Bachelor thesis | Hebreeuwse en Joodse Studies (BA)
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According to Jewish Law the Jewish identity is inherited through the mother: every child of a Jewish mother is Jewish. This principle is called matrilineality. The Jews of Kaifeng China abided by...Show moreAccording to Jewish Law the Jewish identity is inherited through the mother: every child of a Jewish mother is Jewish. This principle is called matrilineality. The Jews of Kaifeng China abided by the Jewish Law and Rabbinical Literature. In spite of this, the Kaifeng community inherited Jewish identity patrilineary. Through the study of source materials from Kaifeng, the present paper attempts to explain how it came about that the Kaifeng Jews upheld a patrilineal system of inheritance. Even more so, this paper argues against the teleological argument put forward by the existing scholarship on the issue by stating that the adoption of patrilineality was not a mere consequence of assimilation, but actually a conscious act of acculturation. The Kaifeng Jewish community continued to exist for centuries after the adoption of patrilineality, therefore it is wrong of the existing literature to suggest assimilation was the cause for the switch from matrilineality to patrilineality. The present paper argues that the Kaifeng Jews made the conscious decision to adopt a patrilineal system of inheritance, even if that meant going against Rabbinical Law.Show less
