Ethnic Jews, religious Jews, and “Messianic Jews”

The New Neo Posted on by

As I’ve written before somewhere in this voluminous blog, the definition of “Jew” is complex because Jews are both a religion and an ethnic group. They are also a people, which is somewhat harder to define.

Often there’s overlap, but often there’s not. For example, you can be a secular ethnic Jew who doesn’t practice Judaism at all – or even is against it – and much of the world will still consider you Jewish. You can also be a convert to Judaism and not ethnically related at all, but you automatically become Jewish on conversion. Your DNA may not show it, but you’re a Jew by Judaism’s definition, and you are also considered part of the Jewish people.

So an ethnic Jew who’s an atheist remains an ethnic Jew. And an ethnic Jew who converts to Christianity, or embraces what’s called “Messianic Judaism” by its practitioners, remains an ethnic Jew as well. He or she may consider himself or herself to be a religious Jew as well, but many religious Jews (not all) would beg to differ. Judaism excludes belief in the divinity of Jesus. A basic tenet is that the deity is unknowable and unnameable and unpersoned. Once you believe in the divinity of Jesus you’re not practicing Judaism even if you think you are, but you remain an ethnic Jew. Judaism differs from Christianity in many ways, but this is one of the most basic.

But what, you might ask, about Jewish belief in the Messiah? It’s quite different from the Christian belief. The Jewish messiah is a mortal person, a “a fully human non-deity Jewish leader, physically descended via a human genetic father of an unbroken paternal Davidic line through King David and King Solomon.” References to being the “Son of God” are metaphoric rather than literal. Nor is belief in a Messiah of any type universally true even of religious, believing Jews.

The definition of being a Jew is complicated somewhat by the fact that different strains of Judaism believe that being ethnically Jewish – or part of the Jewish people – is inherited in different ways. The more Orthodox believe that Jewishness involves having a Jewish mother and even if the father is not Jewish the offspring are Jewish (part of the Jewish people) as long as the mother is Jewish. Reform Jews believe Jewishness is passed through either parent.

The legal system of Israel reflects some of this, but Jews outside of Israel aren’t bound by it in any way unless they happen to agree with it anyway. All Jewish denominations around the world reject Messianic Judaism as a form of Judaism in the religious sense. However, Messianic Jews can become Israelis under the right of return – but only if they qualify in terms of ancestry.

There were several Israeli court rulings that are relevant to this; they concern the narrow issue of the right to return. Earlier law had allowed ethnic Jews to return unless they converted to another religion (atheists were okay). But a newer ruling allowed Messianic Jews to return if they qualified as ethnic Jews, but only if the inheritance was through the paternal line and not the maternal line. To me, it seems that this somewhat mixes up the definitions of what is a Jew and blurs distinctions between the religious definition, the legal one for the right of return, and the ethnic one. After all, ethnically, someone with only a Jewish father who then converts to Messianic Judaism is no different from someone with only a Jewish mother who then converts to Messianic Judaism. But the law in Israel treats them differently. Anyway, here’s a description of the case:

The state of Israel grants Aliyah (right of return) and citizenship to Jews, and to those with Jewish parents or grandparents who are not considered Jews according to halakha [traditional Jewish law], such as people who have a Jewish father but a non-Jewish mother. The old law had excluded any “person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion”, and an Israeli Supreme Court decision in 1989 had ruled that Messianic Judaism constituted another religion. However, on April 16, 2008, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled in a case brought by a number of Messianic Jews with Jewish fathers and grandfathers. Their applications for Aliyah had been rejected on the grounds that they were Messianic Jews. The argument was made by the applicants that they had never been Jews according to halakha, and were not therefore excluded by the conversion clause. This argument was upheld in the ruling.

I hope this post clears up some questions – although I have my doubts.

DeSantis proposes property tax relief

The New Neo Posted on by

Interesting idea:

DeSantis has proposed providing one-time, $1,000 property-tax rebates this year to homeowners as a prelude to asking voters in 2026 to cut property taxes.

“The homestead (exemption) is great, but the homestead is limited in terms of how much benefits you get, and so your property goes up three times, you’re paying more, no question about it,” DeSantis said. “So how does it work where you’re having to pay $10,000 a year just in property taxes?”

Florida’s Homestead Exemption removes $25,000 off the assessed value of an owner-occupied home, condominium, co-op apartment or certain mobile home lots. It also provides up to another $25,000 of additional exemption off any assessed value over $50,000.

