35. When did Judaism become Matrilineal? (Jewish History Lab)

Re Deuteronomy 7:4. An Alternative explanation of this passage is that at time the father determined his children's beliefs and affiliations, rather than the mother. This was after all a patriarchal society). SO, a non-Jewish man would threaten the Jewishness of his children with a Jewish woman. It follows that a Jewish man having children with a non-Jewish woman would be MORE likely to have children that were affiliated with Judaism. I think this is actually a passage in support of patrilineal descent.

Judaism portraying itself as genetically maternal was a way to scare Gentiles from taking Jewish women as warbrides and concubines.

Seems to imply the nature of "decent" law is effectively arbitrary, even a mechanism of utility?

In Ezekiel 23, Samaria and Jerusalem were like two sisters God married. They prostituted themselves with foreign nations and foreign gods. They were kicked out into the nations. This theme of Israel as God's wife, it is consistent throughout the Bible, and the Prophets. The Songs of Songs is in the Bible as a representation of Israel or the Church as God's wife. Jews being Matrilineal would be an institutionalization of Harlotry. Torah is Patrilineal, like the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Matrilineal may have more to do with a Lilith demon, possibly related to the dragon in Beowulf. These have been consistent themes.

I don’t believe there was a conversion back than except circumcison and just practicing the Torah keeping Shabbat and kosher and the holy days I don’t believe there was any kind of ceremony scriptures show other wise exodus 12 explains this well .
Rashi has his views doesn’t mean they are correct , any one can say what something means but doesn’t mean it’s accurate scriptures shows as he said Moses and Joseph and Solomon’s son were still Hebrew even with non Hebrew mothers

Noach slaughtered only kosher animals when the waters subsided.

Moses, Joseph, Solomon? How about Esther, David, and Ruth a Moabite who married into the religion? Or Samson who might not have married Delilah but had a relationship with her and going back further even 😅Abraham who married a woman of uncertain lineage after Sarah died. It seems to me that these examples were less exceptional than is commonly acknowledged and if matrilineal
descent was the norm why are we still named after our father? Why not our mother? and what was the status of women prior to 790 CE when they were not even allowed to enter The Temple, when as far as I know synagogues did not exist as we know them today and polygamy was not only allowed but persisted for a thousand years after the destruction of the second temple in Europe and well into the 29th century among Sephardic Jews in certain less developed countries.

Does anyone know exactly where matrilineal descent is mentioned in the Torah and if so exactly what is the text?

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Shalom..it IS matriarche why not using the last names from mothers instead.. anywais if matters both to me mom ans dad shalom

It’s very interesting the Biblical reference you share. I’ve actually only heard, from more than one person or rabbi, the example of the Hebrew woman who was raped in Mitzraim and her son had no tribe, thus no share in the Land. It has been explained to me that this is further evidence that the son was considered a Jew because the mother was, despite lack of tribal affiliation.

One Word in regards to when it changed....Dispensationalism... Joseph was not under the Mosaic Covenant neither was Moses at the time he married Zipporah...but they were under the Abrahamic Covenant.. hence Zipporah circumcision of her sons and throwing the foreskin on Moses feet as a form of pentence for not keeping the Abrahamic Covenant

It's very Talmudic but not scriptural at all.

I have always had to these questions: maybe it was because the women were considered the teachers, that past down the culture and traditions to their children Proverbs 1:8, Proverbs 6:20 Proverbs 30:17, Proverbs 31:1. Although think it came much later confirmation after the second century

Was there any tribe named after a mother ?

I actually found this very confusing which saddens me cuz I hope I finally understand what I remember reading maybe a decade ago and it may have been wrong but that today is originally was patrilineal but due to all the programs and the rape of Jewish women and then the babies being born in essence with no identity as a Jew because their mother had been raped by a non-jew they decided that the mother would determine whether or not the child was considered Jewish. At the time I read this it made sense and yet you've made no reference to it and you stuck to your holy text but it does seem to be a lot of contradiction. Furthermore I'm really shocked that in cultures that are actually patriarchal which I do consider the Jewish religion patriarchal that they have limited the freedom of the male and I find that not only strange but quite frankly would have been considered unacceptable in the times in which you say it occurred. And I do not find what you have said convincing and I would like a further investigation that was clearer than what you presented. Thank you

Per Leviticus 24:10-11, the matrilineal position isn't supported by Torah. The blasphemer is repeatedly identified as an "Israelite woman's son" in contrast to the "man of Israel" he contended with. So his mother's Jewishness didn't make him Jewish. Likewise, Joseph's sons by the Egyptian lady are two of the 12 tribes of Israel. King David's grandfather Obed was born to Ruth, a Moabite lady, and King David's great-grandfather Boaz was born to Rahab, a Canaanite woman. All of these inherited the status of their "Jewish" fathers, irrespective of the status of their non-Jewish mothers. Finally, genealogy in Torah is always patrilineal.

