Editing Jewish identity (section)

{{redirect|Jewishness|other uses|Jewish peoplehood}}{{For|Yiddishkeit, the Yiddish word for 'Jewish identity'|Yiddishkeit}}{{Short description|Perceiving oneself as a Jew}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
[[Image:Maurycy Gottlieb - Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur.jpg|thumb|[[Ashkenazi Jews]] praying in the [[synagogue]] on [[Yom Kippur]], showing traditional Jewish clothing and practice, including [[tallit]], the [[Torah]], and head coverings. (1878 painting by [[Maurice Gottlieb]])]]
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}}
'''Jewish identity''' is the objective or subjective sense of [[Identity (social science)|perceiving oneself]] as a Jew and as relating to being [[Jews|Jewish]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=87sx1v9UmlQC&q=jewish+identity ''Spinoza, Liberalism, and the Question of Jewish Identity'']. [[Yale University Press]], 1997.</ref> It encompasses elements of [[Nation|nationhood]],<ref name="Nicholson2002">{{cite book |author=M. Nicholson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvI8DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |title=International Relations: A Concise Introduction |publisher=NYU Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8147-5822-9 |pages=19–}} "The Jews are a nation and were so before there was a Jewish state of Israel"</ref><ref name="Dowty1998">{{cite book |author=Alan Dowty |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vL8r4U1FKSQC&pg=PA3 |title=The Jewish State: A Century Later, Updated With a New Preface |publisher=University of California Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-520-92706-3 |pages=3–}} "Jews are a people, a nation (in the original sense of the word), an ethnos"</ref><ref name="Neusner1991">{{cite book |author=Jacob Neusner |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoju0000neus |title=An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-664-25348-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontoju0000neus/page/375 375]– |url-access=registration}} "That there is a Jewish nation can hardly be denied after the creation of the State of Israel"</ref> [[ethnicity]],<ref name="Jews-are-ethnoreligious-group" /> [[religion]], and [[culture]].<ref name="GordisHeller2012">{{cite book |author1=David M. Gordis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWrSy8Ckd5UC&pg=PA1 |title=Jewish Secularity: The Search for Roots and the Challenges of Relevant Meaning |author2=Zachary I. Heller |publisher=University Press of America |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7618-5793-8 |pages=1–}}: "Judaism is a culture and a civilization which embraces the secular as well"</ref><ref name="Kunin2000">{{cite book |author=Seth Daniel Kunin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=St_TAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |title=Themes and Issues in Judaism |publisher=A&C Black |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-304-33758-3 |pages=1–}}: Although culture - and Judaism is a culture (or cultures) as well as religion - can be subdivided into different analytical categories..."</ref><ref name="Mendes-Flohr1991">{{cite book |author=Paul R. Mendes-Flohr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBuFygk2C-AC&pg=PA421 |title=Divided Passions: Jewish Intellectuals and the Experience of Modernity |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=1991 |isbn=0-8143-2030-9 |pages=421–}}: "Although Judaism is a culture - or rather has a culture - it is eminently more than a culture"</ref> Broadly defined, Jewish identity does not rely on whether one is recognized as Jewish by others or by external religious, legal, or sociological standards. Jewish identity does not need to imply [[religious orthodoxy]]. Accordingly, Jewish identity can be ethnic or cultural in nature. Jewish identity can involve ties to the Jewish community. 

[[Orthodox Judaism]] bases Jewishness on matrilineal descent. According to Jewish law (''[[halakha]]''), all those born of a Jewish mother are considered Jewish, regardless of personal beliefs or level of observance of Jewish law. [[World Union for Progressive Judaism|Progressive Judaism]] and [[Haymanot |Haymanot Judaism]] in general base Jewishness on having at least one Jewish parent, while [[Karaite Judaism]] bases Jewishness only on paternal lineage. These differences between the major Jewish movements are the source of the disagreement and debate about [[Who is a Jew?|who is a Jew]]. 

[[Atheist Jew|Jews who are atheists]] or Jews who follow other religions may have a Jewish identity. While the absolute majority of people with this identity are of Jewish ethnicity, people of a [[Who is a Jew?#"Half-Jewish"|mixed Jewish and non-Jewish background]] or [[gentiles]] of [[Zera Yisrael|Jewish ancestry]] may still have a sense of Jewish self-identity.