While that relief helps, DeSantis said, it’s not enough for many in the current real estate climate.

“You’re paying tax, you’re paying insurance, and then principal and interest is less than those two combined. And so this is difficult for people,” DeSantis said. “You should not be in a situation where you ever have to give up your home because you can’t afford the taxes.”

DeSantis argued that homes should function the same as other purchases, with a tax at the point of sale and no continued payments to the government after.

Of course, there’s that pesky problem of how to raise revenue for services. DeSantis is a practical sort of guy, so I assume he’s thought about that. I doubt property taxes will be abolished altogether, but perhaps for seniors and/or those who have owned their homes for a certain number of years? Or, introduce some alternative form of taxation not based on property ownership?

The dawn of a new age for nuclear power?

The New Neo Posted on by

I’ve long been in favor of nuclear power. Maybe more of the world is now going in that direction, having discovered that the green alternatives don’t work very well.

For example:

Over the past few days, the politics and policies around nuclear energy have shifted faster than at any other period in the post-Chernobyl era. Here are a few examples:

Germany, the world’s long-time anti-nuclear poster child, just did a screeching U-turn. Under its new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Germany will cooperate with France and treat nuclear as a “green” power source under EU regulations. The move comes just 25 months after Germany took its last three nuclear plants offline. As one German official said, the move is a “sea-change policy shift.”

The announcement from Berlin came just days after Belgium’s federal parliament voted by a large majority to repeal a 2003 law mandating the phase out of nuclear energy and banning the construction of new reactors.

The article lists more in that vein.

Plus of course we have Trump, who yesterday issued a new EO on the subject:

Instead of efficiently promoting safe, abundant nuclear energy, the NRC has instead tried to insulate Americans from the most remote risks without appropriate regard for the severe domestic and geopolitical costs of such risk aversion. The NRC utilizes safety models that posit there is no safe threshold of radiation exposure and that harm is directly proportional to the amount of exposure. …

Recent events in Europe, such as the nationwide blackouts in Spain and Portugal, underscore the importance of my Administration’s focus on dispatchable power generation –including nuclear power — over intermittent power. Beginning today, my Administration will reform the NRC, including its structure, personnel, regulations, and basic operations. In so doing, we will produce lasting American dominance in the global nuclear energy market, create tens of thousands of high-paying jobs, and generate American-led prosperity and resilience.

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to:
(a) Reestablish the United States as the global leader in nuclear energy;
(b) Facilitate increased deployment of new nuclear reactor technologies, such as Generation III+ and IV reactors, modular reactors, and microreactors, including by lowering regulatory and cost barriers to entry;
(c) Facilitate the expansion of American nuclear energy capacity from approximately 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050;
(d) Employ emerging technologies to safely accelerate the modeling, simulation, testing, and approval of new reactor designs;
(e) Support the continued operation of, and facilitate appropriate operational extensions for, the current nuclear fleet, as well as the reactivation of prematurely shuttered or partially completed nuclear facilities; and
(f) Maintain the United States’ leading reputation for nuclear safety.

Much more at the link.

When I’ve discussed these issues for the past few decades with Democrat friends and family members, two patterns have emerged. One is of the non-scientifically-inclined person who is afraid of nuclear power and has exaggerated the bad effects of nuclear accidents in the past, and does not credit safety advances since – for example – Chernobyl. The other is of the scientifically-inclined person who is in favor of nuclear power, considering it a relatively “green” form of energy that could solve some of the problems of fossil fuels.

Trump against Harvard; judges against Trump

The New Neo Posted on by

Here we go again.

Trump issued an order “revoking Harvard’s participation in F-1 and J-1 visa programs, under which foreign students attend Harvard.” The administration had asked Harvard to provide information on its foreign students’ participation in “illegal and violent activities,” and Harvard’s reply was not considered adequate. Harvard sued, and an injunction was issued against the administration.

John Hinderaker, who wrote the post I just linked, believes that the administration will lose this particular case, and even that they probably expect to lose it because they have arbitrarily dispensed with certain statutory requirements. He considers this particular action against Harvard to be more political than legal.

On the other hand – as pointed out at Legal Insurrection:

The judge made the ruling without a Trump lawyer present. As I stated in my blog yesterday and today, DHS gave Harvard 72 hours to respond to requests.

