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Jew But Not Grown Up By Judaism

Hello There,

I like in Turkey,

I was Born in Turkey,

On the religion side, I was registired as Muslim, but truly I must say that I never feel religional belonging,


Last Month I learned that My GrandMum (Mothers Mother)

Was a Polish Jew, Immigrated to Belgium in 1922, during WWII many family members has been killed by SS and in the camps (incl. my grand grandmum) ,


This was kept as a secret , since 65 years, my grandmum hopefully, annonced the realtiy,

MY Question is ,

Am I accepted as Jew ? And Can I convert my religion ?

Kind Regards,

Judaism Up Grown Not Jew

Welcome to the community. Please post an introduction message in the Welcome board, as this message really is an appropriate question for the Studies of Judaism board.

Unfortunately, I don't really have an answer for you. I think that if your grandmother was Jewish, that your mother would be considered Jewish, and that thus YOU would be considered Jewish, at least by Israel.

Of course, the biggest problem is that in any Muslim country, even Turkey, I think that if you were to make that claim, that your life would be in danger for apostasy from Islam.

Jew But Not Grown Up By Judaism Judaism Studies

First, let me say that as far as I am aware, there are no barriers from Judaism to prevent you from converting to the Jewish faith should you desire to do so. As always, though, a Rabbi you talk to will attempt to discern your reasons and conviction for the conversion and may try to dissuade you from converting, but if you truly desire it you will be allowed to do so and welcomed. I cannot speak for the social or legal consequences of this from the Islamic community in Turkey, as I know nothing of the current social or political nature of Turkey, but if you are considering converting it is worth taking Nighthawk's warning to heart and examining what Muslim people and organizations would think of you and what the legal consequences would be should you try.

As for whether or not you are already Jewish, that depends on whether your grandmother or your mother voluntarily converted to Islam before you were born. If your grandmother converted to Islam before your mother was born, I believe you would likely not be considered Jewish, similarly if your mother was raised Jewish and later converted to Islam before you were born.
If, on the other hand, your grandmother never converted and your mother was simply raised Muslim from childhood, I believe that you could consider yourself to be Jewish, but I don't know how widely accepted that would be.

According to the Law of Return, however, you would not be considered a Jew at present (since you are Muslim), but you would be able to invoke said law and return to Israel unless your grandmother converted her religion (for justification of this statement see sections 4A(a) and 4B of the linked law).

Regardless of your current Jewishness or lack thereof, should you decide to convert and your life was put in danger as a result, you could claim asylum as a refugee under international law due to persecution as a result of religion, but I cannot recommend this option as it is likely a quite traumatizing process.