Judaism can be classified at first as a religion but not entirely. It is rather in between religion and ethnicity. Since Judaism is based on the belief in God, it is indeed a religion. From Patriarch and Exodus, Judaism starts with the interaction with YHWH. However, Judaism is unique because in the first place it specifies the group of people involved in this "religion." Usually, religion includes general human, and God of course does not really mention about different races. Or it is assumed that God does not discriminate because He is above all; it is easier to accept a Dutch Buddhist, an Asian Christian, or a Russian converted into Muslim: but not a German Jewish. This Judaism basically believes that the God only saves the Jewish race. So it is essentially impossible for other race to "believe" in it unless they want to be abandoned. Therefore, Judaism not only is a religion but also represents ethnicity.
But Judaism doesn't entirely define a race either, because the race itself is quite vague now. Also, not all Jewish heritages believe in Judaism either. There definitely are "atheist Jewish" --of which I never knew the existence until I took this course-- who can't be said to be involved in Judaism. Technically, since the heritage started thousands of years ago and has experienced a number of nomadic life and exiles, no one is sure how exactly much portion of a Jewish now is actually Isaac’s posterity. Therefore, it would be the most appropriate to say Judaism is defined as intermediate between a religion/belief and an ethnicity/race.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Judaism (response 1)
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3 comments:
Shwang, I absolutely take your points about Judaism not being defined by race or nationality, but I wasn't sure about your example of a German Jew. Could you clarify that a little? Though I don't have stats, I think that German Jews are among the most common group in Judaism, giving rise to Yiddish and many of the "Typically" Jewish food culture. Certainly a lot of the Jews in America are of German origin, and there must have been many during WWII, no?
I like how you said that judaism wasn't entirely about religion, because you touched upon the fact that there wasn't just one answer to such a complex question! I was wondering, however, what you thought about Jewish culture? Do you no think of it as a way to classify Judaism, or do you think that all religions have cultural connotations so therefore it doesn't make sense to talk about jewish culture as a way of defining it?
good job!
~maura
Hitler absolutely could have converted, and if he had, think how different modern history might be!
Your clarification of racial rather than national basis there though is helpful. Otherwise, where would all these Caucasian/European Jews have come from?
Still, for an example of an Asian converting to Judaism, Sara E.'s mom is from the Philippines, and she's converted and is observant.
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