Q:
Today there is a lot of discussion about מי יהודי, who is considered a Jew. So I’m asking you, who is a Jew?
A:
A Jew is somebody who the Torah declares a Jew. Not because Reform Jews see that they’re losing out and their children are going lost among the nations, so they in their desperation invent a sheker and say a Jew is anybody who declares himself a Jew even though he’s not a Jew. No. A Jew is somebody who has accepted the practices of the Torah in the presence of a beis din of three observant Jews. In the presence of three observant Jews, he has accepted upon himself to keep everything without exception.
And then, if he’s a male he has to circumcise himself. And women and men must go into a mikvah and tovel. And these three Jews have to testify that this procedure was followed. Otherwise, he’s not a Jew.
If he’s born of a Jewish mother, he’s a Jew without any other ceremonies but if he’s a non-Jew, he must go through these procedures in order to be a Jew. Otherwise, you’re just deceiving yourself and you’re introducing into the body of the Jewish nation non-Jews under a false name. And they’ll adulterate the Jewish people and the world will be full of people who called themselves Jews who are not Jews and they’ll deceive others into marrying them.
And that’s why the question of מי הוא יהודי is one of the most important things that must be dealt with appropriately.
November 1988
