What I'm saying is that "Jewish" may refer to someone who is an atheist but celebrates Hanukkah. There's probably someone in their family who is practicing. Th

What I'm saying is that "Jewish" may refer to someone who is an atheist but celebrates Hanukkah. There's probably someone in their family who is practicing. The problem being, "Jew" refers both to both a belief system and a racial characteristic, and without qualification it can be thoroughly unclear. This is even true of more precise terms e.g. "Hasidic". There's a very tight-knit ethnic group that share a bunch of religious practices, but the adjective refers to both things. Aside: if you're not easily offended, watch Chanuka Honey on YouTube. It's an extended joke about American Jewish culture, but religion barely features.