Jews and Non-Jews

While a person can be a Jew either by birth or through a recognised conversion, to be Jewish by birth you must be born to a Jewish mother. The line for Jewish descent is through the female. Therefore, while a personality such as Sharon Osborne, who had a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, is not Jewish, TV personality Stephen Fry, who had a Jewish mother but a non-Jewish father, is Jewish

Traditionally, Jews who are able to, will give up to one-tenth of their disposable income to charity. The act of giving, is a fundamental core Jewish value. While many will support Jewish charities for the needy and infirm, many Rabbis (teachers) now consider it a celebration for Jewish giving to not make distinctions between giving to Jewish and non-Jewish causes. In the USA, for example, Jewish people make more charitable donations to non-Jewish causes than they do to Jewish causes. There are also many non-Jewish charities and causes that have Jewish directors and fundraisers

All mainstream branches of Judaism (Orthodox, Liberal, Reform, Conservative) accept sincere converts according to their respective practices. The benchmark is traditional Orthodox Judaism, where the laws of conversion are based on the classical sources of Jewish law, especially discussions of the Talmud, (the Book of the Law as described in the Old Testament, particularly, the Five Books of Moses). It is not permitted for Jews to belittle or denigrate other religions. Jews also must not try to convert non-Jews to Judaism

The New Testament is considered a very rich source for a better understanding of Jewish history, Jewish law, Jewish thought, and the history of anti-Semitism. Surprisingly, almost all the books of the New Testament were actually written by Jews, most during extremely eventful periods of Jewish history

Jews mourning non-Jewish relatives and friends may certainly attend a service in a church or funeral chapel. They may also act as pall bearers or give a speech if asked to speak about the dead. However, Jews do not kneel at any time during prayer, neither, in the case of a Roman Catholic service, would they receive the Eucharist (Communion)

Jewish people will always welcome a guest, regardless of their religion, to their home, although some ultra-Orthodox (Hassidm, those who dress in black) believers may have difficulty due to their guest not being able to recite the Grace after Meal prayers in Hebrew. It is considered a “mitzvah” (an extremely good deed) by Jews to share hospitality with a stranger

Jews do not pray to idols, whether in human or animal form, so no statue of either man or animal will be found in any synagogue. It was thought in ancient times that by limiting the exposure, it would limit the opportunity. There was also an element of preventing political veneration or the partaking of non-Kosher food

In order to be recognised under Jewish Law, a Jewish person can marry a non-Jewish person in a synagogue only if the non-Jewish person has undergone the formal and recognised conversion process to Judaism, should they wish the marriage to be accepted under Jewish Law. However, without a conversion having been made, marriage in other venues, such a registry office, civic building, or other place recognised for the purpose of a legal secular marriage, while not recognised under Jewish Law, will otherwise be fully legal in the country where it takes place. Should the female be the Jewish partner, any children will be recognised as fully-Jewish, irrespective of the marriage venue

There are absolutely no restrictions whatsoever as to whom a Jewish person decides to set up a business with, providing the business is honest and legitimate and adheres to secular demands, such as tax, employment law, equality of opportunity and health and safety. Some Orthodox Jewish businesses will be closed on the Sabbath day anyway, and very Orthodox Jews will not take any income from the Sabbath day if the business is operated by the non-Jewish partner on that day. The owner, if Jewish, will always make a space or room available to allow the follower of another faith to undertake their private meditation if required

At least three-quarters of the personal names of the Jews in Hellenistic Egypt have a Greek origin. The Jews often tried to choose Greek names that sounded or had the same meaning as their Hebrew names, but many names coming from those of Greek or Egyptian deities are common. In Rome, almost half of the names of the Jews found in inscriptions are of Latin origin, about a third have Greek origins, and only about a sixth owe their origins to Hebrew or Aramaic