Who is a Jew?

"Who is a Jew?" (Hebrew: Mihu Yehudi?, ?מיהו יהודי) is a basic question about Jewish identity. The question gained particular prominence in connection with several high-profile legal cases in Israel since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948.

The definition of who is a Jew varies according to whether it is being considered by Jews for self-identification or by non-Jews for their own particular purposes. As Jewish identity can include characteristics of an ethnicity and of a religion, the definition of who is a Jew has varied, depending on whether a religious, sociological, or ethnic aspect was being considered. This article is concerned with Jewish self-identification issues.

According to the simplest definition used by Jews for self-identification, a person is a Jew by birth, or becomes one through religious conversion.

However, a debate has arisen among various branches of Judaism on these issues:

• Mixed parentage: i.e. whether a person of mixed Jewish and non-Jewish parentage should be considered Jewish.
• Conversion: i.e. what process of religious conversion should be considered valid.
• Life circumstances issues: i.e. whether a person's actions (such as conversion to a different religion) or circumstances in their lives (such as being unaware of Jewish parentage) should affect their Jewish status.

COOPER IS A GAY JEW

Religious definitions

BRYAN IS A JEW

Haredi and Modern Orthodox Judaism

Both Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism accept a similar set of rules regarding Jewish status based on classical rabbinic Judaism, including both matrilineal descent and requirements that conversions be performed by Orthodox rabbis and that converts promise to strictly observe elements of traditional Judaism such as Shabbat and Niddah. However, their application of these rules have been different, and the difference has been increasing in recent years. Modern Orthodox authorities have been more inclined to rule in favor of Jewish status and to accept non-Orthodox Jews' word in doubtful cases involving people claiming to be Jews, while Haredi authorities have in recent years tended to presume non-Jewish status and require more stringent rules and standards of evidence in order for Jewish status to be proven, and have tended to distrust the evidence of Jews who are not personally Orthodox. Haredi rabbis have tended to look at a convert's current personal observance and to regard deficiencies or lack of Orthodoxy in current observance as evidence that the convert never intended to validly convert. In addition, the contemporary situation is further complicated by the fact that some Haredi rabbis no longer regard some Modern Orthodox rabbis as reliably Orthodox.

Karaite Judaism

Unlike the denominations of Rabbinical Judaism, Karaite Judaism includes only the Written Torah in its canon (i.e. Talmud / Oral Law are not included) and does not consider itself Rabbinical. Karaite Judaism interprets the Written Torah to indicate that Judaism is passed through the paternal line, not the maternal line.

The controversy

The traditional Jewish definition of a Jew is "someone born to a Jewish mother or who has converted to Judaism." The Orthodox or Conservative requirement for a valid conversion is that the candidate for conversion understand the obligations of being a Jew, show commitment to fulfilling these obligations, (for a male) to undergo Brit milah (ritual circumcision) or one of its exceptions, perform immersion in a mikvah, and satisfy the scrutiny of a Beit din, or rabbinical court. The beit din act not only as judges but as witnesses in the course of conversion, and it follows that its members must be suitable and qualified for these purposes.

Progressive denominations have a more relaxed conversion process. In the US, an official Reform resolution in 1893 abolished circumcision as a rule for converts, and Reform does not require converts to have tevilah (ritual immersion). A "prospective convert declares, orally and in writing, in the presence of a rabbi and no less than two lay leaders of the congregation and community, acceptance of the Jewish faith and the intention to live in accordance with its mitzvot.

Four basic disputes

The controversy of "who is a Jew" concerns four basic disputes:

