What Am I?

Question

If I do not practice Judaism often but still believe in it, what should I call myself?

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    A not-yet-practicing Jew.

    In Jewish theology a Jew is Jew even if he keeps nothing. That means that a Jew who is not yet keeping any Mitzvot (or does not even believe in God) is still Jewish. In truth, being Jewish is something that cannot be escaped.

    During the Bolshevik revolution, Jews were always on wrong side. They were always being accused of being on the other side of whoever conquered a particular area. Once the Bolsheviks entered into a town and rounded up all the Jews and accused them of being monarchists. They then lined  them all up – all three hundred of them – to shoot them. The pharmacist (who was the only person in the whole area with a medical background) suddenly, and to the absolute amazement of everyone there, revealed that he was also Jewish! During the ensuing tumult that his announcement caused, the commander of the Bolshevik battalion demanded to know why he had decided to suddenly “become Jewish”. For his entire life the pharmacist had been known as as an ardent Bolshevik, and now, all of a sudden, he was Jewish! The pharmacist answered that just because he did not believe in God did not mean that he was not Jewish. And if he was Jewish, he deserved the same fate as all his Jewish brethren. The commander was left in a quandary because they could not manage without his medical services, and in the end he left all the Jews in that town alive.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team