Are you kidding me? Is this blatant grossly racist person going to be allowed to write crap like this AND have it posted on this website?!

This posting has a lot of suppositions and assertions that are just that; suppositions and assertions. Many of the writer’s statements have no basis in history or Jewish law. I will provide some examples below.

“Talmud establishes no specific giyur procedure for a reason: no one cared to ask the woman. She was married to a Jew in a Jewish ceremony and led a Jewish life. She had a pre-marital mikveh immersion—and she is Jewish.”

The Talmud does, in fact, establish a giyur procedure. In Keritot 8B we find the procedures for a halachik conversion to Judaism. The convert must be circumcised, immerse in a mikveh and bring a sacrifice to the Beit Hamikdash. The last requirement is inapplicable in our time as there is no temple. All of this was to be done before a beth din as is the way conversion is handled today.

“Rabbis invented female giyur about a century ago when secular families became common, and marriage to a Jew ceased to automatically mean a Jewish life. Nominal conversion did not change the facts: those families were not Jewish and their grandchildren rarely identify with Jewish people.”

This is a very foolish assertion. The process of giyur for females is no different than for males except the requirement of circumcision. Female giyur has existed just as long as male giyur, centuries and centuries.

He goes on to using a very emotional arguement and some circular logic to prove his point.

“Jewishness, like any nationality, is a matter of blood, among other issues. I’m not prepared to recognize black or pug-nosed converts as Jews. More importantly, Jewishness is a matter of common history and experience. Someone whose parents helped to herd my relatives to Auschwitz cannot be a Jew. When my people walked the death march, his people were laughing at them. A hundred conversions won’t change a simple fact: his dear ones were murdering my dear ones; we’re enemies.”

There were Jews who hid their identity and served in the Nazi military during WW2. Is Mr. Shoher going to say that they can’t be Jews either? You become a Jew by conversion. Similarly, you become French by obtaining French citizenship.

“Likewise, gentiles can join the Jewish nation, but never become Jews.”

This is very simple. If you are a member of the American nation, you are American. If you were once a Russian, but gave up your Russian citizenship and became an American, you’re an American! A member of the Jewish nation is a Jew whether born or converted. Mr. Shoher is ok with the idea of Gentiles joining the Jewish nation but not calling them Jews. This doesn’t make sense unless he believes that being a Jew and being a member of the Jewish nation are two completely different things.

References to converts can be found in Tanakh. Ruth 1:4. Isaiah 56:3-8, Esther 8:17. Exodus 12:43-48 all mention converts. In Esther, the phrase “became Jews” is used. How can this be if a Gentile can’t become a Jew?

In Rabbinic literature there is no end of references to converts and conversion. The Talmud, Midrash, Tosefta, Shulchan Aruch, Mishna Torah and Kabbalah are full of references to converts.

Mr. Shoher’s views are based in opinion, not facts. He is entitled to his beliefs, but he should not hide behind the label of being a religious Jew. His knowledge of Talmud and Jewish history in this regard is lacking. It is written that anyone who causes a sincere convert any tears or pain, it will be repaid unto him. It is also written that you can tell a religious Jew by his good treatment and fellowship with converts.

You make use of the DNA arguement quite well and it is a remarkable thing. Jewish is not a genetic deffinition, however. If we are to use DNA as a basis of figuring out who is “really Jewish,” according to you, you would find that the majority of Jews don’t have the title. The common Jewish genetic markers are found in only about 25-30% of Jews.

Patrilineal descent can be documented by analysis of the Y-chromosome, passed from father to son. Of the many variants, or haplogroups, of the Y-chromosome, haplogroups J1 and J2, both originating from the Middle East, are the most common among Jewish men.

J2 is found in 23% of Ashkenazi Jews and 29% of Sephardi Jews[citation needed]. It is equally common among Muslim Kurds (28%), Northern Iraqis (29.7%), Modern Turks (27.9%), Greeks (22.8%), Italians, and Lebanese (29%). J2 is thought to have originated in the Northern Levant and curiously appears to have the highest frequencies within the borders of what once was the ancient Hellenic world.
J1 is found in 19.0% of Ashkenazim and 11.9% of Sephardim. It is more common among Arab populations, especially Arab Bedouins. J1 is believed to originate from the Southern Levant or Egypt approximately 10,000 – 15,000 years ago.

A variant of J1, called the Cohen Modal Haplotype, is found in a high proportion (about 65%) of Jewish males with the tradition of being Kohanim, and less frequently among other Jews (3%). Kohanim claim descent from Aaron, brother of Moses and the first priest of the temple. Aaron was from the house of Levi, the third son of Jacob.

Map showing the diversion of Y-chromosome Haplogroup IJ and its descendants.
Aaron, Waterlooplein, Amsterdam.Thus, genetic evidences provides a lower bound of at least 40% for the pecentage of Jews with a common levantine patrilineal ancestry. The discovery of the Cohen Modal Haplotype gives more weight to the Biblical and priestly claim of descent from a unique ancestor, namely Aaron, and also provides an objective test of claims of Israelite origin, as for example with the Lemba people.

Note, however, that several Kohen families carry other Y-chromosome variants. Note also that the CMH gene pattern is found in populations not known to be related to Israelites.