1. The North American Reform and British Liberal movements have changed some of the traditional requirements for a Jewish identity in two ways: (1) Children born of just one Jewish parent — regardless of whether the father or mother is Jewish — can claim a Jewish identity. A child of only one Jewish parent who does not claim this identity has, in the eyes of the Reform movement, forfeited his/her Jewish identity. By contrast, the traditional view is that any child born to a Jewish mother is Jewish, whether or not he/she is raised Jewish, or even whether the mother considers herself Jewish. As an example, the grandchildren of Madeleine Albright (who was raised Catholic and was unaware of her Jewish heritage) would all be Jews according to halakha (traditional Jewish law), since their mother's traceable female ancestors were all Jewish and all three of her children were female. (2) The requirement of brit milah has been relaxed, as has the requirement of ritual immersion. (While the Conservative movement permits conversion without circumcision in some cases, notably hemophiliacs, most Orthodox Jews do not, except in cases specifically exempted by the Talmud, such as one who has had three brothers die as a result of circumcision.)
2. Orthodoxy asserts that non-Orthodox rabbis are not qualified to form a beit din.This has led to the fact that non-Orthodox conversions are generally not accepted in Orthodox communities. Since Orthodox Judaism maintains the traditional standards for conversion — in which the commitment to observe Halakha is required — non-Orthodox conversions are generally not accepted in Orthodox communities because the non-Orthodox movements perform conversions in which the new convert does not undertake to observe Halakha as understood by Orthodox Judaism.
3. A third controversy concerns persons (whether born Jews or converts to Judaism) who have converted to another religion. The traditional view is such persons remain Jewish. However, Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism regard such people as non-Jewish, and they do not count as Jewish for the purposes of the Israeli citizenship laws.
4. A fourth controversy stems from the manner in which the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has been handling marriage and conversion decisions in recent years. Conversions and marriages within Israel are legally controlled by the Orthodox Israeli Chief Rabbinate; therefore, a person not proven to be a Jew to the Rabbinate's satisfaction is not legally permitted to marry a Jew in Israel today. Although the Rabbinate has always refused to accept non-Orthodox conversions, until recent years it was more willing to accept the Jewish parentage of applicants based on personal testimony, and the validity of conversions based on the testimony of Orthodox Rabbis. However, in recent years the rabbinate, whose rabbis historically had a more Modern Orthodox orientation, has increasingly been filled by the more stringent Hareidi camp. It has increasingly been inclined to presume that applicants are not Jewish until proven otherwise, and require more stringent standards of proof than in the past. It has implemented a policy of refusing to accept the testimony of non-Orthodox Jews in matters of Jewish status, on grounds that such testimony is not reliable. It also has been increasingly skeptical of the reliability of Orthodox rabbis ordained by institutions not subject to its accreditation, particularly in matters of conversion. Accordingly, non-Orthodox Jews born to Jewish parents, and some Jews converted by Orthodox rabbis, have been increasingly unable to prove their Jewishness to the Rabbinate's satisfaction, because they are unable to find an Orthodox rabbi who is both acceptable to the Rabbinate, and familiar with and willing to vouch for the Jewishness of their maternal lineage or the validity of their conversion.

There have been several attempts to convene representatives of the three major movements to formulate a practical solution to this issue. To date, these have failed, though all parties concede the importance of the issue is greater than any sense of rivalry among them.

In Israel

The definition of "who is a Jew" has become an important issue in Israeli politics.

Law of Return

See also: Law of Return

Following the independence of the modern State of Israel in 1948, the Law of Return gave any "Jew" the right to immigrate to Israel and become a citizen.

However, due to an inability on the lawmakers to agree, the Law did not define "who was a Jew", relying instead on the issue to resolve itself over time. As a result, the Law relied in form on the traditional halakhic definition. But the absence of a definition of who is a Jew, for the purpose of the Law, resulted in the divergent definitions of the various streams of Judaism competing for recognition.

In addition, the Law deviated in several respects from the halakhic definition. In the first place, the Law allowed immigration to the children and grandchildren of Jews, regardless of their religious affiliation. Also, converts to Judaism whose conversion was performed outside of the State of Israel, regardless of who performed it, were entitled to immigration under the Law. Once again, issues arose as to whether a conversion performed outside of Israel was valid. There was also a stipulation that a person who had formally converted to another religion was not entitled to immigration under the Law. The variation of the definition in the Law and the definition used by various branches of Judaism has resulted in practical difficulties for many people. The traditional definition of who is a Jew is not followed by the Israeli government in deciding who qualifies to make aliyah ("immigrate [to Israel]") and acquire citizenship under the Law of Return.

The requirements here differ significantly from the definition of a Jew under halakha, in permitting anyone with only one Jewish grandparent, or as non-Jewish spouses of Jews, to move to Israel. A person with only one Jewish grandparent is presently allowed to make aliyah, which is not the same thing as conferring the status of Jew upon that person.