As Margot Cleveland pointed out, there is “no reason the court couldn’t have set [an] afternoon hearing.”

I suppose this one may end up going to SCOTUS as well.

One particularly interesting aspect of this case is how it highlights the extreme dependence a university such as Harvard has on foreign students. They pay full tuition for the most part, unlike many of Harvard’s regular students. The percentage of foreign students is twenty-seven percent of Harvard’s enrollment.

Lies beget murder: “blood on their hands”

The New Neo Posted on by

In the aftermath of the DC killing by Elias Rodriguez, there are many articles (for example, this) featuring the phrase “blood on their hands” and blaming various entities for stirring up such murderous hatred: the universities, the online influencers, leftist organizations, the UN, international courts, and the press – all of which have been busy churning out anti-Jewish anti-Israel venom, a regular “Protocols of Zion” and/or blood libel a day.

Much of this anti-Jewish propaganda takes the form of an ancient Jew-hating lie: the blood libel, which accuses Jews of being baby-killers. Now, it’s certainly true (and tragic) that in modern wars, babies are killed at times. But the IDF goes out of its way to avoid that, whereas Hamas puts its children in harm’s way in order to encourage it and use it to demonize Israel and Jews. Hamas also lies constantly about the number of casualties, especially of young people, and the press dutifully spreads the lies without question. Accusations of “genocide” are hurled at Israel and accentuated by the farce of international courts.

In my early blogging days, I wrote at length about one of these blood libels, the Mohammed al Durah case. Palestinians faked a child’s death at Israeli hands, filmed it in an early example of what became known as Pallywood, and spread the lie around the world. It was used as justification for the Second Intifada, a series of bloody terrorist attacks on Israel.

Now the cry around the world is “Globalize the Intifada!” and we have the very predictable murder at the hands of the non-Arab activist leftist American-born Rodriguez.

Melanie Phillips describes the process in a piece entitled “Blood on their hands,” with the subtitle “Horrifyingly, antisemitism has become a moral obligation for liberals.” An excerpt:

The murderer pulled the trigger. But many others have the blood of these two innocents, who were reported to have soon become engaged, on their hands.

The university principals who have allowed hate mobs on campus to incite the murder of Jews and destruction of Israel, week in, week out; the politicians who have allowed the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Iranian extremists to spread their influence throughout western civil society; the media and all those who relentlessly demonize Israel with blood libels and murderous lies, including the British, French and Canadian governments that this week threatened to punish Israel for defending itself—these all bear responsibility for what happened in Washington.

This week, another falsehood about Israel’s war in Gaza was added to the relentless incitement against the Jewish state. This one came from the U.N.’s emergency coordinator, Tom Fletcher, who told the BBC that “14,000 babies will die in 48 hours” from malnutrition.

A moment’s thought would suggest that such a synchronized mass mortality event was simply incredible.

The media, however, parroted it as valid. It duly spread like wildfire. Countless Israel-haters leapt upon it to validate their loathing. In a poisonous debate about Gaza in Britain’s House of Commons, members of parliament referred to it no fewer than 13 times.

It soon turned out, however, that it was indeed nonsense. As the BBC later clarified, Fletcher had misrepresented a claim made on May 12 by the U.N.’s IPC food classification system—a claim that was itself highly questionable—that an estimated 14,100 severe cases of acute malnutrition were expected to occur among Gazan children aged between 6 and 59 months from April 2025 to March 2026.

So two days actually turned out to be one year, and 14,000 certain deaths turned out to be 14,000 possible cases of malnutrition.

We don’t know whether Fletcher can’t read, was feeling the worse for wear that day or maliciously misrepresented what the IPC had said. What we do know is that the United Nations and the entire global humanitarian establishment constitute a bubbling sewer of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hatred.

False claims of imminent famine and starvation in Gaza have been made on a regular basis since the very start of the war. It’s an emotive blood libel that has incited a murderous hysteria of the kind that led to the gunning down of the young couple on Wednesday night.

The famine and starvation never materialized.

Those aren’t the only lies about Israel and the Gazans, of course. But accusations of baby killing and baby starvation are especially potent and emotional ones with an ancient lineage. They’ve been sparking the murder of Jews for centuries.

Rodriguez is a leftist clearly motivated by the left and its propaganda. But don’t think there aren’t people on the right – or supposedly on the right – who spread the same and/or different lies, although there are far fewer of them then on the left. I’m thinking of Candace Owens, to take one prominent example (the following are from her “X” account):

Live with Ian Carroll today discussing Zionists wasting no time using a tragedy to try to score points.

