The question of “who is a Jew” has evolved over time. In the Torah, for example, a person’s Jewish status was determined by the identity of their biological father (yes, there were interfaith families in the Torah).
As Judaism developed, the rabbis of the Talmud ruled that Jewish descent is based on the identity of one’s biological mother. This approach is referred to as “matrilineal descent.” Most Jewish communities continue to follow this rule. According to matrilineal descent, a person is Jewish if their mother was Jewish.
Reform Judaism is committed to egalitarianism and believes that community participation is also a key element of one's Jewish identity. In 1983, the Reform Movement of the United States acted on this commitment to egalitarianism and recognized the many children of interfaith families as Jews by adopting a new understanding of “Jewish descent.” According to this understanding, a child is considered Jewish in Reform communities if they: (a) have at least one Jewish parent; (b) are raised exclusively as a Jew; (c) receive a Jewish education; and (d) celebrate appropriate lifecycle events, such as receiving a Hebrew name and becoming .
This new understanding is sometimes referred to as “patrilineal descent,” because it gives equal consideration to the family of a person’s biological father, but it is more accurately called “equilineal descent” and is a bit more nuanced, as it also looks at a person’s involvement with the Jewish community.
Of course, if a person missed out on any of these experiences, they are enthusiastically encouraged to affirm their Jewish identity by engaging in Jewish learning and taking part in a conversion or affirmation ritual.
In all cases, a person may choose to become Jewish through conversion to Judaism.
Learn about the URJ's Introduction to Judaism classes.
Learn more about converting to Judaism.