Thus, because the secular Israeli Law of Return functions in broader terms than would be allowed according to Judaism's definition of "Who is a Jew?", it is consequently estimated that as a result of the easing of standards, in the past twenty years about 300,000 avowed non-Jews and even practicing Christians have entered Israel from the former Soviet Union on the basis of claiming to have one Jewish grandparent or by being married to a Jew. The net result has been that Israel has not resolved the question of how such a large group of immigrants who are now Israelis but who are still not Jews should be formally converted to Judaism.

Current Israeli definitions specifically exclude Jews who have openly and knowingly converted to a faith other than Judaism, including Messianic Judaism. This definition is not the same as that in traditional Jewish law; in some respects it is deliberately wider, so as to include those non-Jewish relatives of Jews who may have been perceived to be Jewish, and thus faced anti-Semitism.

The "Law of Return" distinguishes between two categories of subjects:

• A Jew (One who has been born to a Jewish mother or converted)
• A non-Jew, who is "a son/daughter or a grandson/granddaughter of a Jew, and the spouse thereof" who remains non-Jewish, but nevertheless "is granted equal right of Aliyah and absorption" - this is the paragraph 4A of the law. A spouse of an Israeli Jew (a non-Israeli person who married an Israeli Jew) is excluded from the right of return.

The repatriation visa granted to an applicant includes an indication of whether it was issued according to paragraph 4A or 4B.

Until recently, the Israeli identity card had an indication of nationality, and anyone who made an aliyah as "4A", had not been marked as a Jew. Instead of that, there was an empty field. However, many Israeli citizens who are not recognised by the Rabbinate as Jewish (or have not provided sufficient proof of this) have been issued with Israeli identity cards that do not include their Hebrew calendar birthdate.

Israeli laws governing marriage and divorce

See also: Marriage in Israel

In relation to marriage, divorce, and burial, which are under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Interior Ministry, the halakhic definition of who is a Jew is applied. When there is any doubt, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate generally determines the issue.

In terms of social relations, most secular Jews view their Jewish identity as a matter of culture, heritage, nationality, or ethnicity. Ancestral aspects can be explained by the many Jews who view themselves as atheist and are defined by matrilineal descent or a Cohen (Kohen) or Levi, which is connected by ancestry. The question of “who is a Jew” is a question that is under debate. Issues related to ancestral or ethnic Jews are dealt with by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.

Orthodox halachic rules apply to converts who want to marry in Israel. Under these rules, a conversion to Judaism must strictly follow halachic standards to be recognised as valid. The rabbinate even scrutinizes Orthodox conversions, with some who have converted by orthodox authorities outside of Israel not being permitted to marry in Israel. For example, an American man who underwent an Orthodox conversion in Metairie, Louisiana, was denied an official marriage in Israel on the grounds that his conversion may not have been legitimate and that the Orthodox rabbi who converted him in Louisiana is not recognized in Israel..

If one's ancestral line of Jewishness is in doubt, then a proper conversion would be required in order to be allowed to marry in the Orthodox community, or in Israel, where such rules govern all marriages.

Israeli definition of nationality

In the registering of "nationality" on Israeli Teudat Zehut ("identity card"), which is also controlled by the Ministry of the Interior, a person had to meet the traditional halakhic definition to be registered as a "Jew". However, in a small number of cases the secular Supreme Court of Israel has forced the ministry to register as Jews individuals who did not meet that definition.

Other definitions

There have been other attempts to determine Jewish identity beside the traditional Jewish approaches. These range from genetic population studies (see Y-chromosomal Aaron) to controversial evolutionary perspectives including those espoused by Kevin B. MacDonald and Yuri Slezkine.

Anti-Semitic definitions

The question "who is a Jew?" is also sometimes of importance to non-Jews. It has had exceptional significance historically when considered by anti-Jewish groups for the purpose of targeting Jews for persecution or discrimination. The definition can impact on whether a person may have a certain job, live in certain locations, receive a free education, live or continue to live in the country, be imprisoned or even officially murdered.

