Is Clark half-Jewish?

[Enraged American]

or is Al Franken joking?

And what about the Boston Globe article I heard about John Kerry being part Jewish. Is that true?

[FlashHarry]

1. I believe so. N/T

[Karenina]

29. What kinda flippin' question is that?

What's "half Jewish?" If you practice Judaism as your faith you're Jewish. What kinda flippin' friggin' question is that?

[THUNDER HANDS]

30. I'm half-Jewish

My father is Jewish. My mother is Catholic.

I'm, therefore, halr jewish.

[TheZoo]

2. Why does it matter?

[hippiechick]

19. who is the pic on your avatar ?

holy dimples, batman !!! :loveya:


:hippie:

[bicentennial_baby]

3. His biological father was Jewish

Clark's father died when he was 4, and he was Jewish.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Kerry Is 1/8 Jewish...

and Clark is 1/2 Jewish...

[IndianaGreen]

44. Nyet

Clark's mother was not Jewish, therefore Clark is not Jewish.

[JohnKleeb]

46. You would know better than I would IG being that you are Jewish right

[Loyal]

54. Incorrect

Please do not discount the Reform sect of Judaism. We believe that if either the mother or father of the child is Jewish, then that child is Jewish.

[ikojo]

58. Actually when the UAHC (the governing body of Reform

Judaism) decided to accept Patrilineal descent back in the 1980s it was agreed that the child had to be raised as a Jew. If the child of a Jewish father and non Jewish mother was being raised in any other faith then that child is not considered Jewish, even by the Reform movement.

Here is a URL to a question on the UAHC website about patrilineal descent: http://uahc.org/ask/who_jew.shtml


edit: added URL

[Padraig18]

8. Technically...

... he is not half-Jewish, since Judaism is a matrilineal religion, and his mother is a Gentile.

[diplomats]

10. Technically, you are correct

[bitchkitty]

27. Actually, as I understand it

that started with the Nazis, and not with the Jewish faith. I could be wrong.

[hedda_foil]

33. sorry, your understanding is incorrect, bk.

Whatever the Nazis did (and they defined being Jewish as having a Jewish grandparent on either side iirc) according to Jewish law, Judaism passes through the matriarchal line.

[bitchkitty]

43. Thanks for the heads up -

I don't know where I heard that, or even if I'm remembering it correctly. I know next to nothing about Judaism, as I just proved!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. We're Playing Word Games Now

nt

[IndianaGreen]

42. Yep, Clark is not Jewish at all!

Although he could do like Kerry did with his Irish ancestry and use that as a way to get votes.

[Loyal]

56. Incorrect

Clark IS Jewish, according to Reformed Judaism principles.

[REP]

59. Are You Quite Sure?

His father was a Ka'han, and even Reform rabbis consider the products of such marriages to be mamzers.

[Toucano]

4. Yes!

I'll find you the link. Or try at least...

On Edit:
I should have explain that it was his father. Some say no Jewish womb, not a Jewish baby.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. Correct

Judaism is a matrilineal religion....

[Padraig18]

17. Yes!

The people who would say that are the JEWS! *grin* :)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. Say What

[Padraig18]

28. It's quite true

Unless your mother is a Jew when you are born, you can only become a Jew yourself through conversion.

[jumptheshadow]

5. Yep

His father was Jewish. His dad died when he was young and he was adopted by his stepfather, whose name was Clark.

[SEAburb]

7. Does it matter? If so, why? /nt

.............

[Enraged American]

11. It matters a little.

It would make the Florida vote, which has heavy Jewish influence, easier to steal from Bush, who has gained a lot of support from Jews.

As long as he doesn't go to Lieberman's levels of Zionist fanaticism, I don't have a problem.

[SEAburb]

13. thanks for your reply / nt

.........

[bicentennial_baby]

21. Clark in Florida:

"One of his first stops was not only Florida — the only swing mega-state — but where does he pick to go? Broward, my county," crowed Mitch Ceasar, the Broward Democratic chairman, who attended the meeting at the restaurant, his father's favorite hangout.

The move looked like smart politics — and not only because of Florida's electoral heft. In order to be a viable candidate, Clark will have to build up his campaign coffers with lightning speed, and Florida, with its many wealthy Jewish retirees who play the political field, is a good place to do that.

Ceasar, who is Jewish, said Clark has the potential to reap a windfall among Broward's rich donor base despite the attention the other Democratic candidates are paying to the region. "The main players here are Lieberman, Graham and, to some extent, Dean," he said, but there is ample room for Clark in part because "it's not like any major fundraisers are committed to Dean."

Clark was generating buzz in New York's Jewish donor circles after a hurriedly arranged fundraiser Monday night in Manhattan. "I think Clark might just take the wind out of the sail of Dean's balloon," said lawyer Stuart Shorenstein, whose wife went to check out the general. "I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of people gravitating over."

http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.09.26/news1.clark.html

[TheZoo]

14. Wow, I asked the same quesiton on 2

And you get the reply. I must be on everyone's ignore list.

And, just continually be ignored, no it doesn't matter to me.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. It's An Interesting Artifact

-:)

[noiretextatique]

20. hi TheZoo

:hi: just so you don't feel ignored anymore :D

[Jackpine Radical]

25. I think I responded to you

but I have myself on Ignore so I can't tell for sure.

