Who is a Jew
By Terry Culbreth, Rabbi
Question: Who is a Jew?
Answer: A Jew by natural birth is one who has Jewish parents (both mother
& father); or who has a Jewish mother; or who has a Jewish Grandmother
or Great-Grandmother (The rules of Aliyah - rules of immigration to
Israel).
Yitzhak Rabin is attributed to have said, “A Jew is anyone who is
willing to be called one.”
We recognize that through the ages Jewish men and women have married
non-Jewish spouses and that there are thousands of men & women who may
be of Jewish ancestry. Unless one can physically trace their ancestry back
to the 3rd or 4th generation, Eloheim is the only one who knows for sure
of an individual’s Jewish ancestry.
The letter Yochanan (John) wrote to the seven congregations
(Revelation) expresses this fact in chapter 7: Twelve Tribes of Israel are
listed (see verses 4-8) totaling 12,000 from each tribe signifying the
remnant of all of Israel. However, there are a total of 14 tribes of
Israel. Two tribes were added through Joseph’s two son’s Ephraim and
Manasseh. The two tribes that are missing from Yochanan’s list are
Ephraim and Dan. The tribe of Dan is left out because of Eloheim’s curse
on them due to idiolatry (Deut. 29:18-21; 1Kgs 12:25-30; ) and tribe of
Ephraim is left out because God said that they would be assimilated into
the Gentile world. This happened in 722 BCE when Assyria took them into
captivity with all of the northern ten tribes known as Israel. The
southern two tribes are known as Judah. However, there is a “Great
Multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes, people, and
tongues” also standing before the throne. It is believed that included
in this number are Ephraimites that had assimilated into the Gentiles as
Elohiem declared of Ephraim. Adonai declares, “You are not my people,
but days are coming when you will be called My people,(The Prophet Hosea).
Only Elohiem knows who they truly are!
Rabbi Sha’ul (Paul) explains in his letter to the Roman congregation
(Romans 11) and in his letter to the congregation in Ephesus (Ephesians 2
& 3) that Gentiles (pagans) who turn to Adonai through Yeshua, not
only are grafted into Israel, but have full citizenship in the house of
Israel. “Now, therefore you Gentiles are no longer strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizen with the house of Israel and members of G-d’s
household” (Eph. 2:19). “Gentiles become fellow heirs of the same
body, and partakers of G-d’s promise to the Jews through their
Messiah” (Eph 3:6). Rabbi Sha’ul also declares that the Gentiles
don’t uphold, support or keep Israel alive, but Israel keeps, upholds,
supports the grafted Gentile believers (Rom 11:18). The Rabbi also makes
it clear that Gentiles have been forgiven through the sacrifice of Yeshua
and they are no longer Gentiles (pagans)! Shalom Mishpachah! (Hello
Family!)
.003% of the world’s population are Jewish by birth (who would have
permission to make Aliyah), 13 million out of 5.5 billion Gentiles.