Why the Jews determined by the nationality of mother

Jews are a very old people, over the millennia of its existence, has seen a lot of grief. They were destroyed, banished, stripped of their rights and constantly accused in many different troubles. But despite that, the Jews were able to preserve their national identity, religion and even built one of the most economically developed States of the world — Israel. The Jewish people many unusual customs and one of them is the determination of the nationality of the mother.

Most people in the world determined by the nationality of the father or give to people to determine the belonging to a particular nation paternal or maternal line. But the Jews officially passed only through the mother, although it was not always so. Why did this happen?

In the middle East decided to conduct ancestry on the paternal side. It uses the so-called patronyme. The Arabs "Ibn" and the Jews — "bin". For example, Jesus bin nun means that the father of this man was Joshua. This explains the fact most mysterious biblical enumeration: "Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob...". But all this does not mean that women, Jews have played a secondary role.

In contrast to the neglect of the fairer sex from other Eastern Nations, the Jews with that all was in order since ancient times. The idea of messianism, that is, the birth of a woman hero who will save the chosen people from harm and harassment is deeply rooted in Judaism and converted to Christianity. Here lie the origins of the veneration of the virgin Mary gave birth to the Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Despite the veneration of women, to the destruction of the Israeli state and some time afterwards, the nationality of the Jews was determined by the father. The purity of the kind in this nation observed very carefully, and this contributed to the rules established by the Talmud.

In later times, when the Jews were dispersed around the world, the purity of God's chosen people in each community followed the rabbis. They were not only spiritual, but also performs many administrative functions, these differing from the Christian clergy, usually not related to social and community issues.

Even though this rule was stated in the Talmud, to perceive it as an immutable law were not in a hurry and for some time everything remained as it is, with the transfer of the Jews in the male line.

Drastic changes occurred only with the emergence in Eastern Europe of the Hasidic — Orthodox streams of Judaism. The name "Hasidism" comes from the word "hasidut" — righteousness, and the followers of this movement claim to be the only Jews living under the Law of God.

In the early 18th century Hasidic change patronymy on patronymy, instead of "bin" are now "Ben" and "bath". For example, in the name Slamd Ben Lea baht Sarah is given as the name of his mother and grandmother. Hasidism became the main pillar of the religious Zionism movement aimed at the establishment of a Jewish state. While I do not mean secular Israel, who rejected the Hasidic and promised Israel that is based on the rules of the Talmud.

In the early 20-ies in Palestine beginning to emerge of a community of Jews, who share a common goal — the creation of statehood in the land of their ancestors. It should be noted the strong support of these communities from both, where many senior positions occupied by the Jews, and from the United States, where in the hands of "God's people" was focused large business.

The second world war disrupted all the plans of the Holocaust killed millions of Jews and the idea of statehood was raised only after the fall of the Reich. The establishment of the state Israel in 1946, agreed by the representatives of the three countries-allies. At this time, Palestine was under the control of the British, who have played in addressing the issue a key role.

In Eastern Europe and the United States are the major centers of Hasidic Judaism, which is taken to determine the Jews "the formula of Rabbi Shimon," that is, through the maternal line. This provision is enshrined in Jewish law, Halacha and unquestioningly follow.

In fact, the question of nationality in Israel still remains open. Maybe that's why the Israeli identity column "nationality" is now available. It is important to know that Judaism is not only a blood affiliation, but also adherence to the faith, culture and most importantly — the community with the Jewish people.