Why Is Jewish Identity Transmitted Through the Mother?

Jewish law today traces identity through the mother, yet this practice does not appear in the Torah. Many scholars believe it developed among Ashkenazi Jews in medieval Europe, where social status functioned like a caste system. In that context, a mother’s status determined her children’s standing—an idea echoed by the one-drop rule in the United States. By contrast, Mizrahi and other non-Ashkenazi Jewish communities in the Middle East once followed different customs. They sometimes practised polygamy and treated all a father’s children equally, regardless of their mothers’ backgrounds. Although Israeli law still upholds matrilineal descent, views vary widely today. Many Jews—whether of Ashkenazi or Mizrahi heritage—debate the rule’s origins and its relevance in modern society.

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