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Apologies if my question doesnt belong here.

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I would suggest that you ask your friend. Frankly, I think this question (as written) is unanswerable, but I'm hesitant to edit it because it's been here for so long and already has 4 answers. –  Seth J Jul 2 '14 at 16:26

4 Answers 4

up vote 12 down vote accepted





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That is incorrect - a Jew who sins (including "converting" to another religion) remains a Jew. There is no halachic way to renounce your Judaism once you are Jewish. –  Shaul Behr May 24 '11 at 11:41





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According to Orthodox Judaism, yes. But according to Reform, no. For more information, look at this article subsection: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… –  Adam Mosheh Mar 25 '12 at 3:38







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Judaism consists of the religious belief and practice aspect of the the Jewish people. More correctly Jewish is an ethnicity. While Judaism has religious beliefs and rituals someone is determined to be Jewish if 1) their mother is Jewish 2)they have converted by accepting all religious beliefs, practices, and rituals and have been declared so by a Jewish court who will require mikvah, circumcision for males, and will give a certificate acknowledging this persons acceptance into the Jewish people.

Zionism is a political movement that was started by Theodore Herzl which believed that to eliminate antisemitism Jews must have a country of our own. In doing so the Jewish people would become normalized in the eyes of the international community as a legitimate nation through actions of self-determinism. The original plan for Zionism was to have a country and any country. Eventual this idea evolved to making a portion of the biblical land of Israel into the modern Jewish country that would fulfill the goals of Zionism.

Many Jews are Zionist as they identify with the Zionist political movement, many are Zionists for other reasons, and many are not. Today what Zionism means to an individual may not necessarily reflect the political views of its founder and can vary from individual to individual. There are also many non-Jews who are also Zionists today. There are varying reasons for them to be Zionists. Among some of the reasons non-Jews may find themselves supporting Israel is they support the existence of a democratic style country in a hostile area of the world and because of Israel's many very positive contributions to society in realms of business, literature, art, medicine, science, and technology. Others are Zionist because their own faith believes that in order for their hope of the messianic age (return of Jesus) will only be fulfilled by Jews living in the land of Israel)

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