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Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's mother's lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. However, the latter does not always hold; in some societies, titles or property went to the male heir(s) of the nearest female relative.
A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant (of either sex) in which the individuals in all intervening generations are female. In a matrilineal descent system, an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as his or her mother. This is in contrast to the more common pattern of patrilineal descent.
The uterine ancestry of an individual is a person's pure female ancestry, i.e. a matriline leading from a female ancestor to that individual.
In some cultures, membership of a group is inherited matrilinearly. For example, it is traditionally said that one is a Jew if one's mother (rather than one's father) is a Jew.
The fact that mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited enables matrilineal lines of individuals to be traced through genetic analysis.
Orthodox Judaism states that, to be a Jew, one must be either a proselyte or the child of a Jewish mother. This ruling is based on the fact that intercourse between Jews and non-Jews is forbidden, and any offspring resulting from such an act is considered to have no paternity. It is not mentioned directly in the Bible, but derives from the Oral law (Mishnah tractate Kiddushin 3:12). The Talmudic commentary finds scriptural proof from various verses in the Torah and the rest of Tanakh (the Jewish Bible).
Historians have cast doubt on the claim that Judaism has always been matrilineal. Indeed, there are several instances in the Bible where Jewish men marry gentile women without direct mention of the women converting. (The standard view among historians seems to be that the very notion of conversion with a mikveh is postbiblical.) Apparently the offspring of such unions was considered to be Jewish; the Book of Ruth claims such ancestry for King David himself; however, the Talmud (Yevamoth 47b) asserts that Ruth was a convert to Judaism, and derives the laws of proselytes from the exchange between Naomi and Ruth. Flavius Josephus refers to marriages between Jewish men and Gentile women without much commentary, and seems to assume that the offspring is Jewish (or, according to one of his statements, "half-Jewish") (Antiquities of the Jews 16.225, 18.109, 18.139, 18.141, 14.8-10, 14.121, 14.403); as is usual in prerabbinic texts, there is no mention of conversion on the part of the Gentile spouse. On the other hand, Philo of Alexandria calls the child of a Jew and a non-Jew a nothos (bastard), regardless of whether the non-Jewish parent is the father or the mother (On the Life of Moses 2.36.193, On the Virtues 40.224, On the Life of Moses 1.27.147).
The view of matrilineal descent as originating at the time of Yavneh is openly held by scholars affiliated with the Conservative movement. At the same time, matrilineal descent is the norm in Conservative halakha; if a Conservative synagogue accepts patrilineal descent ritually, it is generally expelled from the movement. On the other hand, polls conducted by the Conservative movement show that 68% of all regular attendants to Conservative synagogues support patrilineal descent.
Reform Judaism in the U.S. officially adopted a bilineal policy in 1983: one is a Jew if either of one's parents is Jewish, provided that either (a) one is raised as a Jew, by Reform standards, or (b) one engages in an appropriate act of public identification. This declaration formalized what had been Reform policy in practice for at least a generation. Clause (b) has been generally interpreted as making any form of public self-identification sufficient, though some congregations may make more formal requirements - especially if the individual in question has been raised as a Christian.
Other movements within the World Union for Progressive Judaism have adopted essentially the same position as U.S. Reform Judaism. These include: Liberal Judaism in England; Reconstructionist Judaism in the US, Canada and elsewhere; Progressive Judaism in Australia; one congregation in Austria; some congregations in Eastern Europe. Note that Reform Judaism in Canada and England adopts a different position, closer to the Orthodox one, at least in some congregations.
Many secular and non-religious Jews in America, Israel and elsewhere adopt a bilineal view similar to that detailed above. In Israel, the status quo is that the Orthodox definition is followed: the child of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother may immigrate to Israel (and may claim rights under the Law of Return), but will be registered in official documents as a non-Jew. The consequences are various: he/she may not be wedded inside the state to anybody considered to be officially a Jew, and he/she may not be buried in a military cemetery if he/she dies in battle.
The traditional nair community in South India is matriarchal and matrilineal by system. A nair matriarchal family is called as a Tarawad or Marumakkathayam family. A traditional nair Tarwad consists of a mother and her children living together with their mother's brother or maternal uncle who is called as Karanavan. In a Nair family, amongst all the women at home, the eldest mother would become the head of the family
- The origin of Matrilineal Descent in Judaism
- Why is Judaism passed on through the mother? (torah.org)
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