Do Jews need to be religious to consider themselves Jews? Is religion the defining element of Jewish identity?
• …if a Jew doesn’t believe in G-d or the Bible, eats treif and on Shabbat goes to theater, is he or she is still a Jew? Of course. Those who observe and those who are non-observant of Torah laws may all consider themselves Jews. … The big lie that Orthodox Jews do not view the non-Orthodox as Jewish has been repeated so often it becomes a false fact. Yet no Orthodox organization or leader has ever suggested that halachic status as a Jew is a function of one’s level of belief or observance. Until the last 200 years, Jews maintained a remarkable degree of unity despite their dispersion over the globe without a land of their own. This unity was possible by their common law. – Gail Winston Director, MEIR, Mid East Information Resource • Jew: this is a term derived from a geo-political designation; Jews are identified with the country of Judea and its nation; this indicates ethnic and national identity rather than just belief or practice. Muslim: this term denotes believers in Islam, i
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