streaked band from the local Rabbis. Did these Rabbis where always right and foresighted?

settling and living in Eretz Yisrael is a mitzva that in itself outweighs all the other mitzvot together, in total. One can be a good believing Jew and for this purpose does not require to dress strangely, act strangely and impose his will on others, by political coercion and worse, by violence. I can assure you that the behaviour and demands of the orthodox community in Israel are distancing rather than fostering understanding and community feeling. In fact most people hold them in contempt and it need not have been this way. They are their own enemies and they also cause the world at large to deride Israel and all Jews everywhere. Their strange ways are counter productive, a more normative approach to life would better serve them and Israel in general.

Dear Rabbi, One can retain a very powerful Jewish identity, with no connection to Hitler, and not necessarily be the most observant of Jews. Firstly, let us answer your question: What is it that unites us? One answer, as you have argued, can certainly be the Jewish religion. However, is the Jewish religion the only way to retain one's Jewishness? Is it truly the only thing that unites us? Certainly not. Judaism shares traits of a religion, an ethnicity, a nation, and a culture. We are, with the exception of converts, united by a common ancestry. Genetic tests seem to support the theory that most Jews originated in the Middle-East. When we open the Torah, we, unlike the Christians or Muslims, understand that this is our history - our own flesh and blood, not merely our "faith" or our "religion." This is the book that tells us of the birth of our people! This is our contribution to the world, upon which all of Western civilization is founded! Aside from our common ancestry, we have shared a lingual, cultural, and traditional bond for thousands of years. Just think: For thousands of years, against all odds, the Jewish people have endured countless pogroms and massacres in order to preserve our unique culture and traditions. These traditions have been preserved for thousands of years, and now they have been passed on to us! Lastly, that which unites us is our desire for unity. We are one nation, for we acknowledge our common ancestry, culture, language, traditions and religion to be important to us and our identity, which in turn creates a brotherhood between all Jews, of every skin colour and degree of observance. Jews Unite! http://www.globaljewishcommunity.com

I think that to anyone reading this article it is clear that Brackman is resorting to a ridiculous abuse of semantics to promote his arguement. The definition of who is Jewish "based on Hitler" is not a definition used to set cultural boundries, but to allow all those individuals who may have been killed for being Jewish to have a safe haven. Moreover, It is madness to demand that all Jews in Israel must conform to a single cultural model becuase Jews have never been that homogeneous. According to this logic Brackman and his fellow-travelers (by this I mean Lubavitchers) should have no right of return because many of their member's practice of form of Judaism more akin to Christianity and European-secular "hero-worship" than any mainstream form of Judaism. Thus they cannot be seen as relegiously atuned to other Jews, and so according to Brackman should be excluded from the right of return on this basis. The core of the matter is that there is no justification for the cohersive imposition of Jewish religious law in modern times, unless Brackman belives that his Rebbe-God has given them special obligations and rights beyond those defined in the Torah. I completely agree that within the framework of Jewish-law who is and is not a Jew is quite clear. The question is how this is relevent to the secular state of Israel, (which it must be because there is no such possibility in Halakha of a pre-messianic Halakhic state.) The answer is that it has little to none, and to use Brackman's semantic blackmail, who is a Halakhic Jew can no more be defined by Hitler, than the knesset, or anthing other than Halakha. However, whether or not the citizens of Israel want to extend autmoatic citizenship to people outside or even inside the definition of a Halakhic Jew is entirely at their decresion. If the majority of Israelis want ot extent it to reform converts they can, if they want to extended it to Armenian Christians they can, or if they want to exclude Lubavitchers they can. It is their right as citizens of an inherenly secular democratic state to define citizenship as they please.

Its the soul which defines who a Jew is!! Religion is irrelevant totally. One can love G-d, Torah (before the rabbi's screwed it up) and Israel and not be a haredi or othodox to be a Jew. Go back and see what the sages said about who has a Jewish soul.

