Culture, Identity

KKKramer — Jew or Not a Jew?

According to LAist, Michael Richards’ publicist is running around town swearing up and down that Richards is a Member of the Tribe. There’s just one problem: Despite whatever Jewish heritage he may possess, Richards was raised a Catholic and is currently a practicing Freemason.
Sorry, but no posthumous admission of Jewishness is gonna let you off the hook for this one. It doesn’t make you look good, it makes us look bad. So I’m gonna side with the Jewish Journal on this one. Michael Richards: Not a Jew.

9 thoughts on “KKKramer — Jew or Not a Jew?

  1. Anyone who has not converted and was raised a Roman Catholic is not a Jew. That there is even a question is yet another example of the “halachically correct” position of people like Shlomo Amar, who want to “retain” as Jews those with Jewish mothers [or Jewish grandmothers, or Jewish great grandmothers, or a Jewish female ancestor 20 generations ago] but simultaneously deny that most converts are Jews.

  2. So you know, you can be a Jew and a Freemason. The Freemasons only require you believe in a devine power. Here’s a link to a prominent Rabbi who was ‘in the Craft’:
    http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080055b.htm
    Maybe you could dig up some Rabbi who feels the practices of Freemasonry are incompatible with Judaism, but I was under the impression it is accepted by both Jew and Freemason that one can be both Jew and Freemason.

  3. So is being Jewish – merely cultural? can a (halachic) Jew not be a fascist? can they not be an anti-Semite? can they not be brought up catholic and worship Jesus?
    Judaism and Mobius just disagree – being Jewish according to Judaism is not merely about cultural identity (although that’s a main part if people are wanting to convert to become Jewish) but if your great grandmother on your mothers side was Jewish – even if you are a Nazi – you are still a Jew.
    Because being Jewish (unfortunately for those of us that like to be PC about it) is an ontological distinction.
    The way i like to describe it is as Transmitters of Reality and Receivers of Reality. The ‘Jews’ are Transmitters (whether they aware of it or not and no matter what sh*te they might be transmitting – creating in reality) and a non-jew is the receiver of reality.
    (just an idea i got from the Lubavitcher Rebbe )

  4. it’s true, you can be a jew and freemason (my dad was one for a short while) but freemasonry’s practices — having studied quite a number of them — could be considered assur, especially for orthodox jews.
    also, you can certainly be culturally jewish, but when you start worshiping jesus you kind of put a big dent in that. part of being culturally jewish, as mr. richards pointed out, is being a christ killer, for better and for worse.

  5. I love Jesus – he was a swell bloke – I worshed the Lubavitcher Rebbe and think he was God incarnate does that mean I’m not culturally Jewish? Have you not noticed the whole Hewbrew Christian Thing going on around you?
    a Big dent or not Jewish? (which is it?)
    So i’m a big dent non-culturally Jewish jew – I worship satan – so what I’m still a Jew – ‘even if Israel sin – they are still Israel’ – (please see Likkutie Sichos Vol.4 p.1207 onwards)

  6. The question of “Who is a Jew?” cannot be answered unless we first ask the question of “What is a Jew?”
    If Judaism is reduced to a matter of mere genetics, then îä ìé òí äòãä äøòä äæàú? Same goes for any answer attempting to link Jewish identity with support for the state of Isael, may it be smashed speedily in our days.

  7. To echo joe ink–I had some relatives who were Jewish Masons; my impression is that there were Jewish Masonic lodges, much as there were African-American Masonic lodges.

  8. There have been lots of Jewish freemasons. In fact, the Order of the Asiatic Brothers, one of the important quasi-masonic lodges, was founded in the late 18th century by followers of the great Jewish heretic Jacob Frank. A lot of the “Jewish-Masonic plot to take over the world” stuff came from that.

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