Negotiating Jewishness through genetic testing in the State of Israel

@Jenny1234 ya i have a black friend him and his family converted years ago.. it just seems a interesting thing and might effect him.. so what i see is that they will grab genetic markers from people who lived in the area 2000 years ago and use them.. is this kinda what you see also? and if so ..

@markinkansas my genetic markers are not from 2000 years ago. My mom’s maternal side of the family is Irish and ashkenazi

@Jenny1234 i had to look that one up.. wow
An Ashkenazi is a Jew of Central or Eastern European descent, with origins tracing back to communities in the Rhineland region of Germany and France around the 10th century.

that is one to be proud of... me i am just a mutt . grin

@Jenny1234 a long read ... this will tell ya more .
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5034383/

https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/74384/ssoar-tatup-2021-2-kohler-Negotiating_Jewishness_through_genetic_testing.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

@markinkansas Did you ever watch the show Finding your Roots? Many of the the stars who find their roots on the show are Ashkenazi Jews. They seem to be a very talented group of people, who emmigrated a lot to the new world.

@JimboSaturn no and i should .. hard working people . be interesting

@Jenny1234 I'm currently in the process. I've got 18 weeks of classes ahead of me and then a meeting with a religious court. I've been on this path a long time(been there longer than the current rabbi) and recently decided it was time to make it official. My rabbi is confident there will not be any problems.

@robb65 may I ask what it was that made you want to convert

@Jenny1234 that depends. If you want to move to Israel and be married you need to be converted by an Orthodox rabbi.

@samueltyler2 not necessarily.
I had a friend who converted to Liberal Judaism. They accepted it, but she had to work on a kibbutz for a year.

@basilfawlty89 was the friend born to a Jewish woman?

@samueltyler2 nope. Not at all.
Irish Catholic dad, German Catholic and Dutch mom.

@basilfawlty89 You had me questioning my knowledge, that is fine, that is how I learn. We were discussing, i thought, the religious aspects. I did a Gogle/AI search:

Yes, Reform Jewish conversions are accepted in Israel for citizenship purposes under the Law of Return, thanks to an Israeli Supreme Court ruling in March 2021. This means that people who convert to Judaism through the Reform and Conservative movements are considered Jewish by the state and are entitled to become Israeli citizens. However, these conversions are generally not recognized for religious purposes, such as marriage and burial, which are handled by the Orthodox Rabbinate.
Key Details
Citizenship: A 2021 Israeli High Court ruling officially recognized Reform and Conservative conversions for the purpose of applying for Aliyah (the right of return).
Law of Return: This ruling allows individuals converted by Reform or Conservative rabbis to receive Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.
Religious Services: For religious purposes like marriage and burial, conversions performed by Reform or Conservative movements are not officially recognized by the Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel.
Historical Context: The court's ruling followed a lengthy legal battle and came after a period of inaction by the state to address the issue legislatively, according to The Times of Israel.
In Summary
Reform conversions are accepted for civil purposes (citizenship) in Israel but not for most religious purposes, highlighting the distinction between the state's recognition and religious recognition within the country.

@samueltyler2 indeed. She didn't get married or anything. Obviously not buried lol. She just converted to Judaism as she felt it answered her questions better than Christianity.

@basilfawlty89 that is fine, just wondered if things had changed in the religious part in Israel, according to Google, no. There are so many more reform and conservative congregations in Israel, perhaps one can find a rabbi to officiate at a wedding, etc.

@markinkansas No this does not affect converts as converts are 100% Jewish. Basically the right of return extends to anyone who would have been persecuted for their Jewish ancestry even if they are not technically Jewish. DNA can't prove you are or are not Jewish but it can prove you had Jewish ancestry.

@Jenny1234 It's a really long story. It started with me studying the bible and looking for answers for the details that didn't match up with what I had been taught. I stumbled across a Breslov rabbi online who just happened to be visiting our state, went to hear him, and asked the rabbi at the synagogue where he spoke if I could come back for services. Eventually I visited a different synagogue closer to home and it felt like where I was supposed to be. Now, almost 2 decades later I decided it's time to make it official.

@robb65 I can understand that. I had to go to Sunday school in the Anglican church and the things I was taught did not add up. I no longer consider my self Christian.

@Jenny1234 do you identify with any religion now?

@samueltyler2 I do not identify with any organized religion

@robb65 are you studying to convert now?

@Jenny1234 that is okay.