i just figured out that im jewish!

i was looking up my last name, Beller, on google and even though i had always been told it was a german name i couldnt find a single german result ecxept for a guy who specializes(sp?) with german composers.

instead, i found rabbis(sp?), an Israeli journalist and a bunch of other sites that have to do with jewis people named Beller! my family probably thought our name was german because my grandmother came from germany and no one has done any researching for our family tree. and you know how some hebrew and german names can sound similar.

you should look up your name. you might get a surprise

 

i'm not related to my last name.

 

I never bother googling my name...all it returns is a very very VERY famous german guy who lives in italy



but thats cool that you're suddenly jewish and can now get uuber offended at anti semite jokes

 

There were many jews in germany pre-WW2. It could have been that you may have ancestors in germany and changed some stuff out of fear of persacution.

 

YAY now i can talk about how much the white man is keeping us minorities down

 

This reminds me of the episode of Family Guy where Peter discovers he's black

 

Yeah, I'm not related to my last name either. Paternal grandfather was adopted.

My last names French. I'm proud to say I have no French in me.

Except for that one weekend, but I was drunk so it doesn't count.

 

My dads biological parents' last name is French.

My moms side is British, I believe. theres a little bit of random other things in there too though.

 

thats the first thing i thought of as i was posting this

 

another FG fan, awesome this place is swarming with them

 

Well....
It depends on what side of the family your grandmother comes from. Judaism passes through the mother, so if she is your maternal grandmother - you are Jewish.

Check into it.

 

About half my family I can't trace back to anywhere. I could be part Chimpanzee for all I know.

The others are English, Irish, and Dutch.

 

what do you mean jewishness only passes through mathernal grandmother? if my dad is part jewish, then wouldnt it mean that im part jewish? or are jews the religion and hebrews the ethnicity?

 

Jewish refers to both.

Jewish orthodox view about who is jewish is different. He'd be Jewish through maternal lineage, or through conversion.

Although from an ethnic standpoint, having a significant portion of jewish ancestory would make you part jewish.

 

a person belonging to the worldwide group claiming descent from Jacob (or converted to it) and connected by cultural or religious ties
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

thats the definition of jew i found.

 

Judaism is a religion AND a race (the way it was explained to me). I think it's either you are or you aren't - if you have the traits, that's just it - you have the traits. But if your mother's mother's mother (and so on) is Jewish than you are Jewish. Doesn't mean you practice the faith, that's what you are.

I think it's like that 'cause they are God's Chosen. Kinda like an exclusive club. I understand, 'cause I can tell my mother and I have the traits. But because she was adopted, we have no way of knowing if we are Jewish or not.

Also, I think Hebrew is the language.

 

shit, you had to ruin my fun

o well, i dont have the traits, and maybe im not part of god's "chosen People", but i still have jewish blood in me :sunglasse

 

*laughs* Sorry.
Continue to research it. What side of the family did your grandmother from Germany come from?(Because you have my curiosity piqued) You never know what you might find out.

 

my dads side. and all i know is that my last name is jewish, so that means its my dads dad who would be jewish. but none of us know anythin about my dads side, i dont even know my grandmothers maiden name.

 

Well, like I said - you should research it. I was given a tip once, sign up for the geneology websites where they have the free-trial. Get and print out all the information you can on your family before the trial runs out and then not pay it. It's sneaky, but a good way to get information.