Who is a Jew?

The question, Who is a Jew?, is directly related to the over arching theme of this website. The plight of Crypto-Jews and their descendants was discussed extensively by various rabbis in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. They generally did so in reference to questions that were asked about the Jewish status of Conversos with reference to certain issues of Jewish law. e.g. marriage, divorce, kashrut, etc. and not on broader questions of Jewish identity.

That being said, I am happy to announce the release of another book in my introduction to Judaism series, titled, Who is a Jew? It focuses on traditional Judaism’s view of what Jewish identity entails based on  biblical and rabbinic sources.

I hope it provides the basis for a future work specifically on Conversos and their descendants which will review the arguments for and against the Jewish status of these individuals.