According to Jewish Law, a person is Jewish if he or she has a Jewish mother or has converted according to Halakhah, Jewish Law. It isn’t enough “to feel Jewish” in order to be a Jew. Having a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother doesn’t make a person Jewish. Also if your paternal grandfather was Jewish it doesn’t mean a thing. You have to have a Jewish mother. Jewish Law, called Halakhah in Hebrew, is the arbitrator. This is also true in matters like kashrut and Shabbat. You can’t say that a lobster is kosher just because you like lobster. And you can’t celebrate the Jewish Sabbath on Tuesday. The Jewish religion has rules. That’s the way it goes.
Why is this important? For one thing, we are currently experiencing a media bombardment surrounding the new Superman movie. Jewish Federations in America and all sorts of Jewish organizations and newspapers catering to the Jewish community have gone bonkers advertising that the new Man of Steel is being played by a Jewish actor. The Jewish world has not been as ecstatic since the establishment of the Jewish State. What fanfare! What Jewish pride! Just think - a Jewish Superman! Can there be a greater sign of success in America than one of the tribe being Superman? (It is worth noting that Superman was the brainchild of two truly Jewish teenagers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.)
Sorry to be the party pooper. The truth is that the actor, David Packard Corenswet, isn’t Jewish at all. Yes, his father was Jewish, but being “half-Jewish” doesn’t get you into the clan. Sorry - that’s the rule. And even though those same Jewish organizations in America are kvelling that his co-star, Rachel Brosnahan, playing the part of Lois Lane, is also a Jew - it simply isn’t true.
Why is all of this important? Well, for one thing the rate of assimilation and intermarriage in America is probably over 75% today. Surveys which report the figure as 60% can’t be trusted. Why? Because when a person is asked if he or she is Jewish, if there is a Jewish father in the picture, the answer will be “yes I am Jewish.” Thus the survey is based on misinformation.
The scene is similar in bars and discos all over America, on college campuses, and on Caribbean vacations. “I’m Jewish,” the guy sincerely admits to the attractive Barbie at the bar. “Wow, cool,” she replies. “I’m Jewish too!” To her world view she isn’t lying. That’s what her father always told her: “You are Jewish - I want you to marry a Jew.” She doesn’t know Jewish Law. No one ever told her that being Jewish means having a genuine Jewish mother. And her future husband doesn’t know Jewish Law either. And if he does, after a few of her knockout smiles and a few drinks, it’s wedding bells for him.
I have family still in America. Except for my brother, all of my male cousins married out of the faith. And all of them tell their kids that they are Jewish. One of my “cousins” - a non-Jew - is the president of his reform temple. It’s a total mess.
This is the reason why it is vital to do away with the “Grandfather Clause” in the Israel's Law of Return. This loophole allows non-Jews to become Israeli citizens and opens the gate to intermarriage in the “Jewish” State. All the new oleh needs is proof that a grandfather was Jewish, even on his father’s side when, in fact, he or she isn’t Jewish at all, and he can come to Israel through the Law of Return.
Of course the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization don’t want to change the law in order to placate all of the leaders of the big Jewish organizations in America and the Reform congregations - many of whom are married to gentiles.
“Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird; it’s a plane. It’s Super Jew!”