silenthawk11 said:Hold on, hold on. Was he ethnically a Jew, meaning a descendant of those who practiced Judaism? Was his lineage Israelite, Jew, or what exactly?
And yet, damn it all, he identified as an American. 😁
First question: YES.
Second question: He was Jewish by descent. An Israelite or an Israeli is a citizen of the state of Israel, and they don't necessarily have to be Jewish—they could be Druze, Palestinian, or anything else for all we know.
I realize this gets a bit tangled, because within the Jewish community, there is something preserved that you just don't see with other groups: the religion of a people and the name of the people became one and the same.
For instance, you don't really have "Christians" as a single ethnic nation (you have, say, Germans who happen to be Christian), nor do you have "Muslims" as a single ethnic nation.
However, you do have Jews, who constitute a single people. And Israel is named after one of the founding patriarchs, as you likely know, Jacob—also known as Israel.
So, Moses was Jewish by descent—though, wait, it never occurred to me until just now—I actually don't know if his mother was a Jewish woman or not.
If she was, then he’s Jewish. If not, well, then we look at his heritage.
But much more significant is what I mentioned earlier: that he didn't identify as Jewish (again, as far as I know, I once spoke with a Jew who knew him, and he mentioned this man never even considered bothering to visit the Jewish community).
Therefore, regardless of his ancestry, he simply wasn't one.
The rule is quite straightforward: you are Jewish if you are born to a Jewish mother OR if you are a convert.
And this isn't some arbitrary rule, like some idiot was rambling about here; rather, it’s an ancient tradition adopted from even older cultures. It was clear to them that while anyone could technically be your father, knowing who your mother is defines exactly who you are. Also, let's not forget that men were out roaming the world hunting for potential breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while women stayed home raising the children. So, if you are raised with the Jewish spirit, you are Jewish.