Jewish adjacent is a term referring to people who are non-Jewish yet maintain a connection to Judaism or Jewish cultural life. People who are "Jewish adjacent" often participate in Jewish holidays and rituals alongside their Jewish family members and friends. The term is also sometimes used to refer to non-Jewish people who have Jewish ancestry.
About
The term is often used to refer to non-Jewish people who have Jewish spouses or children, though is also used to refer to non-Jewish people with Jewish grandparents, in-laws, step-relatives, or other family members.
At the 2019 URJ Bienniel,
Rabbi Richard Jacobs, the head of the
Union for Reform Judaism, delivered a speech advocating the inclusion of Jewish adjacent people. Quoting Isaiah 54:2, which says to "Enlarge the site of your tent", Jacobs said that "the future of the Jewish people requires us to follow Isaiah’s vision and “extend the tent of Jewish life.”"
See also
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Conversion to Judaism
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Gentile
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Goy
In modern Hebrew and Yiddish (, he, גוי, regular plural , or ) is a term for a gentile, a non-Jew. Through Yiddish, the word has been adopted into English (pluralised as goys or goyim) also to mean gentile, sometimes with a pejorative se ...
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Jewish assimilation
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Jewish culture
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...
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Jewish identity
Jewish identity is the objective or subjective state of Identity (social science), perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jews, Jewish. Under a broader definition, Jewish identity does not depend on whether a person is regarded as ...
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Reform Judaism outreach
Reform Judaism Outreach refers to the organizational and educational efforts by the Union for Reform Judaism (formerly Union of American Hebrew Congregations) and the Reform Movement as a whole to draw into Jewish life the non-Jewish spouses of int ...
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Jüdisch versippt
During the National Socialist era, " Aryan persons" who lived in so-called " mixed marriages" with a "Jewish person" were referred to as "jüdisch versippt" (family ties to Jews). "Jüdisch Versippte" were discriminated against; they were excluded ...
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Interfaith marriage in Judaism
External links
Expanding not diluting: Embracing Jewish+ families eJewishPhilanthropy
18 Signs You’re ‘Jewish Adjacent’ Hey Alma
References
Cultural assimilation
Jewish culture
Jewish society
Judaism and other religions
Multiculturalism
Reform Judaism outreach
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