God does not recognise the matrilineal genealogy.

Juden. Talmudism. Zionism. Satanism.

Strange explanation

The logic is, IMO, that we cannot always be quite sure who is father, but we know who is mother.

Very good question, but I'm afraid no one could handle the some of the matter

Who is in the Brit is the only question. If you didn't make it public at 13 years of age your out anyway. Of course anyone can take the light yoke of Torah on them at any time in their life. Meeting Avraham, Yitzkhak, and Yaakove in olam haba is what matters.

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Using Paternal lineage to claim a nation, then using maternal lineage to maintain obviously false claims about groups of people from different races and continents are self serving that expose the man made nature of this religion….

Nothing more amusing than watching a person interpreting and reinterpreting his or her religion to explain away the obvious man made nature of their religion.

The father determined the tribes within the nation while the mother determined the nationality

I have evidence, which surprised me, that even as late as the 7th century CE, there still existed the concept of Patrilineal descent and it rather depended on how the child was child. This surprised me as it is similar to the Reform today, and yet it was apparently not an issue then.

Who cares? It's all a bunch of human invention and self obsession

Very balanced, textual presentation . . . non-doctrinal and open to different viewpoints. Excellent!

Solomon (Shlomo) There certainly is no problem with saying that Solomon violated God's law severely in that he multiplied horses, women, & gold, and also build idolatrous temples dedicated to gentile gods! God appeared to him twice about this, but Solomon persisted in his sin (leading one to conclude that Solomon is a candidate for world's greatest fool & unwise!) David had a heart for God, but He did adultery & murder! So one part of your argument is fallacious.

Now isn't it a fact that before the Law of Moses was given, the patriarchs (Abe, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph) did NOT keep the unknown Law of Moses? Did the patriarchs not violate the incest laws of the Law of Moses? For Jacob to marry sisters is against the incest laws of Moses

I see no need grounds to change he ("they") to son-in-law. How about impersonal IT, It (the intermarriage) will .... Hebrew has 2 genders, but not English which also has neuter. Thus if Hebrew will say "he" where we would say "it," It may be the correct English translation. When Hebrew refers to a thing using a gender, that does not mean that IT is not the correct English translation. Reading sons/children as grandson or grandchildren, is unnecessary.

The divorcing in Ezra & Nehemiah over intermarriage, so far as I know, if foreign to the Law & not advocated by any prophet. I see no reason to consider Ezra or Nehemiah as prophets. I don't recall them predicting the future (important in authenticating a prophet). Could it be that Malachi (a prophet) objected to this divorcing, stating the God hates divorce? With all the intermarriage in the Biblical history of Israel, I can't think of any instance where somebody was told by a prophet to divorce a pagan wife. In the writings of prophet Saul/Paul, 1 Corinthians 7, is not the rule is that if the unregenerate wife is happy to stay married, then stay married to her, & that she has a special holy status as married to a Christian & that their children are holy?

As always, thank you, Dr. Abramson for this fascinating explanation.
I recently found that I have DNA markers common to Ashkenazi Jews, and I am doing further research to see if it comes through my mother. I am fairly certain, as my mother and uncle have different fathers and they have the same markers.
On the matrilineal "pro" side, it's pretty easy to figure out who the mother of a child is; fatherhood, until recently, was a test of faith.
On the patrilineal "pro" side, all of the "begats" in the Bible don't mention the mothers, yet they are put in there to show that they did come from Abraham, and are assumed to be Jews.
With that, I will take your sources and keep learning.

Excellent lecture.

Exod 13,2 establishes Maternality Principle, only „bnot“ do have rechem, not boys

I can't believe how brainwashed some Jewish people are at interpretation. I'm the case of these leaders, They are being intellectually dishonest. The context is about serving YaH. Women are GIVEN AWAY to be with the Husband's household and therefore their husbands family will have the religious influence Exodus 34:12, 15, 16. No need to mention the sons therefore, because sons stay with their native people (to carry on the name and lineage, obviously).

Absolutely nothing in the TNK supports matrilineal. Never has no matter how you try to twist it. Apparently God, Pharaoh, The Midwives, and Moses parents felt that Patrilineal is what matters ...Exodus 1:15-21.

