Talk:Lenny Kravitz

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He's fictional right, no one is truely that lame?

Why is he called "Lenny" here rather than "Kravitz"? -- Tim Starling 07:27, Aug 17, 2003 (UTC)

The following message was added to the article itself by 24.185.144.209 (I've simply moved it here):

This article contains a misnomer. Lenny Kravitz is not in fact Jewish.

His father is a Jew, but his mother is not. According to Jewish law, Judaism runs along the matrilineal bloodline. Furthermore, there are no 'halves' in Judaism. One is either Jewish or not, and if ones mother is not Jewish, then the child is not Jewish.

Patrilineal inheritance is not recognized by any part of mainstream, and even much of assimilated Judaism. The congregations that adhere to a duality of Jewish inheritance not only go against four thousand years of the Jewish religion, but indisputably, the Old Testament/Torah itself. Jewish descent by Father is not recognized by the State of Israel.

To sum up: One is not Jewish if one feels Jewish, nor if one's father is Jewish but mother is not. One is Jewish only if one's mother is Jewish.

According to jewish tradition, you are "jewish" and can be accepted into the religion without any further proceedings. However, that is from the jewish point of view and one of their prerequisites. He is probably of the hebrew "race", but anyone's religion is a personal matter and choice.

The editor would like to state that this correction was not made to slight Lenny Kravitz or his family. It was made in order to correct an untruth. If the editor may say, the world Jewish community would've been proud to have him as one of their own.

- Internet Editor

Reply to the "correction" above:

The original article does not in fact contain the "misnomer" alleged by the author of the above comment. The only occurrence of the word "Jewish" in the article refers to the artist's uncle, Pfc. Kravitz, who died in action in Korea.

As far as the author's discussion of the meaning of the word "Jewish," he/she is certainly right about the matrilineal bloodline being the official criterion for a child's recognition as a Jew by the Jewish RELIGIOUS community, but ends up confusing the words "Jew" and "Jewish."

To clear up this confusion, "Jewish" quite simply refers to someone who practices Judaism. A person can become Jewish by conversion without having a drop of Jewish blood in them. By that standard, Lenny Kravitz may or may not be Jewish, depening on his religious beliefs and membership status in the religious community.

Being a Jew, on the other hand, is a question of ethnicity and genetics. In that sense, being of Jewish descent--by father, mother or both--qualifies one for being considered a Jew, in greater or lesser degree, quite irrespective of the standards applied by the Judaic religious establishment, or even the State of Israel.

In fact, historically, antisemites and persecutors of Jews have had far looser standards for recognizing someone as a Jew than the Jews themselves. It is well known that the Nazi regime, for example, would consider a person to be a Jew if he/she had a Jewish ancestor as far as four generations back.

To sum up, in their current, standard, secular usage, the words "Jew" and "Jewish" refer to ethnic origin and religious adherence respectively, and in view of this, Lenny Kravitz is certainly partly a Jew and at the same time may or may not be Jewish.

-- Hadal 04:28, 21 Mar 2004 (UTC)

In agreement with the above. There is no such thing as half Jewish. If one's mother is Jewish then one is a Jew. As a Jew, I believe Lenny Kravitz would be most welcome into the family of Israel.

Well that's nice....even though my father's Jewish and my mother's Catholic and guess what religion I am...JEWISH!!

"One is not Jewish if one feels Jewish, nor if one's father is Jewish but mother is not. One is Jewish only if one's mother is Jewish."

Wow. I'm sure Sammy Davis, Jr. would appreciate that.

That statement is massively insulting to those who have converted to Judaism and borders on hate speech. 128.226.37.28 16:13, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vegetarian?

Hi, can anyone please provide sources that prove that Kravitz is vegetarian? Thanks. --Amir E. Aharoni 06:48, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lenny Kravitz and Christianity

Aside from his ancestral heritage, I am surprised no mention of his personal faith has been made.

If you look at many of his liner-notes and lyrics (and even tattoos), one will find that there are many Christian references.

A few off the top of my head are:

e.g Rosemary lyrics "All you need is Christ to receive it." e.g Liner-notes to Let Love Rule "My deepest gratitude to Jesus Christ...." e.g. A tattoo on his back declares, "My heart belongs to Jesus Christ."

IMHO This is something about the actual LK worth adding, instead of talking about genes and ancestory.

[edit] Absolut paragraph

Can someone please edit this last paragraph? The grammar makes my eyes bleed. Kaylel 03:06, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Done

[edit] Justify My Love

There is an error in the article and I'd like to correct it.

"Justify my love" by Madonna is NOT a cover version of any Lenny Kravitz song. Kravitz simply co-wrote it and his (wordless) vocals can be heard on the track.

ThanksSykwaan 12:50, 16 January 2007 (UTC)