Matrilineality in Judaism

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In Rabbinic Judaism, the traditional method of determining Jewishness relies on tracing one's maternal line. According to halakha, the recognition of someone as fully Jewish at birth requires them to have been born to a Jewish mother. A person who is born to a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father is regarded as Zera Yisrael (lit. 'Seed of Israel') and will only be accepted as ethnically Jewish and not as religiously Jewish. Thus, being Jewish through the paternal line typically necessitates conversion to Judaism to validate one's identity as a Jew in the fullest sense. Matrilineal descent is observed in Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism, whereas Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism accept full Jewishness through either parent; Reform responsa, however, require an exclusively Jewish upbringing. Many scholars believe that patrilineal descent was observed by the ancient Israelites and that at some point Judaism switched to predominantly observing matrilineal descent. Orthodox...

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