Dear Dr. Abramson, Perhaps, "historically", the New Testament has something to say about Jewish Matrilineal descent. In Acts chapter 16, we learn about the circumcision of Timothy. His father is described as s Greek, meaning he was Jewish on his mother's side but not circuncised. Paul opposed the circuncision of non-Jews, so he only circuncised Timothy because of the latter's Jewish mother.

The Torah is completely patrilineal! VEHU YIMSHOL BAH!! "AND HE WILL BE HER LEADER" This changed after many Jewish women were.raped by gentiles, and therefore the child's identity would be obvious if the lineage goes by the woman. The fact that Jewish people did not defend themselves but chose to live in pogrom invested countries, has produced the change in the lineage. Very sad!! I am a victim of this travesty!!

Traditionally the child is given the father’s sir-name, which influences identity. My Jewish father married 3 times to non-Jewish women and had three families. We all carry his Hebrew last name and I identify more strongly with his culture. It’s been difficult for me to find belonging, especially since we didn’t grow up with any of his family, and didn’t experience any Jewish rituals in the home. I see how matrilineal descent is important for this reason- to carry on the traditions in the home.

Traditionally the child is given the father’s sir-name, which influences identity. My Jewish father married 3 times to non-Jewish women and had three families. We all carry his Hebrew last name and I identify more strongly with his culture. It’s been difficult for me to find belonging, especially since we didn’t grow up with any of his family, and didn’t experience any Jewish rituals in the home. I see how matrilineal descent is important for this reason- to carry on the traditions in the home.

My father is Jewish, mother Italian Catholic, but my parents had me and my brother taken to the mikva and converted when we were infants, then brought up completely Jewish, had bar mitzvah etc..... And still to this day, when some orthodox groups, some ultras in particular, find out my mother is Catholic, ,they occasionally seem to imply that I am not legitimately "Jewish". Thankfully, this has only happened a few times, but its can be a bit offensive. Especially when they pretend matrilineal goes all the way back to Moses.

Not addressed is before literacy and during agriculture periods, the Keisha people were pagan, like all people. Pagan societies were matrifocal. Later with monotheism, and Jewish people not integrated into other societies, aircraft such as the moon, the trees, the growing and harvest festivals, the mother line, etc stayed.

Moshiach is to be the descendant of King David. Patrilineal much? Matrilineal descent has crippled us up to nothing in the Diaspora.
Women’s Lib plus matrilineal descent is pure doom.

The matrilineal rule completely contradicts Genesis 28, where God promised that the land of Israel would go to Jacob and HIS descendants. The Lord did not make a covenant with the Wife and her descendants. If women were so important to Judaism, where are the Matriarchs? Let us not forget that the intention was for Adam to rule, but he fell because he was MIA when his wife needed his stewardship most. In Judaism it is all about the men; Eve was created as a “helper”for Adam. When Joseph, Moses, Boaz married non ethnic Jews, the only logical inference is that the father’s identity was determinative for passing on Jewishness to the child.

What do you call thought complexes and currents of ideas that are entirely focused on race?

As I was listening to this I realized that the Jews (Yehudim) are actually Canaanites if you follow the matrilineal descent rule. A Canaanite woman called Tamar prostituted herself to her father in law and bore a child, which gave rise to the tribe of Judah. It’s there in Genesis 38. Furthermore, almost the entire Torah is full of genealogical scripts revealing only the male line of descent. So if you’re Jewish through your mother, then why does the Torah not describe these mothers except here and there as an inconsequential bit of info? Rahab, also a Canaanite prostitute is an ancestor of David. Somewhere along the line, a concerted effort has been made to wipe out Jewish blood by denying patrilineal descent as Hashem intended. Arabs have maintained patrilineal descent since Abraham. Whoever tried to wipe out Jewish identity has succeeded because how can you not be Jewish if your father is Jewish? Probably something anti Zionists started. Save the Jews and restore their identity!

Interesting video. Just popped up on my You Tube feed somehow. I have read the Holy Bible and listened to it via audio tapes since I was given a Bible for Christmas in 3rd Grade, and now I am a Grandparent.... and it is obvious to anyone that has started at Genesis chapter 1 and read all the way to Revelation chapter 22 (including "Maps"), that the father of the child is the one that is biblically the one that the children follow after, not the mother.

The genealogy lists are explicit. The Son of, who is the son of who is the son of....going back to Mr. Adam. The "matrilineal" idea is NOT "kosher".

There are two lists of genealogy in the "New Testament" found in The Gospel according to Matthew and the Gospel according to Luke which can be very helpful and enlightening on this topic.

Judaism didn't even exist until the Hellenic period. The Torah wasn't given it was compiled and invented by men.