The problem is that Judaism is not only a religious, but also a cultural identity. It is this character that has preserved Jewish identity in the diaspora, and this character of Judaism also came to be because of this situation. It is this that makes the matter of being a Jew a complicated thing.

Myself, I am a Jew. According to conservative and progressive Jews, that is. Orthodox Jews would not call me a Jew, because my father is a Jew and not my mother. Yet my father has a Dutch father himself, while his own mother was a "pure" (excuse the term; there is a lack of better terms so my hand is forced) Jewess, with both a Jewish mother and father. So, what is he? A full-blooded Jew or just as much a Jew as I am?

If we go with the latter, I would be less a Jew, since my father would only be 50% Jewish and my mother is Dutch, so that would make me 25% Jewish.

Confusing, no? Nevertheless, I have learned Hebrew and have been accepted as a Jew by the American (and Israeli) Jews at the synagogue on Aruba. I've not done my Bar Mitsvah yet, and not sure if I ever will (or even if I still can).



~Wiz