Israel can exist quite comfortably as a SECULAR JEWISH STATE where the FULL SPECTRUM of JEWISH RELIGIOUSITY is accomodated and WHERE NO ONE JEWISH MOVEMENT IS IN CONTROL ! Each group will exercise authority over its own people. Each individual Jew can choose to voluntarily associate with whatever MOVEMENT he or she desires or not. And in doing so, consider themselves JEWISH regardless of the opinions of the other movements. This is PARITY ! This is JEWISH RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ! This is choice! Movements may select their own criteria for membership and CITIZENSHIP may be predicated by membership in one of the movements. Jews, if they desire, based on conscience, understanding , taste or temperment may leave one movement and join another according to the dictates of the movement that they choose.THIS IS THE WAY IT COULD BE.

the paritioners on the alter to the anti semites? How thoughtful of them. It's nice to look in the mirror, and primp your ego, tell yourself how wonderful and important you have become.....while Rome burns all around your egotistical pompous ass. Let those Jews die...We wouldn't want them to be defined by Hitler. They might stand up and protect themselves rather than asking the Rabbi to get a higher power to do it for them.

Judaism has nothing to do with being a Jew. Just like christianity has nothing to do with being French. This guy might be Judaic, but is he jewish?

The reason jews marry outside their religion is because they are fed up with all the rubbish. I have experienced so much corruption in the jewish communities wich really can turn someone off. The "religious" are also so arrogant. Jews seem to be fighting evryone ALL the time incl themselves. They will never change.

This whole article is based on the article that we should not let hitler define who we are. The Rabbi took a simple statement of sufficiency and confused it with neccesity. Hitler did not "create" the jewish people and then slaughter them. We have identified as a racial, cultural group for thousands of year. He only SELECTED a group. This is truly a dumb argument the rabbi makes, sorry rebbe.

In speaking of the Diaspora, why do the Jews think they have exclusive right to the Land? What about the House of Joseph, the Northern Kingdom? Are we not dispersed? There is more to Jacob than Judah and Benjamin. These questions are intended to actually get opinion and not to cause contention. I would really like to know the answer to this.

Amar denies the right to become citizen of the state of Israel to the Guerei Tsedek. Amar does want to make a difference between a Jew and a Jew. Amar does want to become some kind of jewish pope and control all Batei Din of the Galut. All of this is contrary to Halacha and you don't write a word against it. I am a Guer Tsedek and I tell you to keep your "sympathy" for yourself. I don't want it, I just want my right as a FULL Jew.

citizens either? Citizenship belongs only to the religious and the ultra-religious at that? If we follow along with the logic of this guy that is the obvious next conclusion. Separate synagogue and state!!!!! Or alternately, give the haredim the mess that is Jerusalem, tell them they can have their very own state there, make all the crazy laws they want just for Jerusalem and nowhere else but Jerusalem and leave the rest of us normal Israelis alone!

but having left the catholic church, drawing the consequences of not being able to believe in god, would still be Christian? meaning what - the way I was raised? modern identities are too complex for simple solutions I would not even try ...

as soon as ynet put hitler in the heading, i nearly skipped over it. as 4 the good rebbe... mediocre thinking, as most warped logic usually is. i hink it has something to do with learning by rote or blind adherence or what have you - it clears the ground of unneeded hindrances like the need to really tax the mind.

Most Israelis are not traditional. They are secular. I would have a really tough time defining who is a Jew. Religion would only be part of the definition. The reason the Law of Return defines a Jew as 1/4 Jewish descent is that at the time, they thought that if that was enough to be murdered for, it was enough to be considered a Jew. The problem of the Chief Rabbi is not a religious problem, but a political problem. The rabbi is a political appointee. I doubt if he would like to face an election. It is somewhat disingenous if not outright unfair to use language with such emotional content as "Hitler's definition" etc. without saying the context involved. There is a good case to be made that religion should be separate from the State. Some argument could be made that it is the State's right to determine who is a Jew. My own opinion is that many among the ultra-orthodox think that only they are really Jews. Whatever you may think of reform or conservative, they too are Jews. So are converts. So is the child of a mixed marriage, if they so choose. I can even take myself as an example - I am not religious & observe almost no mitsvot. Yet, I have a pretty good Jewish education, I am a committed Zionist, & I believe it is important to maintain Jewish traditions. All of my ancestors (at least recent ones) were Jews. So, what am I? Am I Jewish? Am I a Jew? I'm also Israeli now. Well, I'll answer my own question. I'm a Jew because I want to be, it's my voluntary choice. And you should be open-minded enough to give that choice to whomever wants it.