Consider posting this note at FiveDoves, thanks! // Paul Phelps
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The question, "Who is a Jew" is now, and has always been a big question for Israelis,
as well as among Bible believers; it is a good question because it relates to prophecy.
It is commonly conceded in Israel that "some unknown number" of Jewish immigrants
into Israel have little or no legitimate claim to being Jewish, but there is no agreement
on how to determine this other than by past or present synagogue association. In the
case of Russian Jews, often the only evidence is the Russian ID card identifying JEW
but that is based on former Russian police records and nothing else. The Synagogue
system was not originally established in countries east of Babylon; (e.g., not indicated
in the Book of Esther), and so the vast numbers of Israelis and Jews that went east in
the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities had no religious records that are documented.