So, since I don't actually like it when my dash is flooded with current events as it tends to become depressing, I thought that hey, why not start detailing the necessary criteria for a type of story that I enjoy seeing? And thus, we are here to talk about the trope I call "inexplicably Jewish".
The necessary details of this trope are kind of simple, really: it requires having at least one character who is Jewish in your story, and this character needs to be inexplicably Jewish. Meaning, within the limits of the story, there is no way to explain how or why the character is Jewish. So, let's detail what you might think could count but actually doesn't:
Firstly, informed Judaism. Just... please don't. It's frustrating enough how many supposed representations seem like that. If you go all the way to make a character inexplicably Jewish, then making their Judaism merely informed (meaning, there's no indication they're Jewish beyond them stating so) is rather disappointing, not to mention pointless. So, if you go for this trope, your character needs to be Jewish in a meaningful way. Whether and how they practice the religion depends wholly on you, but at least make them more than the guy mentioning he's Jewish once and then does everything he possibly can to disprove it.
Secondly: the inexplicability needs to be nigh total. So, it's not enough that this character is improbable to be Jewish, such as having come from a heavily Christian/Muslim/other background and having no way of converting that you can think of. This isn't inexplicably Jewish, this is improbably Jewish. A completely different trope that you could use if you want, but it has nothing to do with our topic. Preferably, your inexpliacbly Jewish character comes from a world where Judaism simply cannot exist. An example for it is this fanfic about Hobbits celebrating Pesaḥ (or this about Ents doing the same). Middle Earth, after all, is far enough from our world that Judaism likely doesn't exist there, and this is inexplicable enough for me. Having Jewish characters in Harry Potter or Percy Jackson or even His Dark Materials can't be considered inexplicable, because in all these books there are very clear indications that Judaism exists, if only by how similar their worlds are to ours. Plus, each of them makes at some point references to specifically Christian things (I think), and Christianity can't exist without Judaism. On the other hand, if a random person in Ingary (who doesn't come from our world - though I believe there are only two recorded humans doing this) is Jewish, it's inexplicable enough for this trope. Sure, you could have a convoluted explanation about a rabbi getting through a portal and converting him, but this is more complex than the explanation to how a Hogwarts student can be Jewish.
The third point might be a bit personal, since it doesn't contradict the basic premises of the trope, but still: if the character belongs to a fantasy race that is considered the stand-in for Jews in this continuity, it shouldn't count. You see, in my opinion such a character isn't inexplicably Jewish; they are a stand-in for Jews anyway, only if you try to make them inexplicably Jewish they will also pretend to straight up be Jewish and that's just... kind of pointless. For a parable to work, it needs to not be one-to-one the thing it's a parable of. The purpose is to give it a different point of view, and if you just straight up say that your dwarf or goblin is Jewish...
This doesn't mean I think this is bad. If you enjoy portraying vaguely stand-ins for Jews as Jews - go ahead, enjoy yourself. But I don't think it belongs to inexplicable Judaism. I think this should be considered a different trope.
Anyway, if you know of other stories that answer these definitions - feel free to inform me. I will note that fairy tales, if you assume they happened in a parallel world, are full of inexplicable Christianity, because somehow everyone in them is a Christian. In that sense, Spinning Silver can seem like another example of inexplicable Judaism.
