Are Jewish people a race or religion?

Question

My friends and I were having a debate at lunch one day. One said that Jewish can be considered a race because they've been discriminated against (the Holocaust) and they have stereotypes. All religions have stereotypes. She also said that once you're apart of the Jewish faith, whether you're born into Judaism or converted, you're considered a Jew for life even if you start considering yourself as part of another religion and because of that, "Jewish" should be a race. I say that Jewish is a religion because the word Jewish derives from Judaism, a religion. The other girls, one of the them being Jewish, in my group of friends agree that it's a religion and not a race.

The question might be of bad grammar but I hope you understand what I'm asking. Are "Jewish people" a race like "black people" and "white people," or is it a religion like "Christians" and "Muslims."

Answer

They're actually an ethno religious group, meaning they're an ethnic group who are also unified by a common religion so technically you're both right? Your friend's argument is completely wrong though, just because Jewish people are discriminated against doesn't mean they're a race. People are discriminated against for being gay-- doesn't mean gay people are a "race" y'know?

Answer

So interesting that you brought this up! The other day, I had a conversation with my softball coach about the Jewish race versus the Jewish religion. He said that for most Jews, it's just a race. Their parents forced them to have bar mitzvot, and one day they'll force their children to have bar mitzvot. Some people (such as myself), he said, see Judaism as a religion. We practice Judaism not because our parents and grandparents and great grandparents did, but because we want to. Because we care.

I personally don't see Judaism as a race such as black, white, Hispanic, or Asian because Jews can be Jewish and black orJewish and Asian. Of course, I have cousins who are European and Asian at the same time, except they are neither 100% European nor 100% Chinese. However, they are 100% Jewish.

Judaism doesn't fit on the same level as the color of our skin, although some, such as my softball coach, may interpret it in a similar way.

Answer

I consider my self to have a culturally Jewish background but am an atheist

Answer

Jewish is a race and religion. 
If you are not born Jewish (a child of a Jewish mother) you are not Jewish. You can convert to Judaism but you are Jewish by Religion and not by race. & in this case a person would identify by saying “I follow Judaism”. 
Jewish by race is defined by matrilineal (Mother’s) descent of a Cohen (Kohen) or Levi, which is connected by ancestry.
Cohen is Ashkenazi (European decent) and Levi is Sephardim (North African, Iberian decent) to clarify Sephardim Jews would classify as Hispanic, Moroccan, Tunisia, Libya etc...   
Even Orthodox Jews would view a Jewish born individual who is atheist to still be a Jew. (This is as long as he is born to a Jewish Mother)

Answer

Ok so i recently found out that I have family with Jewish last names but I wouldn't say I'm jewish exactly but I have jewish roots but yet I've never been to a synagogue and most of my relatives have been Christian so i guess I would be considered part jewish but would still need to convert. So I guess It just depends on what you believe?

Answer

being jewish is a religion but also an ethnicity/culture.

Are Jewish people a race or religion?

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