Mason Gaffney's question is perhaps rhetorical, to highlight the difficulty in the making of a definition. But there are answers available,. I heard an interesting lecture by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman discussing his new book * One Hundred Great Jewish Books*, which he started by talking about what is a Jew. He has also revised his uncle's book titled *What is a Jew?*. The first chapter bears that title as well. He summarizes his explanation by writing:

"A Jew is therefore a number of people, by birth or by conversion, who chooses to share a common cultural heritage, a religious perspective, and a spiritual horizon derived uniquely from Jewish experience and Jewish wisdom".

But Hoffman is clear that Jewishness is not a matter of race or nationality.

Best,

Sumitra Shah

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From: Societies for the History of Economics [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of mason gaffney
Schiffman’s review of Kuznets on “Jewish Economies” only adds to the mysteries. Schiffman credits Kuznets with “careful definition of concepts, meticulous empirical analysis and fact-based theoretical insights”. Then he itemizes Kuznets’ findings which fail in all the above.
Let’s just take one, that is defining a “Jew”. What makes one a “Jew”?  Is it genetic, ethnic, training, a choice, or what?  We know it is not family name, for these are often changed. Is it from mother or father?
Am I partly Jewish?  My name, Gaffney, is supposedly Irish, but Gafni is also Hebrew for Weingartner. One Gt.-grandmother was née Newman, and her Gt. Uncle converted to Rome and became a Cardinal, but some claim that Newman was changed from Neumann, a Dutch-Jewish name. There were some other shadowy figures in there that no one has traced. Many Christians preach mainly from the Old Testament, or Torah, and all good Christian children used to learn it. Christian seminaries used to require Hebrew along with Greek and Latin.  So who is a Jew?  Who is not?
That would be a good start for a “careful definition of concepts”.

Mason Gaffney