[jumptheshadow]

26. I almost answered your question. Does that count?

:)

What is so cool about this story is that when Clark learned about his Jewish background he then sought out his relatives. He seems to have a great deal of intellectual curiousity and a penchant for spiritual and mental growth.

I do think his background will help him in places like NYC, if and when Lieberman drops out.

[TruthIsAll]

57. NO DEM NEEDS ANY HELP IN NYC...AN ATHEIST WOULD GET 80%

....

[jumptheshadow]

63. LOL

So true, my friend.

But if Lieberman drops out I think it will help him in the primary.

[diplomats]

9. Clark's birth father was Jewish, I believe

He died when his son was young, and Wesley's mother remarried. I think he was raised a Southern Baptist and later converted to Catholicism.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. Bingo

-:)

[Toucano]

16. I am suprised

no one has made a bigger deal about being catholic.

I did find a fanatical Christian site that said he had turned his back on the true faith and was...something about a dog.

It was funny (in that frightening way), but I can't find it now.

[WilliamPitt]

41. JFK took care of that, thankfully

[JohnKleeb]

48. Thank god

maybe we can have a Slavic Irish Catholic president in Kucinich :).

[IndianaGreen]

49. Clark's conversion to Catholicism is a private matter

Now, if someone were to find out that Clark was connected to Opus Dei, then we would have a legitimate issue.

[jrthin]

23. My question: so what?

nt

[Darranar]

24. Yes...

why does it matter, though?

[sabbat hunter]

32. i agree darranar

my sentiments exactly
does it matter what religion he is or any of the candidates are?

and just so everyone knows, in the jewish religion, if your mother is jewish, then you are considered to be jewish. there is no such thing in the religion as 1/2 jewish, 1/8th etc
the nazis came up with that to 'sort out' the jews and 'true germans'

peace
david
:hippie:

[union_maid]

37. Speaking as a half Jew, that's just semantics

It's true enough that you can't be a half Jew in terms of Judaism. But if you are one, you know that there is such at thing. It's part of who you are and of course it really is an ethinicity, too, unlike most religions. Or it usually is. There's a book about, in fact.

[JI7]

34. clark's father and kerry's grandfather

wes clarks father who died when wes clark was 5 years old was jewish. his mother later married another guy and raised clark as catholic or some other christian. his father's last name was kanne i believe.

john kerry's grandfather was jewish, but it was during a time of antisemetism at one of it's worst so he changed his name to prevent discrimination. i think his grandfather ended up commiting suicide. kerry himself was raised catholic and he found out about his jewish background about 15 years ago.

[sujan]

35. how the fuck do you become 'half jewish'?

[JI7]

36. one parent is jewish

not really meant in a religious sense, but more a cultural sense. some jewish people may not believe judaism religiously, but they grew up in jewish homes and by culture consider themselves jewish.

[alfredo]

53. I'm half crazy on my mother's side.

Armenian on my father's side. Democrat through and through.

I don't give a shit if Clark is half this or half that. Can he win, and can he lead are what we should be concerned about.

[UTUSN]

38. Every Time This Question Is Asked THIS WAY

whether about CLARK, KERRY, or Madeline ALBRIGHT--------it's flame bait, with racist connotations AND we don't need to add "intended or unintended" before "connotations"-------it's THERE.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[UTUSN]

40. You Are Wise One, Oh thebigidea n/t

[IranianDemocrat]

47. What did he say?

.

[Aidoneus]

45. I don't know about "half"

once in front of a Jewish group he was giving a speech to he claimed to be from a family line of rabbis before telling them how much he loves Israel and how mean and nasty those Palestinians are (a kneejerk ritual for any politician anymore), but lately he's disputing that lineage and it may have just been his late father.. :shrug:

[IndianaGreen]

50. Clark's views on the Middle East conflict are more relevant

than whatever gene pool he came from.

[Aidoneus]

51. agreed

which, if his few comments on the subject I've read are any indication, are no different from the "Israel can do no wrong, change the whole rest of the Middle East"(the latter a generalized but backhanded endorsement of Team-W's "regime change" adventurism) views of the rest.

[Loyal]

52. Yep

His dad was Jewish, and a RABBI too. I know of 4 candidates in this race that have a Jewish connection somehow, it's pretty cool I think. Joe Lieberman is Jewish, of course, John Kerry is either 1/4 Jewish or 1/8 Jewish, I forget, Wes Clark is 1/2 Jewish, and Howard Dean's wife is Jewish. Howard Dean and his wife are also raising their children Jewish. :)

[REP]

61. I Haven't Seen that Claim

I've just seen that he comes from a "long line of rabbis." Well, DUH. Any Ka'han comes from a long line of rabbis! It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that even a Reform rabbi would marry a non-Jew.

[KaraokeKarlton]

55. Who the hell cares?

I've never heard so much discussion of how someone is tied to Jewry as I have during this campaign period. Is it the press who are obsessed over this or is it people? I say who the hell gives a shit, I sure don't.

[sendero]

60. so?

.... I could not care less. And by the way, "Jewish" is a religion not a race.

[TAH6988]

62. I had no idea you could be "half a religion"

Guess we have a lot of half-Catholics and half-Lutherans out there.