https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-696123
Well, we know that while Jews were targeted as a race in the Holocaust, we are not a race. There are black Jews and white Jews. There are Asian Jews and Jews of every color and flavor. If we were in fact a race, one would not be able to convert to Judaism, just as you cannot convert to be Asian.
We are also not a religion. If we were a religion, then nonbelievers would not be Jewish. What we are is a family. Like any family, there is a core biological component, but outsiders can marry in and become part of the family. And like any family, once a member, you can never really leave.
That's what Rav Steinsaltz, zt"l, used to say. We're a big family. The problem with that as the only definition is that families grow in size and grow apart. The women marry into different families. The rules in grandpa's home aren't going to be the same as the rule in the grandchildren's. And if you can never leave the family, there's no incentive to keep the rules faithfully since there's no visible punishment.
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