Jewish? Who says?

For the last 15 years the courts in Israel have been dealing with at least 12 people who converted to Judaism through non-Orthodox denominations.  Last week the High Court of Justice ruled that those converts (who convert in Israel itself) must be recognised as Jews for the purpose of the Law of Return and are entitled to Israeli citizenship. 

But this argument didn't begin in 2006.

Joseph Klausner maintains that God Fearers are different and are to be distinguished from the "righteous (or true) proselytes." Seemingly, there was a category between Jews, whether by birth or conversion, and pagans, comprised of gentiles who regarded Judaism as a great ideal, but who did not accept the requirements to become gerei tzedek, full proselytes. They were known as "God Fearers" or "Fearers of Heaven," and were found in synagogues throughout the ancient Jewish Diaspora. 

The Talmud recognizes another category,  ger toshav, the "resident stranger." The ger toshav was a non-Jew who accepted some, but not all, of the commandments of the Torah. Because of this, he was permitted to live in the land of Israel and enjoy many of the privileges of citizenship. After much discussion in the Talmud of the privileges and restrictions of the ger toshav, it was decided that the acceptance of a ger toshav was permitted only during the period that the Jubilee was in force and is no longer applicable. 

The Jewish Reconstructionist movement has recognised patrilineal descent (the father alone in a mixed marriage is Jewish; the mother is not Jewish) as a basis for Jewish identity since 1968.

When I was a young lad, I remember spending hours in debate on the "Who is a Jew?" question, and mostly it had to do with the Law of Return and Israeli citizenship.  We never really settled the matter.

But now the Israeli High Court has answered the question, perhaps once-for-all. Or has it? Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who heads the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said the ruling constitutes "a mortal blow to the Jewish character of the state" and the "complete demolition of the status quo that has been upheld for over 70 years."

I'm pretty sure that the argument will continue until Messiah returns. And then the issue will not only be settled, it will be irrelevant. 

Who says you are Jewish? Or that you are "not Jewish enough?" Halfies deal with this in various methods. 

Look at this website and how they unpack Jews vs non-Jews and the percentage of Jewish 'blood' in a person. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/problems-in-the-definition-of-the-jews 

What made us Jews was our parentage, to be sure, and then people like Ruth and Rahab who converted to what would later be titled Judaism are well known in the Bible. At the end of the day, whether you are Jewish like I am, or not-Jewish is not as significant as whether you know the Lord or not. 

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved," the prophet Joel said. And so said Peter on Shavuot in about 30 CE.  And so we say as well. Call on the name of the Lord -- this is allowed for Jewish people and non-Jewish people also. God is an equal-opportunity Saviour.