Jewish Ancestry

How do modern Jews generally treat people with known Jewish Heritage that practice another faith?

It varies, depending to some extent upon the view of a given group's rabbi as well as whether the group is Orthodox or some other branch.

It's impossible to lump all modern Jews into a single group on this issue. As with Christians, some Jews act like fanatical nutjobs while most others behave graciously even though they might disapprove.

I think some generalizations are possible even so: the descendants of Crypto Jews are much more accepted by modern Jews (even though they are practicing Catholics) than are Jews who convert to evangelical Christianity (and are subsequently ostracized by their family)

Davelaw wrote:I think some generalizations are possible even so: the descendants of Crypto Jews are much more accepted by modern Jews (even though they are practicing Catholics) than are Jews who convert to evangelical Christianity (and are subsequently ostracized by their family)

Maybe.

Again, it depends very much upon the family's degree of orthodoxy as well as their level of tolerance. Those you describe as ostracizing family members who become evangelical Christians are probably strict Orthodox or some really extreme bunch such as the Lubavitchers...neither of which is one of the more "member-heavy" branches of Judaism these days.

My husband's immediate family are Conservative bordering on Orthodox, and they all attended hubby's and his ex-wife's quite Pagan wedding ceremony.

So, when you say "some generalizations," I don't think you can generalize about what Jews per se would do today in this respect.

Some of the descendants of cryptoJews have become interested in Judaism - and not a few have converted to Judaism.

Basically, one either IS or is NOT a Jew. At least according to us Jews. Oner's 'ancestry' doesn't mean squat without a mother/father who was a practicing Jew in the picture. My husband can claim descent from the Exilarch of Babylon (the 'kingly' line, yes) - but it counts for nothing since his family were Christians for many centuries.

As to ostracizing: if a member of your family joined a religion which included as part of its tenets the intent to convert Christians to it, I think you'd begin to see the relevance.

I doubt my husband's family would have much interest in associating with any member who became a member of any Church including YEC as a tenet - and they're all Christian! Most of 'em have advanced degrees in some science or other....

I suspect the acceptance of cryptoJews is due to the fact that as RC, they are much less likely to try proselytizing. Jews have small tolerance for being exhorted to abandon our Covenant. It means for us what 'being part of the body of Christ' means for you, Dave.

While some Evangelicals have been friends to Judaism, there is a large group which has basically declared war upon us - indeed, upon anyone not of their 'faith'. Unfortunate, but they are loud and proud about announcing that 'GOD does not hear the prayer of a Jew'.

And I wouldn't be at all certain there'd be ANY correlation between a family's 'orthodoxy' (which is really 'orthoPRAXY!) and their rejection of an apostate to Evangelical Christianity. 'Reform' should not be mistaken for 'not religious' or 'not devout'.

Most Jews are not that orthodox, just as most Christians are not that fundamentalist. It's just that it's the fundamentalists that you hear from or the orthodox that you hear from.

Basically, not all that many Jews really convert as you might read about on Christian forums, even those who have little Jewish learning, or those who marry out. In my city temples and synagogues have, in the past 10 years, built adjacent regular schools as Catholic parochial schools have been doing for years. This is to help fend off the growing evangelism that some young people are exposed to. In these schools children learn not only their secular subjects but are taught to understand the importance of Judaism, our major differences from Christianity and our more modern Jewish history, instead of only learning bible history and Hebrew as they often do in ordinary Sunday school and Hebrew school.

What a good move! Mainstream Christianity has somewhat the same problem as you have described. In Protestant Christian Sunday schools (or at any rate the ones I have attended), one is not taught what makes their sect different from the others, what the others really believe and why their sect doesn't.

It helps to give people ammunition to fight back when Evangelicals target them. It isn't just the Jews who are targeted. The Evangelicals, on the other hand, are taught how to target others and what approaches and arguments to use. It is kind of like a heavily drilled army going up against civilians. The civilians don't know the tactics, may not recognize how they are being manipulated or understand how to counter it.

May i ask, what exactly is a "cryptoJew"

Shalom