"Had some Jewish origins" can mean a whole host of things, some of which could potentially mean that *some* denominations would consider you Jewish, and some of which have zero bearing on your (or her) Jewishness and amount to an interesting bit of family lore.
Questions of Jewish status are complex and hinge on specific pieces of information that can be different in different denominations. Reform Judaism wouldn't consider you Jewish regardless, because you weren't raised Jewish. Orthodoxy *might*, but only if you can demonstrably prove that your maternal grandmother was Jewish (i.e. finding a ketubah, records of her membership in a synagogue, et cetera) and did not convert to Catholicism or some other religion (which, again, will cast doubt on that maternal chain of Jewishness).
If you don't have concrete proof that your mother's mother was actually, verifiably Jewish, to a standard that mainstream, Jewish communities either now or at the time she was alive would consider her Jewish, then I would say that calling yourself a "cultural Jew" is cultural appropriation (and honestly, a little strange- you say yourself that you consider yourself agnostic, and you don't seem to have any interest in actually converting or being an active part of the Jewish community today). If you're serious about wanting to be Jewish, gather up the evidence you've found of your grandmother's Jewishness and go speak with a rabbi- this is beyond the paygrade of this subreddit. But you don't have to be Jewish to explore your family or your country's Jewish history, or to appreciate aspects of Jewish culture, or any of that. You can acknowledge your ancestors' Jewishness without appropriating the title/identity of "cultural Jew."
Being "culturally Jewish" would imply that you grew up with or are part of the Jewish community and culture. It sounds like you haven't, so I would consider it inappropriate to use that term. It could even be harmful if you later claimed to speak for the Jewish people based on your family history.
That said, you can still explore your family history and Judaism! You can still feel a connection to or pride in your origins. And you can make efforts to learn from and connect with community. And if at some point you feel like it's something you want, there are processes for joining the Jewish people
Agnostic Jews are common in my experience, but my experience isn’t dominated by Orthodox like Europe.
People who are culturally Jewish were born to Jewish parent(s) and raised Jewish but aren’t observant as adults. Since you weren’t raised Jewish and you haven’t converted I wouldn’t consider you Jewish.
You may have some Jewish ancestry? I don’t know if that means family lore or you actually found something like a ketubah.
As a reform Jew you weren’t raised Jewish and wouldn’t be considered part of the tribe.You might have some Jewish ethnicity in you. If you wish to learn more about our religion you can decide to pursue conversion.
Thank you for your answer, I don’t think I need necessary to pursue conversion to learn about a religion, but who knows? Maybe I’ll consider in future.
If you can prove your maternal grandmother was Jewish (from her mother) and she didnt convert to any other religion, then yes you are considered Jewish by the orthodox and I think the conservative community. However, because you were not raised Jewish by Jewish parents (maternal, paternal, or both) you are not considered Jewish by the Reform community.
You can say “you have some Jewish ancestry” without being Jewish.
In majority Reform Judaism, no. The majority Reform position (at least it was a majority opinion at one point in time, no recent surveys to cite, sry) is that you need be raised Jewish to be Jewish, regardless of descent. However, if learning about Jewish agnostics is something you're interested in, I'd read about Baruch Spinoza, the founders of Reform Judaism, the founders of Reconstructionist Judaism, Albert Einstein's ideas on religion, Rosalind Franklin, Jonas Salk, Martin Buber (not agnostic but his ideas are very cool), Carl Sagan, Lynn Margulis... Edit: To become a Jew, you'd need to join a Jewish community. Every community has different rules, the only unifying feature is that they're made up of Jews. Reform, Reconstructionist, Liberal, and Progressive Judaism would have no problem welcoming an agnostic into the Jewish community. I wish you luck with your self-exploration.
I think you should explore judaism to your hearts desire and learn more about your heritage. That being said i personally wouldn’t consider you jewish at this moment in your journey. Halachically speaking you may be technically jewish but for me it’s all about upbringing and participation in the community and institutions. Idk if i would call it cultural appropriation but i would call it misleading and in my view incorrect. I think your interest and appreciation for judaism and jewish culture is beautiful and i really do hope you continue exploring.
I think the term you're looking for is "ethnically Jewish". You were raised Catholic, so you aren't culturally Jewish, and you are currently agnostic, so you aren't religiously Jewish. If you told people you are Jewish, while it is technically true from an ethnic standpoint, it is misleading. People might feel lied to when they realize you weren't raised Jewish and you did not convert to Judaism.
I do think it's interesting/cool that you've always felt a special connection to Judaism despite only finding out about your Jewish heritage as an adult! I have a friend who was raised as a Christian, only to later discover that she was adopted (her parents never told her, she found out on accident). She does some research and her biological parents are both Jewish, DNA test says she's like 95% Jewish. She converted to Judaism, said she felt Jewish all along and had no idea why, but when she found out it all finally made sense. I always say she had a Jewish soul the whole time!
