What does Reform Judaism say about matrilineal descent?
What does Reform Judaism say about matrilineal descent? I am the daughter of a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father. I want to become fully Jewish now. I have been studying and made a trip to Israel last summer. Yet, I find the importance of matrilineal descent very hard to accept/understand. While I think it makes sense that I not be considered Jewish because I was not fully educated and raised as such, it is hard for me to accept that others, even practicing Christians, who are the children of Jewish mothers are considered Jewish and I am not. Answer: You are the daughter of a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father who was not raised as a Jew. You have difficulty with the confusing standards of Jewish identity for people in your situation. The position of Orthodox and Conservative Judaism is that Jewish identity can only be handed down through a Jewish mother. Because of this standard, these movements will consider a person with a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father to be a Jew eve
