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I recently read an article<\/a> by Taylor Marshall, the author of the excellent book,\u00a0The Crucified Rabbi<\/a>. In this\u00a0article,\u00a0he shares with his readers that he has recently discovered that he has Jewish ancestry. Towards the end of his post, he addressed a concept\u00a0which I’ve heard throughout my life, but to which I have never really given much thought. This is the idea\u00a0that Judaism is matrilinial, that you’re considered a Jew if either you are a convert or your mother is Jewish.<\/p>\n This belief seems to be first officially found\u00a0in the Mishnah, the Second Century codification of Jewish Oral Tradition.\u00a0I did a little bit of research and found out that matrilinialism is still officially upheld by Orthodox Jews. In contrast, Karaite Judaism holds a patrilinial belief, saying that Judaism comes through the father, and Reformed Jewish groups favour a bilinial stance, saying that you’re Jewish if either<\/span> parent is Jewish.<\/p>\n In his article, Dr. Marshall presents a number of very compelling Biblical examples\u00a0to show that Judaism can’t be matrilinial:<\/p>\n 1. The tribes of Ephraim and Manesseh<\/strong> 2. Moses<\/strong> 3. David<\/strong> I’ve seen some writers respond to these arguments by saying that the Jewish people (“a kingdom of priests, a holy nation”<\/span><\/em>) only begin at Sinai with the giving of the Law. Other explanations say that the conversion of the foreign wife to Judaism is assumed even if the biblical text sees no need to explicitly narrate it.<\/p>\n
\nThese were the sons of the patriarch Joseph and the heads of two tribes of Israel. Their mother was an Egyptian, the daughter of an Egyptian priest. If Judaism is matrilinial, that would exclude a sizable portion of the Twelve Tribes of Israel!<\/p>\n
\nHe married and had children with a Cushite (non-Israelite<\/a>) woman.<\/p>\n
\nWe read in the genealogy of David of his grandfather Obed. He was the child of Boaz and Ruth who was a Moabite. If Judaism is matrilinial, Obed was not Jewish and, by extension, neither was King David!<\/p>\n