Was J. D. Salinger Jewish?

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Well, to make a long story short, J. D. Salinger was not Jewish! (though he considered himself Jewish)

Since J. D. Salinger's mother was not Jewish, and in Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism, those with a Jewish mother (or those who underwent a halakhic conversion) are considered Jewish, then that makes him not Jewish (though once again, he DID consider himself to be Jewish). Though he was not Jewish, His father was Jewish , and by Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism, who accept both matrilineal (by mother) and patrilineal (by father) descent views, he is considered Jewish.

J. D. Salinger (whose full birth name was Jerome David Salinger) was born on January 1, 1919 in New York City, New York, U.S.. J. D. Salinger passed away on January 27, 2010 (aged 91).

With his landmark novel Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger was an influential 20th-century American writer.

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