This is being said about Jewishness by the late Tony Judt, quoted in an article about Black identity in today's NY Times; does it have any relevance beyond race & ethnicity?  Does it carry any weight in an inherited or adopted faith tradition?

“We acknowledge readily enough our duties to our contemporaries; but what of our obligations to those who came before us?”

(See: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/as-black-as-we-wish-to-be.html)