Q&A: Defining a Jew
Defining a Jew
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I heard in one of the Rabbi’s classes on faith that if a person murders, he can still be considered religious, but if a person eats pork, he is not considered religious. My question is: after all, both commandments are prohibitions, so why here do you define him as Jewish and there not?
And is there some specific category of commandments such that if a person keeps them he is considered religious, and there are commandments such that if he violates them he is not considered religious?
Answer
If you heard the class, then you surely also heard the explanation. I explicitly explained that this is not connected to halakhic severity or to the question of whether there is or is not a prohibition. That is precisely the whole thesis: halakhic severity is not what matters for the definition, but rather distinctiveness (following Aristotle on definitions). Not murdering is not distinctive to a Jew, but not eating pork is. Therefore, defining a Jew cannot be based on moral prohibitions, regardless of their severity. And that is the criterion: distinctiveness.