My father is Jewish, his father is Jewish and his fathers father is also Jewish?

The true answer is a bit complicated. So:

1. According to halacha--traditionally-observant Jewish law--you are not Jewish unless your mother was Jewish or you convert. So if you convert, you would be Jewish.

2. Within Reform Judaism, you are Jewish if **either** parent is Jewish **and** you were raised Jewishly. Otherwise you would have to convert.

According to halakha (Jewish religious law), a person is Jewish if he or she is born to a Jewish mother OR if he or she converts to Judaism. The first doesn't apply in your case, so you'd have to convert to Judaism if you want to be Jewish. But, yes, you can become Jewish if that's something you want to do.

This is a good link on conversion to Judaism, if that's something you'd like to explore: http://www.convert.org/

EDIT: The "Old Testament" is *Christian,* NOT Jewish. Jews use the Tanakh, which is what the "OT" is based on.

You can if you want to be. It's up to you.

old man on the hill - "you were born a jew. whether or not you remain one is up to you"

Actually, he was born an atheist, like everyone else.

No one is born belonging to any religion. They're indoctrinated into it beginning at an age or three or four.

Adam - "i think technically anyone can join judaism, some sects say your mother must be jewish for you to be born into the tribe"

Yes, anyone can belong to any religion.

It is true that some particular *churches* will not allow you to join unless you meet their particular criteria, but any person can convert to any religion simply by believing what that religion entails. Someone can "become" a Jew, or a Muslim or a Christian or a Hindu, in the next five seconds, simply by acknowledging that that religion's teachings are in congruence with the person's beliefs.

Joining a specific sect or church may be a more complicated matter, but a religion is nothing more than a faith-based belief system regarding the supernatural. If you believe the Old Testament, and you believe in the god of Abraham, and you deny that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, then you're a Jew by default, whether any specific synagogue recognizes you as a member of their group or not.

In the Jewish faith, if a Jew marries a non-Jew, the kids are whatever their mother's religion is. So if your mother's Jewish, you're Jewish, if your mother's not Jewish, you're not Jewish.

i think technically anyone can join judaism, some sects say your mother must be jewish for you to be born into the tribe, while other sects allow the father to be the birthright you should ask your religious leader and if not just join them.

You are your mother's child.

If your mother is Jewish- then you are Jewish.

Otherwise -- if you have a deep seated need to be part of the Jewish people, with all of the obligations that go with being part of the Jewish people,

then you come to the tribal leaders (the rabbinic court) and you let them know -- and go through the tribal initiation process -- and you will be welcomed in with open arms.

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@Alexis - Jews are a tribe.

People are either born into a tribe or adopted into it.

They are not indoctrinated into it -- one could reasonably say that they are indoctrinated into keeping the tribal laws and traditions

PS: people are not born atheist. they are born puking, pooping, eating machines. It is an insult to atheist philosophers to call such machines atheist.

PPS: a non-Jew who believes in the truth of Judaism would be a "child of Noah" - neither he nor any Jews will believe that he is Jewish. Such a person will believe that in order to be Jewish he needs to be adopted into the tribe.

I dont think you are Jewish unless your mom was or you convert.

you can convert.

but ethnically speaking you are already Jewish

you were born a jew. whether or not you remain one is up to you