Little Hawk, what is your obsession with Jews…who is a Jew, and what is a Jew and what is the purpose of Jews?   Seemingly, you have not been reading some of my posts or those of others, or you have chosen to ignore them. The historian, Arnold Toynbee, believed that the Jews should have disappeared from history, as did the Babylonians and other ancient peoples, with the ascension of Christianity in the 4th century CE. But they haven't. I get that feeling, somewhat, from reading your post(s), especially the tone of that at 4:30 PM.

Jews have never been, per se, a race; they are a Semitic group which practices Judaism, related to Arabs and other Semites. Through most of the Torah after the Exodus they are called Israelites. I'm not sure, but I don't believe the term 'Jewish' was applied until the 6th century BCE, after the exile to Babylonia. During the early Roman occupation they area was called Idumea (Judea); after the expulsion of the Jews by Rome the area became known as Palestine, expunging reference to Jews and Judeans, although some remnant of Jews were always there.

Jews share religious values, although they may not express them in exactly the same way, or at all. They do not necessarily share cultural values. Jews from Eastern Europe have different culture and outlook than those from Palestine, Iraq Iran etc., and different from those Jews from Ethiopia or from China or India! Yes, they are/were there too, and many look Chinese or Indian.

Jews used to have to have a Jewish mother to be considered 'born' Jews; except for the Orthodox, this requirement has eased so that if one has a Jewish mother or a Jewish father s/he may be considered Jewish. Your reference to Sammy Davis, Jr. seems gratuitous. Of course he didn't have a Jewish parent…he was a convert as you noted! There is, in Judaism, no legal or religious difference between 'born' Jews and those who converted from other religions.

Once a Jew, always a Jew. Woody Allen may be an athiest, but if he, like Kirk Douglas, now wanted to participate in religious Judaism he would be allowed to do so fully. Unless one is excommunicated (a real rarity) or formally renounces the religion, but even then they are often still thought of as Jews by Jews. However, one cannot merely declare oneself to be a Jew and be considered one, any more than one can say s/he is a Catholic or a Frenchman and so be in the legal sense.

I suppose there are some folks of Jewish background who are in denial or ashamed of it, but I don't know what you mean about being 'undercover'. Am I missing a conspiracy that I should be part of?

As to the Jewish concept of 'Chosen,' see my post of t/23 about noon. It differs quite a bit from being merely ethnocentric or religiocentric.

I hope this has helped you understand Judaism a little better, at least from the perspective of a Jew. I know it is very general, but there are books that give very good overviews of the Jewish religion and history.

John