Is Judaism a Race or a Covenant? Understanding Jewish Identity, Part I

Or asks: “I know that Judaism is passed from the mother to the children, but does that mean Judaism is based on race? I’m asking because some of my distant friends struggle with the idea that we are the chosen people.”

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Hello Or, and thank you for your question.

What you described is a common mistake. Judaism is not based on race.

Race, by definition, cannot be changed. Two of the most well known historical examples of racism come from the United States, where Black people were once enslaved and treated as an inferior race, and from Nazi Germany, where the Nazis persecuted Jews worldwide with the goal of destroying them because they viewed them as a so-called parasitic race.

Racism claims an inborn superiority that has nothing to do with a person’s free choice, beliefs, or actions. For that reason, a Black individual in the past could not be accepted into a white high school in the United States regardless of talent or ability. Likewise, a Jew in Nazi Germany would never have been accepted into a German school, even if willing to adopt German language and culture.

The Difference Between Race and Judaism

During the Jewish Enlightenment, many Jews in Germany assimilated completely. Families abandoned visible signs of Jewish identity, spoke only German, dressed like Germans, and intermarried. Yet the Nazis still investigated their ancestry up to four generations back. Even those raised entirely within German culture discovered that a single Jewish grandparent marked them for persecution. According to racist ideology, a Jew could not become German, just as a Black person could not become white.

That is the essence of racism: identity determined by race rather than by beliefs or behavior that can be chosen and changed.

From this perspective, it becomes clear why Judaism is not based on race. Any person in the world may become Jewish if they choose to change their way of life and accept the commandments of the Torah.

Jewish Identity and Spiritual Commitment

It is true that Jewish identity is passed from a mother to her children. However, the same applies to a convert. When someone converts to Judaism, their children and all future descendants are fully Jewish. This shows that Jewish identity is rooted in a spiritual covenant rather than in biological race.

According to Jewish tradition, the spiritual commitment to Torah is what grants the Jewish soul. This spiritual identity is open to anyone who sincerely seeks it, whether they come from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Asia, Australia, or the Americas. What defines Jewish identity is the covenant accepted at Mount Sinai, and that covenant remains open to all who willingly embrace it.

When a Jew understands this principle, there is no shame in speaking about being part of the chosen people. It is not a racist claim but a statement about responsibility and commitment. Anyone may join this covenant and share in its spiritual mission by accepting the obligations of Torah and mitzvot. The greater the mission, the greater the sanctity.

The Origins of Jewish Chosenness

This idea is not a philosophical speculation but a fundamental principle of Jewish belief throughout the generations. To understand it, we can look at the origins of the Jewish people.

The Jewish nation descends from Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and through them received the land and the covenant of the Torah. But why were the patriarchs chosen in the first place?

God did not choose Avraham because of noble lineage, but because he was a righteous seeker of truth who believed with devotion. Yitzchak was chosen because he continued this path faithfully. Yaakov was chosen over Esav, even though both were sons of Yitzchak, because Yaakov chose a life of faith and spiritual pursuit while Esav chose a different path. From the very beginning, the Torah teaches that God chooses those who seek Him, not people defined by race or birth alone.

Yaakov received the name Israel, and his children became known as the Children of Israel because they upheld the faith of their ancestors.

Redemption and Covenant

The sages taught that Israel merited redemption from Egypt through their commitment to their identity and values. They preserved their names, their language, and their moral integrity. Later, they accepted the Torah with the declaration, “We will do and we will hear.”

No other nation agreed to accept the unity of God and the full responsibility of the Torah in the same way. This covenant could have been lost after the sin of the Golden Calf, yet repentance restored the relationship, and God established an eternal bond: “I will not reject them or destroy them to break My covenant with them.”

God chose His people because of their spiritual commitment and the righteousness of their generations, and that covenant extends to all who join them.

With God’s help, we will continue to explore this important foundation in future articles.