Or:

There is nothing more fake, gay, and obvious than the“you have blood on your hands” aimed at people who have nothing to do with a crime that has taken place, because they hold a reasonable opinion about something else.

What is happening in Gaza is still wrong, psychos.

Her use of the phrase “what is happening in Gaza” does not refer to anything the Palestinians are doing; it refers to Israel.

By highlighting Owens, I most definitely do not mean to suggest that the left isn’t much much worse in this regard. I’ve written about that many times before. I merely want to illustrate that Jew-hatred is growing on the right as well, mostly online and due to Owens and a few others who have gained many many followers.

NOTE: Here are some posts you get when you do a search on this blog for “blood libel.”

AI: is it real or is it Memorex?

The New Neo Posted on by

We can still tell the difference – kind of. But soon, it may be impossible:

The possible ramifications are huge, and not just (as is obvious) for the movie business. For video proof of truth itself. Some of this change has already happened, but there’s much more to come.

From the replies to that tweet:

So basically we can’t trust anything from a screen or a speaker ever again.

Also:

I don’t know man it looks like it doesn’t have a soul.

Every now and then I play a game on my phone. Those things are rife with AI ads featuring “people” who look 99.99% like real people but somehow don’t quite make it. There’s a very slight disconnect among gestures, expressions, and speech, as well as a slight offness (very slight) to the faces. But how long will that last before they perfect it?

Will there always be a sort of Turing test for AI-generated content? Or will they finally get the “soul” thing right?

Here I am – a bit late to the party today

The New Neo Posted on by

I’ve mentioned before that I have quite a few close friends with serious health problems. Every now and then I get called on to help with a doctor visit or procedure, and today was one of those days.

The whole episode lasted longer than I thought and kept me away from the computer longer than expected. But here I am.

I guess this is one of the perks of getting older.

More information on the DC murder

The New Neo Posted on by

Horrifying details are coming out now, having been captured on video:

In summary, the video shows a slim build person, wearing a blue jacket with a hood, a large dark-colored backpack, blue pants, and light-colored shoes, consistent with the clothing worn by RODRIGUEZ, walking across F Street, Northwest, in the direction of the Museum, and where the decedents were standing, preparing to enter the crosswalk. Once RODRIGUEZ walked past the decedents and two witnesses, he turned to face their backs and brandished a firearm from the area of his waistband. RODRIGUEZ is captured on the video extending both his arms in the direction of the decedents and firing several times, as indicated by the muzzle flashes. Once the decedents fell to the ground, RODRIGUEZ is captured on the video advancing closer to the decedents, leaning over with them with his arm extended, and firing several more times. As Decedent-1 attempted to crawl away from RODRIGUEZ, he followed behind her and fired again. After a brief moment, RODRIGUEZ appeared to reload his firearm. At the same time, Decedent-1 sat up. Once he reloaded, RODRIGUEZ fired several times at Decedent-1. RODRIGUEZ is then captured jogging back in the direction of 3rd Street, NW, and southbound in the direction of where the entrance to the Museum is located.

A disgusting and repulsive crime. Too bad none of the witnesses were armed.

It also sounds as though – as with leftist hero Luigi Mangione – he initially shot his victims in the back.

I had wondered how Rodriguez was caught, and I had assumed it was outside the building. But that turns out to have been incorrect. Apparently he purposely entered the building after having thrown his gun away. The people there tried to help him, thinking he was someone who’d witnessed the shooting and was seeking shelter:

“The suspect came over to where I was and we offered him water and he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a kufiya and says, ‘I did it. I did this for Gaza,’ “ eyewitness Kalisher shared on Good Morning America.

Speaking with the BBC, Kalisher also explained that at first she heard gunshots outside the building and thought the man was seeking refuge from the violence outside.

“We thought he needed shelter so he comes in,” she shared.

Fellow eyewitness Yoni Kalin added, “People were calming him down, giving him water, little did we know that he was someone who executed people in cold blood. He was the shooter. Once the police originally showed up, he was like, ‘I did this. I’m unarmed,’ pulls out a red kufiya and was like, ‘I did this for Gaza. Free Palestine.’ “

A death and murder cult inspires murder.

