From: "Boris Liberman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "William Robb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 5:48 PM
Subject: Re[4]: Happy Hannukah


> Hi!
> 
> >> Being Jewish means belonging to certain nationality, 
> 
> WR> hmmm. I know several Canadian citizens who are Jewish.
> WR> Are they misunderstanding?
> 
> Bill, could be I used the wrong term.

Not necessarily, Boris.
Your statement "Being Jewish means belonging to certain nationality" makes 
perfect sense to me. Historically the terms "nation" and "nationality" has had 
a dual meaning, either referring to citizens of certains nations (meaning 
modern states as we know them), or referring to "of a (certain) nation" as in 
belonging to a certain people as manifested and defined by the people in 
question themselves.
That's why a Jew, a Curd, a Romani(?), an Armenian, or for that matter any 
person or group of people who define themselves as belonging to a certain 
group, tribe etc. of people correctly, can be described as of a certain nation 
or nationality, regardless of what particular state citizenship they may be 
holding.
That's why Boris, or any other Jew in diaspora if he or she so wishes, 
correctly (although maybe less commonly today) very well can be defined as "a 
person of Jewish nationality", meaning someone who belongs to (and is 
accepted/regarded by the people themselves as amember of ) a certain people 
according to their own criteria for it.

Lasse

>Will "heritage" work better? Or
> may be "people" or "set of traditions" or something else. I meant
> nationality *not* as record in your International Passport.
> 
> Darn, it goes on.
> 
> I thereby humbly ask to put this thread to rest.
> 
> 
> Boris
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 

Reply via email to