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How do I become Baha’i?
Religion

Once a Jew, Always a Jew?

Rebecca Sherry Eshraghi | Oct 16, 2017

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

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Rebecca Sherry Eshraghi | Oct 16, 2017

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

What’s the difference between ethnicity, heritage, religion and faith?

A few days ago I wanted to wish all my Jewish friends a very Happy Rosh Hashanna—the Jewish New Year—and at the same time I began to reflect on my own ancestry.

You see, my name is “Rebecca” which is historically a very Jewish name. Many times when I meet people from the Jewish community and tell them my name they joyfully say “Oh you are Jewish!” and right away feel a closeness. “Well …,” I explain, “I am indeed from Jewish descendants, but I am a Baha’i!”

I usually get a puzzled look … Then comes the typical question: “Are your ancestors, especially from your mother’s side Jewish?”

“Yes!” I reply.

Then I hear a sigh of relief and I am told: “Ah … so you ARE Jewish then.”

Even when I repeat that I am a Baha’i, I soon realize that for most Jews being Jewish does not mean my beliefs—instead, it defines what my heritage and lineage is.

But what really defines a “Jew”? Is it considered an ethnicity? Is it a preordained destiny? Is it a choice? Is it a religion? Is it a set of beliefs? Or is it purely related to your matrilineal descent?

orthodox-jewish-coupleTraditionally, in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, the Halakha (the body of ancient Jewish law) defines a Jew as someone whose mother is Jewish, or as someone who has formally converted to the Faith. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews define a Jewish person as someone whose mother or father followed Judaism, or as a convert, as well.

So do I fit the definitions? Well, I do believe in the prophets Abraham and Moses, the original founders of Judaism. I believe in the Torah—the first five books of what Christians call the Old Testament of the Bible. Is that what makes me a Jew? But then, as a Baha’i, I also believe that Christ and Muhammad were divine prophets, too. Does that disqualify me as a Jew?

I also don’t believe that any part of humanity are “the chosen ones” because I don’t believe God has favorites within His own creation.

All of these identity questions make me want to know: What does it really mean to “change” your religion? Does going through a few rituals “make” you a Jew, because the man you want to marry wants to marry a Jewish woman?

So again I invite you to ask yourself … what really makes your religion your religion? Was it your destiny? Was it handed down to you? Did it come with your culture, your family’s customs and holy days?

Or was it your choice of belief after independent investigation of truth? Baha’is believe that religion should not be inherited or accepted blindly, but should be a conscious personal choice, made after an independent search for the truth:

Although some attend churches and temples of worship and devotion, it is in accordance with the traditions and imitations of their fathers and not for the investigation of reality. For it is evident they have not found reality and are not engaged in its adoration. They are holding to certain imitations which have descended to them from their fathers and ancestors. They have become accustomed to passing a certain length of time in temple worship and conforming to imitations and ceremonies. The proof of this is that the son of every Jewish father becomes a Jew and not a Christian; the son of every Muslim becomes a follower of Islam; the son of every Christian proves to be a Christian; the son of every Zoroastrian is a Zoroastrian, etc. Therefore, religious faith and belief is merely a remnant of blind imitations which have descended through fathers and ancestors. Because this man’s father was a Jew, he considers himself a Jew. Not that he has investigated reality and proved satisfactorily to himself that Judaism is right—nay, rather, he is aware that his forefathers have followed this course; therefore, he has held to it himself.

The purpose of this is to explain that the darkness of imitations encompasses the world. Every nation is holding to its traditional religious forms. The light of reality is obscured. Were these various nations to investigate reality, there is no doubt they would attain to it. As reality is one, all nations would then become as one nation. So long as they adhere to various imitations and are deprived of reality, strife and warfare will continue and rancor and sedition prevail. If they investigate reality, neither enmity nor rancor will remain, and they will attain to the utmost concord among themselves. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 221-222.