During the time of the Inquisition, conversion to Roman Catholicism did not result in total termination of the person's Jewish status. Legally, the converts were no longer regarded as Jews. During the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal, however, Jews were forced to convert, but thereafter were regarded by many people, though not in a legal form, as New Christians, distinguishing them as separate from the Old Christians of non-Jewish lineage. Since legal, political, religious and social pressure pushed many people to untrue conversions (public behaviour as Christians while retaining Jewish practices privately, a kind of crypto-Judaism, also see Marrano and Anusim), they were still treated with suspicion, a stigma sometimes carried for several generations by their identifiable descendants.

The Nazis determined that anyone with one Jewish grandparent, whether male or female, was Jewish, regardless of any conversions out of Judaism, and therefore subject to the Nuremberg Laws. This definition of Jewish identity went beyond those used by Jews themselves. One could not become a non-Jew in the eyes of the government by becoming non-practicing, marrying outside the religion, or converting to Christianity. Similarly, Neo-Nazi and modern anti-Semitic groups often trace the ancestry of individuals to seek the existence of so-called "Jewish blood".

"Half-Jewish"

Some people use the term "half-Jewish" to describe a person who has one Jewish parent and one non-Jewish parent. The use of the term is regarded as controversial.

The term has no significance as a religious category. While the various Jewish denominations have different rules which determine the status of children of mixed unions, all versions of these rules agree that a person is either Jewish or not. As a result, many Jews reject the use of the term "half-Jewish," some maintaining that it has historical racial connotations. (See racial antisemitism and Limpieza de sangre.)

Most people who use the term are unaware of the racial connotations of the term, and the anguish it causes to some Jews aware of the connection. Others use the term to imply that Jewishness is more of a cultural or ethnic identity than a religious one. People of mixed heritage may not fully identify as Jewish, regardless of whether they embrace Judaism as a religion. In the United States, because of intermarriage, the population of "half-Jews" is beginning to rival that of Jews with two Jewish parents, especially among young children. "Half-Jewish" is said to be emerging as an independent identity with its own traits of tolerance and adaptation, but also perhaps a sense of detachment, spiritual indifference, or unclear identity.

Other similar terms that have been used include: "part-Jewish" and "partial-Jews". The term "Gershom", "Gershomi" or "Beta Gershom" has also been used as an alternative to "half-Jewish" and "part-Jewish" in connection with descendants of intermarriage, Gershom being the son of Moses and his Midianite wife Zipporah. Most people would describe themselves simply as "my father/mother is/was Jewish", which has no implication as to their own Jewish status.

Secular philosophy

Jean-Paul Sartre, who was not Jewish, suggested in Anti-Semite and Jew (1948) that Jewish identity "is neither national nor international, neither religious nor ethnic, nor political: it is a quasi-historical community." While Jews as individuals may be in danger from the anti-Semite who sees only "Jews" and not "people", Sartre argues that the Jewish experience of anti-Semitism preserves — even creates — the sense of Jewish community. In his most extreme statement of this view he wrote, "It is the anti-Semite who creates the Jew." Conversely, that sense of specific Jewish community may be threatened by the democrat who sees only "the person" and not "the Jew".

Hannah Arendt repeatedly asserted a principle of claiming Jewish identity in the face of anti-Semitism. "If one is attacked as a Jew, one must defend oneself as a Jew. Not as a German, not as a world-citizen, not as an upholder of the Rights of Man, or whatever"; "A man attacked as a Jew cannot defend himself as an Englishman or a Frenchman. The world can only conclude from this that he is simply not defending himself at all."

Sociology and anthropology

As with any other ethnic identity, Jewish identity is, in some degree a matter of claiming that identity and/or being perceived by others (both inside and outside the ethnic group) as belonging to that group. Returning again to the example of Madeleine Albright, during her Catholic childhood her being in some sense Jewish was presumably irrelevant. It was only after she was nominated to be secretary of state that she, and the public, discovered her Jewish ancestry.

Ido Abram claims that there are five aspects to contemporary Jewish identity:

1. Religion, culture, and tradition.
2. The tie with Israel and Zionism.
3. Dealings with anti-Semitism, including issues of persecution and survival.
4. Personal history and life-experience.
5. Relationship with non-Jewish culture and people.

