Replies

"Having a Jewish mother, the child is a Jew. If we want to play with hypothetical fantasies regarding geologies then possibly nothing is at it seems. Maybe the Queen of England is really Jewish. Is William really Charles's son? "

But the child wouldn't be a 100% pure descendant of the ancient Israelites. In reality the child would be a 50% descendant of the ancient Israelites. Repeat the process a few times and you could end up with a population that is 10% descended from the ancient Israelites claiming to be 100% pure.

Repeat the process a few times

Right. Good scenario. All you have to figure out is that throughout history Jewish woman had illegitimate children with Gentiles- unknown to their husbands and raised them as Jews and the resulting male children married wives who did the same.

Write a screenplay. Will do lunch.

Not necessarily true. Outbreeding tends to encourage outbreeding to the point that the Jewish self-identity is lost. Hypothetically a bunch of "diluted Jews" could claim 100% Jewishness, but I think the opposite would be true, that within a few generations they would claim no religion or a gentile religion. It is hard to imagine someone who would claim a Jewish identity without an understanding of Jewish religion and practice. Obviously if such a person were intending to keep Judaism prominent, he/she would know that they were not 100% pure and would rectify it through conversion, or if it were a male he simply needs to marry a matrilinially descended Jewish woman and practice Judaism, thus raising children who were both ethnically and spiritually Jewish.

It's not strictly about genes and a direct line -- although I have no doubt that there is a core direct line... but rather it is a large group that is bred around this direct line. Some breed all the way out of the line, others breed themselves back towards the line, while some stay completely in the line.

Maybe the Queen of England is really Jewish. Is William really Charles's son?

This is very weird, and I don't believe it's true, but there is one school of thought which holds the British royal family, including the Spencers (Princess Diana) are the descendants of the Tribe of Judah. Supposedly, a mohel (Jewish ritual surgeon) was invited to perform a circumcision on William and Harry.

I have heard this from a number of people, including Orthodox Jews, although I find it hard to take seriously.