Tracing of Jewish descent through maternal lineage
Part of a series on
Jews and Judaism
Etymology
Who is a Jew?
Religion
God in Judaism (names)
Principles of faith
Mitzvot (613)
Halakha
Shabbat
Holidays
Prayer
Tzedakah
Land of Israel
Brit
Bar and bat mitzvah
Marriage
Bereavement
Baal teshuva
Philosophy
Ethics
Kabbalah
Customs
Rites
Synagogue
Rabbi
Texts
Tanakh
Torah
Nevi'im
Ketuvim
Talmud
Mishnah
Gemara
Rabbinic
Midrash
Tosefta
Targum
Beit Yosef
Mishneh Torah
Tur
Shulchan Aruch
Zohar
History
General
Timeline
Land of Israel
Name "Judea"
Antisemitism
Anti-Judaism
Persecution
Leaders
Modern historiography
Historical population comparisons
Ancient Israel
Twelve Tribes of Israel
Kingdom of Judah
Kingdom of Israel
Jerusalem (in Judaism
timeline)
Temple in Jerusalem(First
Second)
Assyrian captivity
Babylonian captivity
Second Temple Period
Yehud Medinata
Maccabean Revolt
Hasmonean dynasty
Sanhedrin
Schisms (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes)
Second Temple Judaism (Hellenistic Judaism)
Jewish–Roman wars (Great Revolt, Diaspora, Bar Kokhba)
Late Antiquity and Middle Ages
Rabbinic Judaism
History of the Jews in the Byzantine Empire
Christianity and Judaism(Jews and Christmas)
Hinduism and Judaism
Islamic–Jewish relations
Middle Ages
Khazars
Golden Age
Modern era
Haskalah
Sabbateans
Hasidism
Jewish atheism
Emancipation
Old Yishuv
Zionism
The Holocaust
Israel
Arab–Israeli conflict
Communities
Ashkenazim
Galician
Litvak
Mizrahim
Sephardim
Teimanim
Beta Israel
Gruzinim
Juhurim
Bukharim
Italkim
Romanyotim
Cochinim
Bene Israel
Berber
Related groups
Bnei Anusim
Lemba
Crimean Karaites
Krymchaks
Kaifeng Jews
Igbo Jews
Samaritans
Crypto-Jews
Anusim
Dönmeh
Marranos
Neofiti
Xueta
Mosaic Arabs
Subbotniks
Noahides
Population
Judaism by country
Lists of Jews
Diaspora
Historical population by country
Genetic studies
Land of Israel
Old Yishuv
New Yishuv
Israeli Jews
Africa
Algeria
Angola
Bilad-el-Sudan
Botswana
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Benin
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Egypt
Ethiopia
Eritrea
Eswatini
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria (Igbo)
Republic of the Congo
São Tomé and Príncipe
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
Tanzania
Tunisia
Uganda (Abayudaya)
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Asia
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Cambodia
China
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kurdistan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
Oman
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Syria
Tajikistan
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen
Europe
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech lands
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Spain
Sweden
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Northern America
Canada
United States
Latin America and Caribbean
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica
Mexico
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Oceania
Australia
Fiji
Guam
New Zealand
Palau
Denominations
Orthodox
Modern
Haredi
Hasidic
Reform
Conservative
Karaite
Reconstructionist
Renewal
Science
Haymanot
Humanistic
Culture
Customs
Minyan
Wedding
Clothing
Niddah
Pidyon haben
Kashrut
Shidduch
Zeved habat
Conversion to Judaism
Aliyah
Hiloni
Music
Religious
Secular
Art
Ancient
Yiddish theatre
Dance
Humour
Cuisine
American
Ashkenazi
Bukharan
Ethiopian
Israeli
Israelite
Mizrahi
Sephardic
Yemenite
Literature
Israeli
Yiddish
American
Languages
Hebrew
Biblical
Yiddish
Yeshivish
Jewish Koine Greek
Yevanic
Juhuri
Shassi
Judaeo-Iranian
Ladino
Judeo-Gascon
Ghardaïa Sign
Bukharian
Knaanic
Zarphatic
Italkian
Gruzinic/Judaeo-Georgian
Judeo-Aramaic
Judeo-Arabic
Judeo-Berber
Judeo-Malayalam
Judeo-Domari
Politics
Jewish political movements
Anarchism
Autonomism
Bundism
Feminism
Leftism
Secularism
Territorialism
World Agudath Israel
Zionism
General
Green
Labor
Kahanism
Maximalism
Neo-Zionism
Religious
Revisionist
Post-Zionism
Category
Portal
v
t
e
In Judaism, the traditional method of determining Jewishness relies on tracing one's maternal line. According to halakha, the recognition of someone as fully Jewish requires them to have been born to a Jewish mother.[1] A person who is born to a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father is regarded as Zera Yisrael (lit.'Seed of Israel') and will only be accepted as ethnically Jewish and not as religiously Jewish. Thus, being Jewish through the paternal line typically necessitates conversion to Judaism to validate one's identity as a Jew in the fullest sense.
