It's not about identifying with points of doctrine or making claim to or denying belief in this or that concept. It's about doing, responding, living,many enduring as a Jew.
It's the opposite. It's want you DO, not what you believe.
I understand what you mean by this.
As you said earlier; it is the values that define you as a Jew, or as you said in this post; what you DO.
But no matter what you define "Jewish" as, my question will still remain (maybe in some other form).
[insert practice/belief/value here]"is the point to Judaism"
If being Jewish is referring to:
Your values
What you do
How you dress
Your religious views
Or something else, the question is still going to be:
What about someone who is born into the tribe and who does not practice/identify with said thing?
If the answer is yes he is still a Jew, that means that the answer you gave is not really what makes someone a Jew since they can be so without said thing.
If the answer is no he is not a Jew, that means that there is a distinction between what makes some Jewish by birth and by practice/beliefs/values.
Which was the original question I asked you; what is the distinction? And that would also be the answer to the question.
Since I got the impression you don't think there is any distinction I am wondering if there is a third option that I have overlooked? Or you are incorrect and there is a distinction.
Do you understand my question now? It has nothing to do with how hard it might be for me to grasp the idea of a religion without beliefs or doctrine or even belief in God, I can entertain all these ideas.
We could do the same to philosophy if it was a tribe; what is the difference between someone born into it and someone practicing it? Philosophy has no God, no religious rules or rites, no leader, no religious beliefs. I don't want nor need any of these things to be present in Judaism, my question is outside that entire argument.
Hope this clears it up!
