Stoudemire heads to Israel after discovering Jewish roots

[Redz]

I would like to hear a little clarification on how one discovers "a mother".  Adoption I'd guess? 

This should endear him to the large Jewish population in NYC.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/nba-star-amar-e-stoudemire-heads-to-israel-after-discovering-jewish-roots-1.304552

[35Lewis]

I wonder if he will change his twitter account from amareisreal to amareisrael?

[housecall]

What do we have here,another Sammy Davis Jr.? 

[lon3lytoaster]

I wonder if he will change his twitter account from amareisreal to amareisrael?

What you did thar..

I see it. And I like it.

[guava_wrench]

I wonder if he will change his twitter account from amareisreal to amareisrael?

TP

[kozlodoev]

I would like to hear a little clarification on how one discovers "a mother".  Adoption I'd guess?

Not necessarily -- you can convert into Judaism. It's a religious, not an ethnic identity (though I am sure there are people here who can offer more detail on the issue than me).

[Birdbrain]

I would like to hear a little clarification on how one discovers "a mother".  Adoption I'd guess? 

This should endear him to the large Jewish population in NYC.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/nba-star-amar-e-stoudemire-heads-to-israel-after-discovering-jewish-roots-1.304552

That's a pretty interesting story, thanks.

[Change]

I wonder if he will change his twitter account from amareisreal to amareisrael?

lol, Tp

At first I thought it was "amareisrael", some serious foreshadowing. But its actually "amareisreal". 

If his mother is Ethiopian, I know they have ethnic Jews over there. That I know. Maybe someone with more knowledge can enlighten us??

[TheLegendaryClub]

I would like to hear a little clarification on how one discovers "a mother".  Adoption I'd guess?

Not necessarily -- you can convert into Judaism. It's a religious, not an ethnic identity (though I am sure there are people here who can offer more detail on the issue than me).

Technically, it's an ethnic religion. There are two ethnicities of Jews--those that come from northern Africa/Spain/the middle east, and those from Germany/eastern Europe. Ethnic Judaism is technically traced through the mother. There are still people today who claim ancestry to the biblical Twelve Tribes of Israel.

However, you are quite correct in that anyone can convert to Judaism, and they are just as Jewish as the rest.

35Lewis - TP for the twitter joke!

[mdredz]

You can of course convert. It takes about a year. Judaism is not a prostelytizing religion.

In the 1970's Jews from Ethiopia began to go to Israel. There is a belief that they represent one of the lost tribes. The Jews were exiled from Israel on multiple occassions. There are tribes in Ethiopia that had religious practices that clearly relate to ancient Jewish practice- before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 135 AD. In the 1980's when there was an awful civil war in Ethiopia, thousands of Ethiopians were airlifted to Israel by the Israeli air force. Google operation Moses if you are interested in more info.
in a semi-clandestine airlift.

I know nothing of Amare's background. They are a variety of ways he could have had a Jewish heritage without knowing it.
In Hispanic cultures there were many " hidden Jews" " conversos" who converted to Catholoicism to avoid death in the Inquisition,15th to 19th century, but the families maintained some secret traditions. The origins of these often became lost on future generations, but they continued to practice these rituals. They are not uncommon in the SW USA even today.

There is of course adoption. He may have been given up by his mother and raised by someone who took on the role.His mother may have had a Jewish mother. In traditional Judaism, religion is passed through the mother. So if his mothers mother was Jewish, he could be Jewish.

[goCeltics]

and a signing a contract in hy

[Yakmanev]

Israel isn't just a country. Israel was a person who was originally known as Jacob, the son of Isaac the grandson of Abraham. (Many know this already.)

There were 12 sons to Jacob aka Israel. If your Jewish it means you are a descendant of either Judah, Benjamin or Levi. The other 9 and a half tribes were dispersed early in Israel's history. (Joseph was split into two, Manasseh and Ephraim) Manasseh returned to Israel in 2006. The return of all 12 tribes into Israel is a precedent to the building of the Temple which happens before the return of Joshua the Messiah (Jesus in the Greek and English tongue)

Being Jewish means you are a blood relative to Isaac and Jacob. It's a big family really. The land known as Israel was a promise from God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to their descendants.

There really is no reason to convert to Judaism and many Messianic Jews protest such and cite Jesus' quote from Revelation, "Cursed is any man who says he is Jewish and is not, he comes from the synagogue of Satan."

Many believe this infers to the fact that Judaism is a genetic family lineage that was given specific laws and ways of life from God to be His people that He would work wonders through.
Everyone else is adopted into that promise through Jesus who is King of the Jews.

There will always be disagreement between Christians and the Jewish family. However, I believe both in their truest and purest forms are more alike than either side would ever admit to. After all, Jesus was a Jewish man who practiced Judaism but thanks to the Roman empire allot of Roman mythology became Chritianized and caused allot of disparities between Christianity and Judaism that exists today.

If I'm not mistaken the head priest of Israel is considered a prophet however minor his role may be compared to the biggies such as Moses, Isaac, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor ones in the Bible. The tribe of Levi is the priesthood of Israel.

I'm always looking to learn more on this so if their are any Jewish people here who is willing to teach more about their rich history and blessed lineage please send me a PM this is something I've always been interested in.

[Army_of_One_Nation]

I wonder if he will change his twitter account from amareisreal to amareisrael?

+1 TP for you!

[Andy Jick]

Don't imagine Rod Carew will be taking this trip anytime soon...

[Kiorrik]

I wonder if he will change his twitter account from amareisreal to amareisrael?

What you did thar..

I see it. And I like it.

Seconded.