Though Judaism is a multilayered concept, it is first and foremost a religion. The Israelites were an ethnic group in the Middle East like countless other tribes that have been lost in time. However, the Israelites became prominent in history because they developed the first monotheistic religion, Judaism. This monotheistic religion enabled the Israelites to maintain faith and not assimilate to other cultures when the Romans created the Diaspora. It was the Israelites faith in their one god that saved the traditions of Judaism despite the exile and lack of a cohesive cultural or central home. Judaism remains today because of the strength of its follower’s devotion and therefore it should be considered primarily a religion. In addition, Judaism is rich with religious traditions such as Yom Kippur, Passover and Hanukah and has a spiritual doctrine known as the Torah both of which are characteristics important to many religions.
Judaism does have many important secular facets, however they are not strong enough forces to replace religion as the definition of Judaism. Judaism has strong ethnic and cultural ties that are based out of its origin from a tribal society. Because Judaism is so ancient, it has some remaining traditions that were important historically to provide unity and tribal loyalty. However, these traditions are not at the heart of what Judaism is but remnants of the society they evolved from. In addition, in the modern world it would be impossible to classify Judaism as an ethnic group because Jewish culture varies depending on the place. For example, bagels are considered culturally Jewish in the United States, but are considered American in Israel. Therefore though in traditional Judaism, you can only be Jewish if your mother is Jewish there is no real cultural unity that would support the ethnic group that would create. In addition, Judaism is not divided into groups based on its culture in different places around the world but instead of religious beliefs. Lastly, Judaism has a political element because of its influence in the creation of the state of Israel. However, Judaism can’t be considered a nation because there are more Jews living in New York City than in Israel. This statistic would therefore eliminate many of the individuals that make Judaism such a powerful force in the world.
It's interesting to use the religious origin of Judaism as the central thing that brought together all the Jews in early days. But why is it assumed that Jews at that time were religious? Did all Jews before the time of Moses devote their lives to the God? Was it the shared religion or the shared environment that brought together all the Jews?
ReplyDeleteI think you make a really good case for religion being the most important aspect of the definition of Judaism. I also liked how you brought in both the past and the present to the argument with specific points.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned how "you can only be Jewish if your mother is Jewish there is no real cultural unity that would support the ethnic group that would create," but not how this applies with those non religious persons whose mothers are Jewish. Just another question that leads into how this is a hard thing to define.