TARRYTOWN, New York — The word Jewish is associated with a person whose religion is Judaism. But what about individuals who are atheists but trace their ethnicity to the original Hebrew tribes?
Traditionally, the following groups of people are united under the term Jewish:
-descendants of the original ethnic Hebrew tribes whose religion is Judaism;
-descendants of the original ethnic Hebrew tribes who consider themselves atheists;
-people of different ethnicities who converted to Judaism.
The largest group of people who are traditionally called Jewish are not just a religious community but an ancient ethnic group descending from the original Hebrew tribes. The group makes up a nation that is small in numbers but great in achievements.
The question arises: Why did we give up Hebrew as a name for our nation? Since being Jewish means being an adherent of Judaism, doesn’t it create some confusion when an atheist is called Jewish? Isn’t it a matter of pride to be the descendants of, and call ourselves, Hebrews?
Looking at the question in a broader light, what about people who converted to another religion but still have some genetic and physical attributes of Hebrew people, including some commonality in DNA? Such people stopped being Jewish but are still ethnically Hebrew even if they converted to a different religion. (The descendants of such converts, after continuous intermarriages with people of a different ethnic group, will acquire attributes of the other group’s ethnicity and stop being Hebrew.)
Yitzhak Navon, a former president of Israel of Sephardic descent, made a documentary of today’s descendants of forcefully converted Spanish Jews. One individual he interviewed on the island of Majorca stated: “By my heart and blood I am Jewish but by religion I am Christian.” To what extent is this statement debatable? It would be even more logical for him to say: “I am Hebrew, but my religion is Christianity.”
The first point of this article is to observe that people who call themselves Jewish constitute an ethnic group/nation, not just a religious community. The second point is to suggest that the more appropriate name for our nation is Hebrews.
Because of our tough history, many descendants of Hebrew tribes converted, or were forced to convert, to other religions. Some individuals converted in order to advance in the societies in which they lived.
Even some Roman Popes were of Hebrew origin. Many names of famous converts could be mentioned, but let us give just one example: One of the greatest prime ministers of Britain, Benjamin Disraeli, was a convert to Christianity but always remained proud of his Hebrew origin.
People of other ethnicities who converted to Judaism are Jewish but still belong to and should be proud of their original ethnicities. Their descendants, if they stay and continually intermarry within the Hebrew ethnic group, will eventually acquire all the attributes of the Hebrew ethnicity and become Hebrew, unrelated to whether they continue being religious or not.
Let us summarize:
-People who are of Hebrew descent and whose religion is Judaism are Hebrew by ethnicity and Jewish by religious affiliation.
-People of Hebrew descent who consider themselves atheists are still ethnically Hebrew. The overwhelming majority of them, to a greater or lesser extent, maintain Jewish traditions, Jewish culture, celebrate Jewish holidays, and have a Jewish mentality.
-People of other ethnicities who converted to Judaism are Jewish but of a different ethnicity. If their descendants stay within the Hebrew ethnic group, they will eventually acquire Hebrew ethnic attributes and become Hebrew (and remain Jewish if they will still practice Judaism).
-People of Hebrew descent who converted to another religion are still ethnically Hebrew but not Jewish. Their descendants will eventually lose their Hebrew attributes and become members of a different ethnicity.
A comment about our Hebrew language related to the above distinctions:
If the word Jewish is used to indicate not only our religion but also our ethnicity, then our nation has a name different from the name of our language. Most of the world’s nations call themselves and their language by the same name; French people speak French, Italian speak Italian, and so on.
Shouldn’t we speak the language of the same name as our nation, Hebrew? (Language is also one of a few racial attributes: We are Semites and Hebrew is a Semitic language.)
A noteworthy point about the etymology of our language: Our ancestors called our language “Ibri,” which was also used in reference to a member of the Ibri people. In Aramaic, it was called “Ibray.” The word Hebrew in English derives from it, as does, for example, the world “Yevray” in Russian.
A comment about who is Israeli:
Since Israel, our great country that we are proud of, is an advanced democratic country, there should be no question of who is Israeli. Independent of religious affiliation or ethnicity, a person who is an Israeli citizen is Israeli; similar to our great American country, where every individual with American citizenship is an American.
Conclusion
So the suggestion or the subject for further thought and discussion: Considering all the nuances mentioned above, let us bring our nation’s name back and proudly call ourselves Hebrew.
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Arkady Mamaysky is a mechanical engineer who emigrated directly to the United States from the former Soviet Union in 1979. He has visited Israel once, and often twice, during every year since then.