Rodriguez supposedly left a manifesto, which can be found here and is apparently filled with the usual bogus “facts” promulgated by Hamas with the cooperation of much of the MSM.

In my earlier post today on the murders, I speculated about the news that Yaron Lischinsky, one of the two victims, was an evangelical Christian. Because of his name, it seemed to me he may have been born a Jew and embraced what is known as Messianic Judaism. That turns out to be the case:

Lischinsky, born in Germany to a Jewish father and Christian mother, moved to Israel at 16 and found a spiritual home in Melech Ha’Mlachim — “King of Kings” in English — a Messianic congregation near Jerusalem’s bustling Mahane Yehuda market. There, he translated sermons for English-speaking visitors and regularly stayed after services to talk about his future with Boskey, who led the youth group. …

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement made up of people who identify ethnically and culturally as Jewish and believe that Jesus — whom they call Yeshua — is the promised Messiah.

Most adherents consider themselves Jewish, a position rejected by the mainstream Jewish community but embraced by congregations like Melech Ha’Mlachim. Unlike Jews for Jesus — an evangelical missionary organization — most Messianic congregations in Israel are locally run and culturally Jewish, with Torah readings, Hebrew prayer and Jewish holiday observance.

The murderer, of course, was not doing research on the religious beliefs of his victims. They were Jews and Israelis as far as he was concerned.

ADDENDUM:

I had also wondered why the murderer stopped at two victims. Apparently it was because his gun jammed or ran out of ammunition.

The autopen-wielders may face interrogation

The New Neo Posted on by

Comer would like to have a word with them:

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Thursday wrote to key aides to President Joe Biden demanding that they sit for transcribed interviews as part of his investigation into the former president’s mental decline and the potentially unauthorized use of an autopen for executive actions. …

“The cover-up of President Biden’s obvious mental decline is a historic scandal. The American people deserve to know when this decline began, how far it progressed, and who was making critical decisions on his behalf,” Comer said in a press release. “Key executive actions signed by autopen, such as sweeping pardons for the Biden Crime Family, must be examined considering President Biden’s diminished capacity.”

“Today, we are calling on President Biden’s physician and former White House advisors to participate in transcribed interviews so we can begin to uncover the truth,” he added. “In the last Congress, the Biden White House blocked these individuals from providing testimony to the Oversight Committee as part of the effort to cover-up Biden’s declining health.

There’s not a whole lot that usually comes from these hearings, but one can hope. I like to think that even some Democrats are angry about the fact that the man they voted for, Biden, was having many of his presidential actions taken over by a bunch of relatively unknown and unelected figures.

Then again, if they approve of what those people did, they probably won’t care at all. One leftist is just as good as another.

Another day, another roundup

The New Neo Posted on by

(1) Trump’s budget bill finally clears the House by a one-vote margin. Johnson and/or Trump must have twisted some arms; the holdouts were on the fiscal right, by the way. Now the question is what will happen in the Senate. Because it’s a budget bill, it can pass by a simple majority through reconciliation.

(2) The question of what Kamala knew about Biden’s cognitive health, and when she knew it, may dog her footsteps if she decides to run for the governorship of California. I’m not at all sure she wants to run; she may opt for some non-elective office or the lecture circuit.

(3) Some illegl aliens have been voting. Fancy that.

(4) Those babies in Gaza about to die of malnutrition: another myth perpetrated by the leftist press. It’s actually a variation on the ancient theme of the blood libel committed by Jews.

(5) Judge Ho excoriates SCOTUS for its recent decision to send AARP v. Trump back to the lower court. An excerpt:

But starting the clock at 12:34 a.m. not only ignores the court’s express instructions respecting the Government’s right to respond. It also ignores the fact that the Court is starting the clock at—12:34 a.m. We seem to have forgotten that this is a district court—not a Denny’s. This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone suggest that district judges have a duty to check their dockets at all hours of the night, just in case a party decides to file a motion. If this is going to become the norm, then we should say so: District judges are hereby expected to be available 24 hours a day—and the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts should secure from Congress the resources and staffing necessary to ensure 24-hour operations in every district court across the country. If this is not to become the norm, then we should admit that this is special treatment being afforded to certain favored litigants like members of Tren de Aragua—and we should stop pretending that Lady Justice is blindfolded.

If any SCOTUS justice retires during Trump’s term, Judge Ho might be a good replacement.

See also this on the subject by Professor Jacobson at Legal Insurrection.