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I still don’t get it.

If being “Jewish” is based upon a religion or derived from a religion, then how can being “Jewish” be based upon a secular culture, rather than religion?

If it is based upon a cultural, secular identity, then it should be called something different and has nothing to do with Judaism, or Moses, or The Ten Commandments or any historical or factual relation to Judaism.

I still don’t get the connection.

Just aksing.

Being Jewish is both a religious thing and also a genetic thing and a cultural thing. For example, people with Jewish ancestry are more likely to have the genetic defect which leads to Tay-Sachs Disease. It doesn't matter if you've never gone to Temple or not.

Put another way, some folks are atheists and they raise their children to be atheists. But, some of those people may enjoy matzoh ball soup. They might listen to Klezmer music. They might say "Oy! Enough with the matzoh balls, already!"

Such people would be recognized as Jews (by themselves and by others) even if they didn't care about religion.

If being “Jewish” is based upon a religion or derived from a religion, then how can being “Jewish” be based upon a secular culture, rather than religion? If it is based upon a cultural, secular identity, then it should be called something different and has nothing to do with Judaism, or Moses, or The Ten Commandments or any historical or factual relation to Judaism. I still don’t get the connection. Just aksing.

Judaism is a religion, albeit one with different sub-denominations; the gap between the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and the Reconstructionists is at least as wide as the gap between the Southern Baptists and the Unitarians. There is also a Jewish culture shared by most American Jews, regardless of their degree of religious observance.

But beyond that, Judaism is also an ethnicity; the Nazis murdered anyone with a Jewish grandparent, including some who were practicing Christians.

[ I still don’t get the connection. ]

Thats true.. you don't..
In any religion you got yer believers and you got yer hangers on..
The hangers on... hang on for many reasons.. other than dogma..
Some are groupies, some are social butterflys, some are poseurs..
Many reasons to identify with groups..
All of them calling themselves whatever the group calls itself..

EXAMPLE.. Not all muslims are muslims.. this comes from the fact Mohamaad said, "If a muslim changes his religion- KILL HIM".. So saying you don't want to be a muslim anymore can get your ass killed or at least shunned/cast out.. Not a rare occurrence.. and if you're female its even WOrSe..

Other groups use other very effective means to do the same thing.. short of murder.. like shunning.. or casting out of the group-think physically by various methods..

Lots of reasons to remain a hanger-on.. because of family, friends, culture, identity, even your work or occupation.. livelyhood.. Lots of reasons to stay in a group you don't agree with.. If only because you don't know of anything better..