Conversation:

Shim, have I let you know my best mate is Jewish and is in my class at school, there are also 3 other Jewish girls in my class, but 2 of them their mothers married out, apparently one's taken to Paganism, which this girl hates.

I daren't say too much or Shim might kill me or tell me to shut up

Hey! If I were friends with all the Jews in my school that would make, what, 380? (all of them) And then next year I go live on kibbutz and it gets worse.

Hey shim - how come in the forum itself your fish is blue but in the reply it's just a normal yellow fish?

He's got his own personalised fish, no-one else can have it but him.

So in other words you go to a Jewish school. You're going to live on kibbutz? Cool, where abouts? I wish I could, but then again I'm more of a city girl so I'd probably prefer Jerusalem.

Judaism is actually a case of bilineal descent - at least traditionally. Property and wealth is passed down patrilineally, at least in traditional Judaism. While one's identification as a Jew came from the mother.

The reason for matrilineal descent here is clear-cut: back then, paternity could not be positively established, while maternity (obviously) could be positively established.

If anyone has any other questions, I can try to answer. I am Jewish, though by no means a rabbi I did teach religious school for two years.

You don't have to be a rabbi to answer questions, as long as you've got the knowledge then it's ok, you just haven't got the authority that's all.