The relative importance of these factors may vary enormously from place to place. For example, a typical Dutch Jew might describe his or her Jewish identity simply as "I was born Jewish," while a Jew in Romania, where levels of anti-Semitism are higher, might say, "I consider any form of denying as a proof of cowardice."

Ethnic and cultural definitions

Main article: Secular Jewish culture

"Ethnic Jew" (also known as an "assimilated Jew," see cultural assimilation) is a term generally used to describe a person of Jewish parentage and background who does not necessarily actively practice Judaism but still identifies with Judaism and/or other Jews culturally and fraternally. The term "ethnic Jew" does not specifically exclude practicing Jews, but they are usually simply referred to as "Jews" without the qualifying adjective "ethnic". See: Ethnic group.

The term can refer to people of diverse beliefs and backgrounds due to the complex concepts of what makes a person "Jewish". Since "ethnic Jew" is often used to distinguish non-practicing from practicing ("religious") Jews, a more precise term might be "Cultural Jew".

The term sometimes can refer exclusively to Jews who, for whatever reasons, do not practice the religion of Judaism, or who are so casual in their connection to that religion as to be effectively not Jews in the religious sense of adherent to Judaism. Typically, ethnic Jews are cognizant of their Jewish background, and may feel strong cultural (even if not religious) ties to Jewish traditions and to the Jewish people or nation. Like people of any other ethnicity, non-religious ethnic Jews often assimilate into a surrounding non-Jewish culture, but, especially in areas where there is a strong local Jewish culture, they may remain largely part of that culture, even to the point, for example, of participating in many Jewish holiday traditions, or of retaining a diet that stays close to the kosher laws.

"Ethnic Jews" include atheists, agnostics, non-denominational deists, Jews with only casual connections to Jewish denominations or converts to other religions, such as Christianity or Buddhism. Many ethnic Jews reject the traditional Halakhic view of Jewish identity being based on matrilineal descent, and consider someone Jewish if either parent is Jewish.

Religious Jews from any of the main Jewish denominations reach out to ethnic Jews, and ask them to rediscover Judaism. In the case of some Hasidic denominations (eg. Chabad-Lubavitch) this outreach extends to active proselytizing.

Israeli immigration laws will accept an application for Israeli citizenship if there is proven documentation that any grandparent—not just the maternal grandmother—was Jewish. This does not mean that person is an "ethnic Jew", but Israeli immigration will accept that person because he or she has an ethnically Jewish connection, and because this same degree of connection was sufficient to be persecuted as a Jew by the Nazis. See Jewish ethnic divisions.

The traditional European definition of Jewishness (although it was not uniform across Europe) differs markedly from the definition used by the American progressive movement. In the former USSR, "Jew" was a nationality or ethnicity de jure all the way to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Today, laws defining Jewishness are considered unwelcome and unethical almost anywhere in the world, but de facto the situation remains.

The European definition is traditional in many respects, and reflects not only how the Europeans saw Jews, but also how Jews saw themselves. It has been argued that for the Israeli Law of Return draws on external definitions of Jewishness (such as the Nazi and Soviet definitions), rather than traditional halakhic criteria.

Members of most secular societies accept a person as a Jew if they say that they are, unless there is reason to believe that the person is misrepresenting themselves for some reason. Some members of Reform Judaism have also adopted this viewpoint.

Israelites

See also: Israelite

Besides Jews themselves, there are various groups that have claimed descent from the biblical Israelites. The question nowadays arises in relation to Israel's Law of Return, with various groups seeking to migrate there. Some of the claims have been accepted, some are under consideration, while others have been rejected by Israel's rabbinate.

These groups have been cut off from mainstream Judaism since before the common era, so that most of the developments in Judaism since their separation, including Rabbinic Judaism, would be seen as innovations to them. As a result, their claims to "Jewishness" must be tested on different bases to those that would normally be applied.

Cochin Jews

See also: Cochin Jews

Some sources say that the earliest Jews of Cochin, India were those who settled in the Malabar coast during the times of King Solomon of Israel, and after the Kingdom of Israel split into two .

Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel).

Bene Israel

See also: Bene Israel

The Bene Israel claim to be descended from Jews who escaped persecution in Galilee in the 2nd century B.C.E. The Bene Israel resemble the non-Jewish Maratha people in appearance and customs, which indicates some intermarriage between Jews and Indians. The Bene Israel, however, maintained the practices of Jewish dietary laws, circumcision and observation of Sabbath as a day of rest.

