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Re: Intelligence on the X chromosome
mb (mbarrow9@ally.ios.com)
Thu, 22 Aug 1996 17:22:55 -0800
In article <DwJn81.JDz@ranger.daytonoh.ncr.com>, Mike Czaplinski
<mike.czaplinski@washingtondc.ncr.com> wrote:
> catherine yronwode <yronwode@sonic.net> wrote:
> >
> [snip]
> >
> > For instance:
> >
> > My mother is Jewish, my father Sicilian Catholic. Legally i am "fully
> > Jewish" (by Jewish law, not civil law). My co-parent is Jewish on both
> > sides of his family ("fully Jewish" by Jewish law). Our daughter is
> > "fully Jewish" by law, even though she is 1/4 Sicilian by genetic rules.
> > In short, Judiasm does not recognize "half-Jewish" as a classification.
> > One is either the offspring of a Jewish mother -- in which case one is
> > "fully Jewish" or one is the offspring of a "non-Jewish" mother -- in
> > which case one is "non-Jewish."
> >
> > As an example of this working in the other way, take my step-sister's
> > case versus the case of my half-sister:
> >
> > My step-sister's mother is German Protestant on both sides of the family
> > ("non-Jewish"). Her father is born of the marriage of male Jew and a
> > female Protestant. By genetics, her father is 1/2 Jewish, just like me,
> > but by Jewish law he is "NON-Jewish." My step-sister is 1/4 Jewish
> > genetically, but because her mother is "non-jewish" and her father is
> > "non-Jewish," she is "non-Jewish" by Jewish law. She married a Jew who
> > is Jewish on both sides of his family ("fully jewish" boith genetically
> > and by jewish law) and they had two sons. Her sons are "NON-Jewish" by
> > Jewish law, even though they are 5/8 Jewish genetically -- because she,
> > their mother, is "non-Jewish" because HER MOTHER was not Jewish.
> >
> > My half-sister, on the other hand, IS Jewish by Jewish law. Her father
> > -- the same genetically 1/2 Jewish man who is "non-Jewish" by Jewish
> > law (see above) -- married my mother, who both "fully Jewish" by Jewish
> > law (all her maternal ancestors being Jewish) and genetically Jeiwsh on
> > both sides of her family at least as far back as the early 1700s. My
> > step sister is thus "fully Jewish" by Jewish law but only 3/4 Jewish by
> > genetic rules. She has married a man who is English Protestant on both
> > sides of his family ("non-Jewish" by Jewish law). Any children they have
> > will be "fully Jewish" by Jewish law although only 3/8 Jewish by genetic
> > rules.
>
> Why did I read this and suddenly hear the Firesign Theatre line:
>
> "Did you remember to carry da bum?"
>
> From (I think) "Don't Crush That Dwarf! Hand Me The Pliers!"
>
> Mike "Half Irish/Half Polish, ALL CATHOLIC" Czaplinski
> mike.czaplinski@washingtondc.ncr.com
Sorry I didn't catch the original post.
Catherine, why bother discussing fractions of "Jewishness"? As this is
clearly a Jewish category (to my knowledge Jewishness is not a trait
biologists trace), how can one be 1/2 Jewish when according to Jewish law
it's all or nothing. One cannot be half genetically Jewish.
Culture is not genetic (nitpickers need not fry me on this, just roll with it).
mb
--
If it doesn't offend - it's not funny
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