Do you stop being a Jew when you convert to Orthodoxy?

No

certain aspects of the culture, yes. those that deal with theological errors of the Jews and heresy.

David Cabrera said:

By "Jew", I mean the culture. I know I don't stop being Ecuadorian when I become Orthodox or you don't stop being American, etc. But I feel one stops being a Jew when converting, even there is an Arab Orthodox Culture.

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Actually the question from the beginning is the other way around. "Does one become a Jew when converting to Orthodoxy"? The answer to that in the beginning was yes. The apostles considered themselves Jews, and considered gentile converts to be Jews. More or less anyway.

But I don't know if your question regards Jewish culture or religion.

Dave-W said:

No

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this is the St Basil's forum, where folks ask about Orthodox Christian theology.

David Cabrera said:

By "Jew", I mean the culture. I know I don't stop being Ecuadorian when I become Orthodox or you don't stop being American, etc. But I feel one stops being a Jew when converting, even there is an Arab Orthodox Culture.

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No... Yeshua returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So ethnically he is still Jewish, and in practice he didn't change God's laws... he kept Passover and all the other Feasts, and so will we, one day, collectively, when he reigns as King.

Sorry... Mods can delete if this offends. Wasn't looking at the forum section, just the question. My apologies.

your talking about Judaism but your Jewish by blood right bc if you are by blood then no you are just a orthodox who happens to be Jewish

Ken Rank said:

No... Yeshua returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So ethnically he is still Jewish, and in practice he didn't change God's laws... he kept Passover and all the other Feasts, and so will we, one day, collectively, when he reigns as King.

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St Basil's has rules, please follow them. this is NOT what the Orthodox believe.

Ken Rank said:

No... Yeshua returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So ethnically he is still Jewish, and in practice he didn't change God's laws... he kept Passover and all the other Feasts, and so will we, one day, collectively, when he reigns as King.

Sorry... Mods can delete if this offends. Wasn't looking at the forum section, just the question. My apologies.

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Jesus reigns in His Church. It's not something that will happen in the future.

All the OT feasts, even the weekly Sabbath, had prophetic meaning. Since they were all fulfilled, they have all passed away.

I do not know what the Jewish community or the Orthodox Church says about this so I am just guessing here.......I think "Jews" who converts depending on the individual of course may still consider themselves a Jew but a Christian Jew. The tribe of Israel to this day is considered it's own ethnicity or a more crude word would be "race" They are the only ethnicity that is considered by it's genetics AND religion. If you change the religion, there still is a genetic link to their ancestral family tree which is more accurately defined as "Semitic." So even ifon totally rejects Judaism and says they are no longer a Jew because of their conversion, they are still a Semite like all Jews.

The funny thing is however, Jesus and the Apostles were Jews and so were the first churches founded in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas populated by Jews. In fact, The Apostles Paul and Peter disagreed about weather one should be required to convert to Judaism in order to be Christian. I guess Paul won the argument because once Greece and Rome converted, Jewish Christians became a minority in the Church and were even sanctioned to be slaughtered and ejected from many Christian countries at one point. Their property and posession split between the local King and The Church. All that is a whole other thread

seriously. this is St Basil's. could the non-Orthodox please follow the forum rules.

David Cabrera said:

By "Jew", I mean the culture. I know I don't stop being Ecuadorian when I become Orthodox or you don't stop being American, etc. But I feel one stops being a Jew when converting, even there is an Arab Orthodox Culture.

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I really think this is up to the conscience of the person. Many people have Jewish family and friends and staying part of that community is a blessing, while many other don't have those connections and leaving behind the Mosaic covenant with its heavier yoke is a blessing for them.

By the way, there are a number of Christian Communities that came from Jewish ones. The Copts and Ethiopians are two. Many of the Syriac Christians both East and West came from largely Jewish ancestors. Many of these churches have Jewish sensibilities (All Orthodox churches are very Jewish in their liturgical customs). And in two cases Ethiopians and Maronites actually keep (or kept until recent times with the Maronite church) Jewish dietary laws found in the Bible!

David Cabrera said:

What would be a good example?

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Liturgy in Hebrew, unique practice that is uniquely Palestinian, etc. are all good.

ArmyMatt said:

St Basil's has rules, please follow them. this is NOT what the Orthodox believe.

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Sorry "Matt" did you not read what I followed up with. Have the moderators remove it, I looked at the question, NOT the location of the question. It was an accident and I owned up to it IMMEDIATELY. Show some mercy!

Monk Brendan said:

All the OT feasts, even the weekly Sabbath, had prophetic meaning. Since they were all fulfilled, they have all passed away.

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I am not allowed to answer because of forum rules. But if I could have answered, I would have stated that the spring feasts pointed to his first coming, the fall feasts to his second coming. We have not been changed yet, which happens when sin is no more (which Kippur points to) and we have not had the wedding feast which Tabernacles points to. Even then, we have prophecy that speaks about all the nations keeping Tabernacles (Zech 14) and when they don't God will withhold rain from them as punishment. This has never happened before, where ALL the nations keep Sukkot... so it's still on the table, so to speak. But we can discuss feasts in a new thread, I really am not looking to create strife here, that is wrong.

Ken Rank said:

Sorry "Matt" did you not read what I followed up with. Have the moderators remove it, I looked at the question, NOT the location of the question. It was an accident and I owned up to it IMMEDIATELY. Show some mercy!

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and I started writing my post before you posted your edit. just wanted to get the rules out there before this section turned into what it's not intended to be. I am sorry if you thought I was targeting you, I just wanted to state the rules.

and it's weird you put quotes around my name.

Orthodox are spiritual Israelites. Not to be confused with people of Jewish descent. The new testament made clear that flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom. 1 Corinthians 15:50
The real meaning of the promise to Abraham was reviled in the NT. Baptism is a new birth into the spiritual family of god.
https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/15-50.htm

Monk Brendan said:

All the OT feasts, even the weekly Sabbath, had prophetic meaning. Since they were all fulfilled, they have all passed away.

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No, we still keep them, just centered on Him now. Passover = Pascha...Shavuot = Pentecost...spring feasts that were fulfilled.

David Cabrera said:

By "Jew", I mean the culture. I know I don't stop being Ecuadorian when I become Orthodox or you don't stop being American, etc. But I feel one stops being a Jew when converting, even there is an Arab Orthodox Culture.

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I think it depends on how you interpret being Jewish.

I know a Jewish doctor who told me that being Jewish means you follow the Jewish faith, and that's it, so in this case I would say yes.

I have known others who have said being Jewish is a racial designation, and that Jews are always Jewish, just like I will always be White. In this view I would say no.

Others consider being Jewish, following the religion, accepting that Jews are a separate race, and a nationality = Israeli. In this case I would say maybe.

It is as difficult to get a straight answer about this as it is to get a straight answer about the role of the Pope in christianity