Is Jewish a nationality??

Question:I always thought that being Jewish just refers to your religion, but now I've noticed that a lot of people use this term to describe a nationality. How can Jewish be a nationality? What makes someone Jewish?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I always thought that being Jewish just refers to your religion, but now I've noticed that a lot of people use this term to describe a nationality. How can Jewish be a nationality? What makes someone Jewish?

It's a religion, and in much of Europe it's considered an ethnic group that crosses many national borders, just like the Slavs, Basques and the Gypsies. But a nationality intimates that there is a nation involved. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world, and it's nationality is "Israeli". So that's where people tend to misuse the term "nationality" by using it in place of ethnic group.

You may be thinking of people who use it as Jewish-Americans - -it's intended as an ethnic or religious description, along the lines of Irish Americans.

Israeli is the nationality for Jews and non-Jews living in Israel.

i think so

Jewish is not a nationality. Nationality refers to the nation in which you are a member of either through birthright or naturalization. There is no country of Jewish or Judaism. Instead, the person would be a Jewish American or a Jewish Israeli.

Jewish refers to a person of a particular faith. Jewish people follow the religion of Judaism. They may refer to themselves as Jewish or Jews, but it is wrong for them to say that is their nationality. It is a technical fact and would be rather pointless to get in an argument about, but by the textbook (or dictionary) definitions, the two terms do not correspond to one another.

For further information, I recommend going to an online dictionary site and looking up both terms. You will see Jewish refers to religion and nationality describes the nation/country where a person lives.

Jewish refers to a faith.

Nationality is not your religion or your ethnicity. It is strictly the country of which you are a citizen.

No.

Israeli is a nationality Jewish is a religion