In 1964 the Israeli Rabbinate declared that the Bene Israel are "full Jews in every respect."

The Bene Israel claim a lineage to the Kohenim, the Israelite priestly class, which claims descent from Aaron, the brother of Moses. In 2002, a DNA test confirmed that the Bene Israel share the same heredity as the Kohenim.[1][2]

Beta Israel

The Beta Israel or Falasha is a group formerly living in Ethiopia that has a tradition of descent from the lost tribe of Dan. They have a long history of practicing such Jewish traditions as kashrut, Sabbath and Passover, and for this reason their claim of Jewishness was accepted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Israeli government, in 1975. They emigrated to Israel en masse during the 1980s and 1990s, as Jews, under the Law of Return. Some who claim to be Beta Israel still live in Ethiopia.

Bnei Menashe

The Bnei Menashe is a group in India claiming to be descendants of the half-tribe of Menashe. Members who have studied Hebrew and who observe the Sabbath and other Jewish laws received in 2005 the support of the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel in arranging formal conversion to Judaism. Some have converted and emigrated to Israel under the Law of Return.

The Juhurim

The Juhurim, a Tat-speaking group of people from the North-Eastern Caucasus, who have been living in that area since at least 722 BCE, and consider themselves Jewish by patrilineal descent. There has been recent speculation about their identity but recent DNA tests have shown that the Juhurim's DNA is consistent with the majority of the world's Jewish populations which have been shown to be genetically related to one another.

The Lemba

The Lemba, a Bantu-speaking group of people from southern Africa, consider themselves Jewish. The Lemba follow a patrilineal Jewish tradition. Genetic testing has shown that the Lemba also carry genetic links to other world Jewish communities. See also: Jews and Judaism in Africa

Other claims

Other claims of lost tribe status or other Jewish origin, however, have not yet been accepted.

• A tribe of Siberian Asian origin based in Central Russia connects their claims of Jewish rather than pantheistic practices with the Khazars. The latter, an invading tribe from either Mongolia or Kazakhstan that conquered and ruled Russia in the 12th century, is said to have adopted Judaism instead of Christianity or Islam, by their leaders' preference.

• A tribe in western Myanmar (Burma) near the Indian and Bangladeshi borders has sought genetic research to vindicate that their ancestors were Syrian and Iranian Jews. Judaism has not became a major theological force in Southeast Asia, although some introduced religions such as Hinduism and Islam, which converted several tribal groups, have existed in Indochina (Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) for hundreds or thousands of years.

• A small Hispanic Jewish group in New Mexico has claimed to be the oldest group of practicing Jews in North America, dating back to the first settlers of Jewish descent that left Mexico in 1550 to flee the Spanish Inquisition. As they adapted local Native American Pueblo Indian customs over the centuries, they could fit the description of "American Indian Jews".

Notes and references

• Kertzer, Morris (1996). What is a Jew?. New York: Touchstone. ISBN 0-684-84298-X.
• Siedman, Lauren. What Makes Someone a Jew?. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58023-321-X. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

See also

• Jew
• Jewish identity
• Jewish population
• Jewish intermarriage
• Jews for Judaism
• Basic Laws of Israel
• Halakha
• Knesset
• Law of Return
• Matrilineality
• Patrilineality
• Politics of Israel
• Ashkenazi Jews
• Sephardi Jews

External links

• Reform view of who is a Jew by the Union for Reform Judaism
• Who is a Jew by Jewish Virtual Library
• Orthodox and Non-Orthodox Judaism: How to Square the Circle by JCPA
• Matrilineal descent Conservative view
• The "Who Is a Jew?" Controversy by the U.S. Library of Congress
• The Defining of a Nation from www.zehut.net
• Jews For Judaism
• "How Do You Prove You’re a Jew?" By Gershom Gorenberg (New York Times: March 2, 2008
• "Rabbinical Court Puts Thousands Of Converts in Legal Limbo Ruling Reopens Fractious Debate Over ‘Who is a Jew?’", Nathan Jeffay, The Forward, May 08, 2008