Do you realize that you contradicted yourself? First you said 'nowhere does it say that children whose mothers aren't Jewish but whose fathers are
Jewish aren't Jews", then followed that up with "But Jewish lineage is passed on by the mother"...
There is a very practical reason why the mother passes on the Jewish lineage and not the father, but don't confuse that practical explanation for the
root archetypal concept which underlies it.
Generally, in ancient times, a man knew who his mother was, but not his father, as a man often took multiple wives. Therefore, Jewish nationality was
considered more likely to be determined by the woman and not the man. However, the underlying concept behind this practice is NOT practicality.
Practicality merely substantiates the practice for those people who wouldn't understand the metaphysical reason.
The soul is considered feminine because it derives from the creator, who is masculine. All effects, all secondary aspects in a process, are regarded
as feminine.Therefore, the soul is feminine, and it is the woman who imparts the 'soul' of the Jewish people to the child she bears.
Conversely, the man determines tribe. If the father is of the tribe of Judah, his child is a Yehudi. If he is a Levite, the child too will be a
Levite. This is because a tribe is more a SOCIAL function than a spiritual inheritance.
So, to be exact, you are not a Jew because your father is a Jew. Sure, you can go ahead and reject this millenia long tradition because it doesn't
jibe with your secular ideas of ethnicity and culture. At a purely secular level, you could say you're "half Jewish", I suppose, but as a matter of
religious and spiritual fact, you're not Jewish. If you want to be so, you would need to convert.
edit on 21-1-2012 by dontreally because: (no
reason given)