One of the basic problems in Israel is the question, "Who is a Jew?" Is one Jewish by religion or by ancestry? If your mother is Jewish, that makes you Jewish, but if your father is Jewish you may choose to be a Jew, though it may take a Rabbi to bless the choice. In America it could be a conservative or reformed Rabbi, but in Israel it has to be an orthodox Rabbi. You can be a convert to Judaism, too, even without any Jewish blood. If you are of Jewish blood, you are considered to be Jewish even if you keep no part of the Covenant and have absolutely no religious beliefs. But it's generally thought, paradoxically, that you repudiate your Judaism if you convert to Christianity and are baptized, even though your blood is pure Jewish. So you can be an atheist Jew but not a Christian Jew, according to the belief of many or most Jews. Or maybe you can be a Christian Jew, because who gets to make the rules? At the moment, its an agreement between the Orthodox rabbis and the Israeli Supreme Court, but that's subject to future political decisions. Or maybe it's not, because as Michael Novak recently pointed out, no one can choose to be Jewish. Instead, it is more properly said that God chooses them. They are the Chosen People. So ultimately it's God who decides who is a Jew.
Altogether, it's a tangled matter. And it's further complicated by intermarriage with Christians and others, and by the regretable fondness of secular Jews for birth control and abortion, which means that they are slowly committing demographic suicide.
>One of the basic problems in Israel is the question, "Who is a Jew?"
Easy to see how that may be a problem in Israel, where these definitions are mostly man-made. But the genetic trail is clearer, and that's the only trail that counts in Biblical interpretation and application.
>... They are the Chosen People.
What does that mean? Chosen for What? Would you cite a Biblical source that says Jews are exclusively Gods Chosen People?
"Who is a Jew?" Is one Jewish by religion or by ancestry?How about this for an awful mix-up problem.
Poor Sammy Davis Jr. had three strikes against him. He was Jewish, black, and had only one eye.
Regards