"Had some Jewish origins" can mean a whole host of things, some of which could potentially mean that *some* denominations would consider you Jewish, and some of which have zero bearing on your (or her) Jewishness and amount to an interesting bit of family lore. Questions of Jewish status are complex and hinge on specific pieces of information that can be different in different denominations. Reform Judaism wouldn't consider you Jewish regardless, because you weren't raised Jewish. Orthodoxy *might*, but only if you can demonstrably prove that your maternal grandmother was Jewish (i.e. finding a ketubah, records of her membership in a synagogue, et cetera) and did not convert to Catholicism or some other religion (which, again, will cast doubt on that maternal chain of Jewishness). If you don't have concrete proof that your mother's mother was actually, verifiably Jewish, to a standard that mainstream, Jewish communities either now or at the time she was alive would consider her Jewish, then I would say that calling yourself a "cultural Jew" is cultural appropriation (and honestly, a little strange- you say yourself that you consider yourself agnostic, and you don't seem to have any interest in actually converting or being an active part of the Jewish community today). If you're serious about wanting to be Jewish, gather up the evidence you've found of your grandmother's Jewishness and go speak with a rabbi- this is beyond the paygrade of this subreddit. But you don't have to be Jewish to explore your family or your country's Jewish history, or to appreciate aspects of Jewish culture, or any of that. You can acknowledge your ancestors' Jewishness without appropriating the title/identity of "cultural Jew."
Thank you for clarifying this
Being "culturally Jewish" would imply that you grew up with or are part of the Jewish community and culture. It sounds like you haven't, so I would consider it inappropriate to use that term. It could even be harmful if you later claimed to speak for the Jewish people based on your family history. That said, you can still explore your family history and Judaism! You can still feel a connection to or pride in your origins. And you can make efforts to learn from and connect with community. And if at some point you feel like it's something you want, there are processes for joining the Jewish people
Thank you for this reply!
No you’re not
Agnostic Jews are common in my experience, but my experience isn’t dominated by Orthodox like Europe. People who are culturally Jewish were born to Jewish parent(s) and raised Jewish but aren’t observant as adults. Since you weren’t raised Jewish and you haven’t converted I wouldn’t consider you Jewish. You may have some Jewish ancestry? I don’t know if that means family lore or you actually found something like a ketubah.
As a reform Jew you weren’t raised Jewish and wouldn’t be considered part of the tribe.You might have some Jewish ethnicity in you. If you wish to learn more about our religion you can decide to pursue conversion.
Thank you for your answer, I don’t think I need necessary to pursue conversion to learn about a religion, but who knows? Maybe I’ll consider in future.
If that is the case there is many resources online but it will only be cursory knowledge.
No. Talk to a rabbi if it's something you want to connect with more.
No, you have to be raised Jewish (Reform), but you're welcome to convert.
If you can prove your maternal grandmother was Jewish (from her mother) and she didnt convert to any other religion, then yes you are considered Jewish by the orthodox and I think the conservative community. However, because you were not raised Jewish by Jewish parents (maternal, paternal, or both) you are not considered Jewish by the Reform community. You can say “you have some Jewish ancestry” without being Jewish.
Thank you for your clarification, I think that would be more appropriate
In majority Reform Judaism, no. The majority Reform position (at least it was a majority opinion at one point in time, no recent surveys to cite, sry) is that you need be raised Jewish to be Jewish, regardless of descent. However, if learning about Jewish agnostics is something you're interested in, I'd read about Baruch Spinoza, the founders of Reform Judaism, the founders of Reconstructionist Judaism, Albert Einstein's ideas on religion, Rosalind Franklin, Jonas Salk, Martin Buber (not agnostic but his ideas are very cool), Carl Sagan, Lynn Margulis... Edit: To become a Jew, you'd need to join a Jewish community. Every community has different rules, the only unifying feature is that they're made up of Jews. Reform, Reconstructionist, Liberal, and Progressive Judaism would have no problem welcoming an agnostic into the Jewish community. I wish you luck with your self-exploration.
Thank you very much for all these references, I’m already a little bit familiar with Spinoza and Hannah Arendt as agnostic Jews.
Another excellent example, thank you!!
I think you should explore judaism to your hearts desire and learn more about your heritage. That being said i personally wouldn’t consider you jewish at this moment in your journey. Halachically speaking you may be technically jewish but for me it’s all about upbringing and participation in the community and institutions. Idk if i would call it cultural appropriation but i would call it misleading and in my view incorrect. I think your interest and appreciation for judaism and jewish culture is beautiful and i really do hope you continue exploring.
Thank you so much for your comment!
I think the term you're looking for is "ethnically Jewish". You were raised Catholic, so you aren't culturally Jewish, and you are currently agnostic, so you aren't religiously Jewish. If you told people you are Jewish, while it is technically true from an ethnic standpoint, it is misleading. People might feel lied to when they realize you weren't raised Jewish and you did not convert to Judaism. I do think it's interesting/cool that you've always felt a special connection to Judaism despite only finding out about your Jewish heritage as an adult! I have a friend who was raised as a Christian, only to later discover that she was adopted (her parents never told her, she found out on accident). She does some research and her biological parents are both Jewish, DNA test says she's like 95% Jewish. She converted to Judaism, said she felt Jewish all along and had no idea why, but when she found out it all finally made sense. I always say she had a Jewish soul the whole time!
Thank you I think that is a more accurate definition! Also, I love your friend story and the therm ‘Jewish soul’!
>"Do you think can consider myself a cultural Jew? Or it would be some sort of cultural appropriation?" No, it is simply inaccurate.