Matrilineal descent is observed in Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism, whereas Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism accept full Jewishness through either parent; Reform responsa, however, requires an exclusively Jewish upbringing. Patrilineal descent is observed in Karaite Judaism, which asserts that only the Hebrew Bible by itself—that is, disregarding the Oral Torah—is legally and religiously binding.
The origin of Judaism's determination of Jewishness through matrilineality is disputed, but according to many modern academic opinions, it was likely instituted in either the early Tannaitic period (c. 10–70 CE) or in the time of Ezra (c. 460 BCE).[2][3][4]
^Mishnah Kidushin 3:12; Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 8:5
^Louis Jacobs, There is no Problem of Descent Archived 6 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Judaism 34.1 (Winter 1985), pp. 55-59
^Cite error: The named reference sjdc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference schiffman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 27 Related for: Matrilineality in Judaism information
Judaism's determination of Jewishness through matrilineality is disputed, but according to many modern academic opinions, it was likely instituted in...
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their...
Conversion to Judaism (Hebrew: גִּיּוּר, romanized: giyur or Hebrew: גֵּרוּת, romanized: gerut) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion...
legal traditions of the Jewish people. Contemporary Judaism having originated as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age, and evolved...
Women inJudaism have affected the course of Judaism over millenia. Their role is reflected in the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law (the corpus of rabbinic literature)...
InJudaism, especially in Orthodox Judaism, there are a number of settings in which men and women are kept separate in order to conform with various elements...
Baiul decided to identify as Jewish because of the custom of matrilinealityinJudaism. In 2005, she said, "Being Jewish, that feels good. It feels natural...
original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2022. See also: MatrilinealityinJudaism and Who is a Jew?#Halakhic perspective Wagner, Matthew (20 November...
ISBN 978-0-8264-1629-2. Swidler, Leonard (1976). Women inJudaism: The Status of Women in Formative Judaism. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810809048...
can be cultural in nature. Jewish identity can involve ties to the Jewish community. Orthodox Judaism bases Jewishness on matrilineal descent. According...
ceremony (see MatrilinealityinJudaism), however, he decided not to follow through with his Bar Mitzvah. Instead, he followed his mother's example in refusing...
News. Retrieved 23 June 2017. Graetz, Naomi (1998). "Judaism Confronts Wife Beating". Women inJudaism. Retrieved 27 January 2012. Daniel Ben Simon. "Israel's...
believed that God's presence dwells in a pure and loving home In Jewish culture, a marriage is described as a "match made in heaven," and is treated as a holy...
survey of Jewish schools in the United States, Pessin's The Jewish People was among the most widely used history texts. In 1954, Pessin received the...
only avoiding purposeful contact. Adherents of Conservative and Reform Judaism do not follow these laws. Many Jews with Orthodox beliefs believe that...
Reconstructionist Judaism is a Jewish movement based on the concepts developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983) that views Judaism as a progressively...
communities was a ceremony developed by rabbis in Reconstructionist Judaismin the 1970s. However, in the 1970s and 1980s, other American Jews from various...
common language in Israel. Ashkenazim adapted their traditions to Europe and underwent a transformation in their interpretation of Judaism. In the late 18th...
have strictly matrilineal descent), and people without any Jewish ancestral background or lineage who have formally converted to Judaism and therefore...
Jewish men inJudaism. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion. In its modern...
due to a lack of matrilineal Jewish ancestry. Traditionally, Rabbinic Judaism has understood Jewishness to be passed down matrilineally. Although contemporary...
Jews and Judaismin China are predominantly composed of Sephardi Jews and their descendants. Other Jewish ethnic divisions are also represented, including...
position of Orthodox Judaism is the view that Conservative and Reform Judaism made major and unjustifiable breaks with historic Judaism - both by their skepticism...
branch of Judaism that regards levitical status as conferrable by matrilineal descent. It is either conferrable patrilineally with a Jewish mother, in the traditional...
only 40 to 50 individuals partake in Jewish activities. Within the framework of contemporary rabbinic Judaism, matrilineal transmission of Jewishness is predominant...
expelled from the community. In Orthodox Judaism Halakhic Jewish status is determined by documentation of an unbroken matrilineal line of descent and when...
stipulations of Judaism's halakha, which defines Jewishness through matrilineality. As of 1970[update], all Jews by blood and their non-Jewish spouses...