Is Judaism a religion or race?

A religion. Period. I know plenty of black and Asian Jews.

It is BOTH.

Judaism has a very distinct DNA signature that can be located among people from that lineage, and can be found in almost every country of the world. There are many Ethiopians that have distinctive Jewish DNA, so distinct in fact that some researches consider the Ethopians to be one of the "Lost Tribes of Israel". Almost all people in the Middle East have some Jewish DNA characteristics.

Judaism is the monotheistic religion practiced by many of these peoples. Judaism is based on the monotheistic God Jehovah, and yet looks for a Messiah that, under Jewish beliefs, is still to come.

Of course, to be a blood-related Jew you MUST have the DNA signature somewhere in your ancestry. But to become a legalized Jew, so far as religion is concernd, any person of any race may "convert" by following the laws of conversion set forth by the Jewish Religious Leaders.

A religion, because you are asking about Judaism. I define Judaism as the religion of the Jews. If you were asking about "Jews" specifically, I could come up with about 3 or 4 definitions.

I note that the article goes all the way back to Abraham. I do not recognize Abraham, nor Isaac, nor even the descendant Judah as Jews. The term Jew didn't come about until after the split of the Kingdom of Israel under King Rehoboam. After Israel split, the Kingdom of Judah was the place where the Jews were living, which mainly consisted of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi.

As usual, most answers here are nonsense.

These are the facts:

1. Jews are descendants of the Tribes of Israel, and the different scattered communities absorbed some converts into them over the years.

2. There area about 13 million Jews in the world.

3. Most Jews are not religious, many are athiest.

4. A "Jew" is not and never was and never will be in a million years - a religious idenitity.

So what are Jews? Jews are a tribe. A tribe is not a religion, a tribe is not a race. It is a tribe that goes by lineage, and every now and then adds in members.

The reason for the "thumbs down" on every comment that says Jews are not a religion is because apparently a lot of people in this crazy world have a problem - political (Arabs) or theological (Christians) - that we exist, but we do exist and the fact is we are people that share a common history, heritage and a prominent amount of common ancestry.

Edit: I looked through the blog so I'll add a bit. Basically, it's misleading. The idea that Jews who convert to other religions are no longer Jews is bogus. A Jew who converts to Christianity for example, it might be a problem for Jews according to Jewish law to consider him as a Jew for different "tribal laws" such as adding him to prayer. But at the same time, they will not consider him a non-jew. If Jews see a Jew who became Christian eating pork - in their head he is a sinning Jew, not a gentile (in which there would be no problem), or they would not for example ask him to help them on doing something they are forbidden to do on Shabbat and gentiles are not. In other words, the "not considering a sinning Jew to be Jew" thing - is only from the halachic (=Jewish law) side, and even then it is only in extreme cases. The concept among Jews is usually the opposite as the Talmud says "an Israelite who sinned is an Israelite" - meaning being Jewish doesn't depend of your observance of Torah. You will always be viewed as a Jew.

I'll give you a possible scenario just to show that "Jew" is not a religous identity even in the eyes of religious Jews. According to Jewish law, in order for Jewish men to pray, they need to be 10 Jewish men altogether (this is the proper way to pray). Its called a "Minyan". Many times in Israel, you'll see Jews running around the street near a synagogue looking for other Jews to come join the prayer so that they will be 10 and they could pray.

Let's say there are 9 Jews and they need another Jew to pray with them. They meet two people:

1. A guy who was born to Jewish parents but is secular, doesn't believe in God and hates Judaism and thinks its all nonsesne.

2. A guy who is not Jewish by birth and did not convert properly (in Israel that would include a reform/conservative convert), but does believe in the Torah, in the God of Israel, and keeps the laws of Judaism and really wants to pray with them.

Who do you think they would ask to join them?

Obviously guy number 1 without any doubt. And guy number 2 they wouldn't count even if he decides to join all on his own (they probably wouldn't tell him to leave not to hurt him, but they would keep searching for another Jew to join in so they could pray, or more likely - drag in the first guy even if he doesn't like it lol).

This is Jewish law!

In other words: A "Jew" is a tribal identity, not a religious one. People really need to get over this - including Jews!!

Tribe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvaGfuzpUso

Lechaim!

"race" is a racist concept.

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish nation.

The Jews are a nation -- a kinship group and socio-cultural-political entity.

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I'll take a look at the article and give my reaction in a bit

Judaism is a religion. Although most believers are of Jewish origins, people of all races have been believers in the religion of Judaism.

Psalm 87 is dedicated to converts of Judaism of all races--Philistines, Ethiopians, Babylonians, etc.

"(Of the Bnei Korach. A mizmor. A shir) On the Harei Kodesh (Holy Mountain) stands His foundation. Hashem loveth the sha'arei Tziyon more than all the mishkenot Ya'akov. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O Ir HaElohim. Selah. To them that know me, I will make mention of Rachav and Babylon; hinei, Philistia, and Tzor, with Ethiopia: this man was born there. But of Tziyon it shall be said, This one and that one were born in her; and Elyon Himself shall establish it. Hashem shall register, when He writeth up the people, that this one was born there. Selah. The sharim (ones singing) as well as the cholelim (players on instruments) shall be there; all my fountains are in thee."

Judaism = Religion

Jewish = ethnicity, culture and nationality.

Q

They stomp about all day long and show up in droves to td everyone who doesn't support their notion but we all know a Jewish person is a Jewish person whether they practice the religion of Judaism or not.

Judaism is a religion. Things ending in "ism" usually are. "Jews" are a cultural group whose members are or were followers of that religion. They are not a distinct racial group.

Judaism by the name was/is for the Jews who were/are directly descendant from the Prophet Israel or Jacob the father of the twelve tribes of Israel .

So by this token it is only for the race of Israel

Judaism, is a religion and ethnic identity...not a race. Most Jews are Caucasians. Because the Hebrews considered themselves God's chosen people and refused to marry outside their faith, overtime they forged a distinct ethno-religious identity...So that today, even those who are irreligious, still retain a cutural/ethnic Jewish identity.