{"id":26,"date":"2010-11-07T19:40:53","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T00:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sintheta.org\/mcgene\/?p=26"},"modified":"2011-01-25T19:44:23","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T00:44:23","slug":"so-you-want-a-villa-on-the-mediterranean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sintheta.org\/mcgene\/?p=26","title":{"rendered":"So you want a villa on the Mediterranean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who knew!<\/p>\n

Israeli immigration laws<\/a> will accept an application for Israeli citizenship if there is proven documentation that any grandparent\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnot just the maternal grandmother\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwas Jewish. This does not mean that person is an “ethnic Jew”, but Israeli immigration will accept that person because he or she has an ethnically Jewish connection, and because this same degree of connection was sufficient to be persecuted as a Jew by the Nazis<\/a>. See Jewish ethnic divisions<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

This Wikipedia site<\/a> has an interesting overview of what it means to be Jewish.\u00c2\u00a0 It is not as straightforward as one would assume.<\/p>\n

In a related area, today I heard on the CBC (Tapestry) <\/a>a program on Jewish aetheists, agnostics and ignostics.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Apparently a recent study in the United States determined that 17% of Jews are aetheists. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The same program indicated that the Sephardic Jews who were chased out of Spain into northern Portugal by the Catholics at the end of the 15th century\u00c2\u00a0 AD<\/a> went on to university there and many became\u00c2\u00a0 aetheists, apparently the first in Europe.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Now I ask you, did it not cross anyone’s mind before that?\u00c2\u00a0 So far I have not attempted to confirm the information presented in that program. The program is available in a podcast http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/podcasting\/pastpodcasts.html?26#ref26 .<\/p>\n

From the Wikipedia entry cited above:<\/p>\n

“Who is a Jew?<\/strong>” (Hebrew<\/a>: \u00d7\u017e\u00d7\u2122\u00d7\u201d\u00d7\u2022 \u00d7\u2122\u00d7\u201d\u00d7\u2022\u00d7\u201c\u00d7\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u017d pronounced <\/small>[\u00cb\u02c6mihu jehu\u00cb\u02c6di]<\/a>) is a basic question about Jewish identity<\/a> and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question is based in ideas about Jewish personhood which themselves have cultural<\/a>, religious<\/a>, genealogical<\/a>, and personal<\/a> dimensions. The question was of importance during the rule of the Nazis in Germany, and was addressed by the Nuremburg Laws<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

There are controversial aspects \u00e2\u20ac\u201d to begin with, the question has a logical inverse, namely, “Who is <\/em>not a Jew?” Recent court cases have gained particular prominence in connection with several legal cases in Israel<\/a> since 1962,[1]<\/a><\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/sup> and in 2009 there was a prominent and controversial court case<\/a>, in the United Kingdom<\/a>, about the question.[3]<\/a><\/sup>[4]<\/a><\/sup>[5]<\/a><\/sup>[6]<\/a><\/sup>[7]<\/a><\/sup>[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

The definition of who is a Jew<\/a> varies according to whether it is being considered by Jews based on normative religious statutes, self-identification, or by non-Jews for other reasons. Because Jewish identity can include characteristics of an ethnicity<\/a>, a religion<\/a>,[9]<\/a><\/sup> and citizenship, the definition of who is a Jew has varied, depending on whether a religious, sociological, or ethnic aspect was being considered.[10]<\/a><\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

According to halakha<\/a>, the oldest normative definition used by Jews for self-identification, a person is matrilineally<\/a> a Jew<\/a> by birth, or becomes one through conversion to Judaism<\/a>. Adherence to this definition has been challenged since the emergence of the Karaite<\/a> sect<\/a>, emergence of modern groups in Judaism since the 19th century, and the creation of Israel<\/a> in 1948. Issues that have been raised reflect:<\/em><\/p>\n