This is my core belief that makes me a Baha’i:

The religion of God is the One Religion, and all the Prophets have taught it, but it is a living and a growing thing, not lifeless and unchanging. In the teaching of Moses we see the Bud; in that of Christ the Flower; in that of Baha’u’llah the Fruit. The flower does not destroy the bud, nor does the fruit destroy the flower. It destroys not, but fulfills. The bud scales must fall in order that the flower may bloom, and the petals must fall that the fruit may grow and ripen. Were the bud scales and the petals wrong or useless, then, that they had to be discarded? Nay, both in their time were right and necessary; without them there could have been no fruit. So it is with the various prophetic teachings; their externals change from age to age, but each revelation is the fulfillment of its predecessors; they are not separate or incongruous, but different stages in the life history of the One Religion, which has in turn been revealed as seed, as bud and as flower, and now enters on the stage of fruition. – Abdu’l-Baha, quoted by J.E. Esselmont in Baha’u’llah and the New Era, pp. 122-124.

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Comments

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  • shawn halimi
    Dec 28, 2019
    -
    I was born to a Jewish parents. When I married my wife, I knew that her mother who was born to a Jewish mother was a devout Bahai and was involved deeply in her beliefs. I wanted by children to be Jewish for sure and investigated this subject carefully and found out that my Children would be considered 100% Jewish for sure.
    I am not a very religious person, but let me explain a scientifically proven fact about Jews. Did you know that the Jews comprise only 0.2% of the population of the world. However 20% of the winners ...of Noble Prizes which can only be won by genius people only have been Jewish. This is a statistical fact. That means that a Jewish person in 10,000 times more likely to win a Noble prize compared to a non-Jewish people.
    Read more...
  • Eugene Graham
    Oct 28, 2017
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    The Religion of God is One........................I love that ......Thanks my Sister,.....Sheila
  • Sheila Guttman
    Oct 20, 2017
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    Hi Rebecca this writing of yours was wonderful and so true in every way. I too am from Jewish background and have been a Bahai for 47 years but my family not being religious i didn't feel any pressure. I think there was more from the outside Jewish world when i met another Jewish person and they heard my last name they automatically assumed i practice Judisim. So thank you for voicing those things i have often encountered and felt also.
    Sheila Guttman
  • Hooshang S. Afshar
    Oct 18, 2017
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    Dt 7:6 "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
    Dt 7:7 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples."
    I believe similar statements have been tests to the followers of every religion who consider theirs to be final, for example Jesus being the only way ...to truth and prophet Mohammad being seal of prophets.
    Read more...
  • Oct 16, 2017
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    Hi Rebecca - if Moses would be Baha'i if physically among us today, then you're a truer Jew than by mimicking millennia of tradition. Judaism says nothing about Jesus or Muhammad, but that a man (even a Manifestation) cannot be God. But as a fellow Jewish Baha'i, suggest rethinking "chosen people" point. Do you believe God gave Torah to the Jews, ordained period of atonement (via exile/harassment, due to errors/sins), while promising not to forget the remnant & return them to Israel? Do you believe Jews, as initial followers of every Manifestation, suffered torment in path of God, and Jews ...physically protect the UHJ today? Being "chosen" in this sense is not necessarily something most (if any) peoples would choose for themselves.
    Read more...
    • Sheila Guttman
      Oct 20, 2017
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      Great article excellent point..about the jewish people making a choice to follow Moses and i also believe that they are in Israel to protect our Holy Places or i should say the Holy Places for humanity.
    • Neil Chase
      Oct 17, 2017
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      It was the ancient Hebrews who chose. They chose to follow Moses out of Egyptian slavery. Does God choose, when choice itself is a human concept?
    • Oct 16, 2017
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      Excellent point! Yes, it depends on how you interpret "the chosen ones". Thanks for your input.
  • Curt Porter
    Oct 16, 2017
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    Love this article. It makes so much sense. Thank you.
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