What is Judaism?

It's a culture.

Quote: Mosca

It's a culture.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

To those familair with Jewish history, you'll see they set themselves apart from their neighbors rather early on. At a time when polytheism was the norm, the Jews were monotheistic. Not only that, but the Jewish god, Jehovah was not, and could not be, represented in any concrete form such as a statue or a painting.

It's hard to overstate how different this made them. It was not uncommon, for example, for travelers to perform rituals of their host city's or country's gods. Some gods were worshipped across cultural lines. The Romans, for isntance, adopted Greek mythology en toto, equating Greek gods with their own Chronos/Saturn, Zeus/Jupiter, Aphrodite/Venus, etc. Heracles, or Hercules if you prefer the modern version, was worshipped about as fervently by the Carthaginians as by everyone else in the Mediterrenean coast. He was combined with the chief Phoenician god, even, and known as Heracles Melkart. Indeed, Heracles Melkart was part of Hannibal's propaganda strategy in the Second Punic War.

The Ancient Jews did practice animal sacrifices just like anyone else, but to their god only. When the Roman cult of the Emperors began (shortly after the passing of Augustus, nee The Divine Augustus), and Roman officials required their subjetcs to perform sacrifices to the deified emperors, the Jews got away by making a sacrifice to Jehovah in the name of Augustus, say, or in the name of Trajan (this was more a token of respect and submission to the authority of the current emperor than a religious ritual regarding a deified dead emperor).

The Romans put up with the Jews' beliefs only because they were ancient. That is, they had held on to those beliefs for at least centuries, or more, before Rome was even a sheepherders village in Latium. Other conquerors were less tolerant to varying degrees. The Romans themselves, once the empire became Christian, gradually changed from tolerance to eprsecution (which extended well into the XX century in varying degrees, with some tolerance here and there from time to time).

Quote: Wizard

That brings me to a question I have tried to get a straight answer to for decades -- Is being Jewish a matter of race, religion, or both?

I think the Jews get tagged as a "race" for some complicated reasons. First, 2,000 years ago Jews were basically pushed from their homeland and dispersed around Europe. This never happened to Christians or Muslims.

Next, Jews tend to be more klanish than other religions. As was said elsewhere, Jews do not seek out converts much. In some ways they almost discourage it. Jewsish business owners tend to know and do business with each other. They invented networking. And to keep the circle they invented speed dating (yes, they did!)

Catholics used to be tagged in a similar way, but there are so many Catholics it "feels different." I think there are just enough Jews in society that it is enough to feel a race but not so many that it feels a religion.

My guess, anyways.

Quote: Wizard

if someone converts to Judaism, and has a child with a non-Jew, I assume the child would be half Jewish.

Long ago a GF of mine, named Glickman, told me one is a Jew only if born of a Jewish womb. She was quite a wealth of knowledge about all things Jewish so I always took this as a hard fact.

Quote: chickenman

Long ago a GF of mine, named Glickman, told me one is a Jew only if born of a Jewish womb. She was quite a wealth of knowledge about all things Jewish so I always took this as a hard fact.

Then how can one be half Jewish? If anyone knows Adam Sandler, please invite him to join this thread.

Quote: Wizard

Is being Jewish a matter of race, religion, or both?

I asked a rabbi 20 years ago what it means to
be Jewish. What does it mean to be a Jew. He
said it's very ambiguous. Being Jewish means
you believe in the Old Testament god. That's
it. Go to Temple, try and follow the rules in
Leviticus, that makes you a Jew. Mostly it's
being born that way, that's what counts. They
don't want converts at all.

One of my oldest friends is Jewish. He's older
than me and I've known him for a long time.
When you know him well, there's a definite
arrogance there because he's Jewish. He really
does think he's better than everybody else because
of how he was born. You'd never see it unless you
knew him for years. In the past I think Jews wore
this arrogance a lot more publicly and that's why
they were hated so much. It's like a private club
that they enter at birth, and screw you if you're not
part of it.

Quote: Wizard

Then how can one be half Jewish?

Well, by growing up in New York City you get a head start ;)

Quote: Evenbob

Being Jewish means
you believe in the Old Testament god. That's
it.

I've met quite a few Jews who said they were atheist, agnostic, and even Christian. The Christian Jew explained it as he was Jewish by culture and upbringing, but believed in Jesus.

Quote: Wizard

The Christian Jew explained it as he was Jewish by culture and upbringing, but believed in Jesus.

Clearly the upbringing didn't take.

Quick joke:

A Rabbi is praying to God and says, "God! Where did I go wrong? My son was a rebel, he dind't want to follow tradition. I sent him to Israel and he came back a Christian!"

And God answers, "Don't feel too bad. The same thing happened to me."


Actually I prefer the longer, "telegraphed" version. But that needs to be told in person.

Quote: Wizard

The Christian Jew explained it as he was Jewish by culture and upbringing, but believed in Jesus.

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement that arose in the 1960s and 70s. It blends evangelical Christian theology with elements of religious Jewish practice and terminology

Many Christians believe that organized Christianity deviated over the centuries by denying that Jesus was Jewish.

Grandfather, son, and grandson in the historical record are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who was renamed Isreal). Jacob had 12 sons and one daughter. The fourth son was named Judah. The first three sons disgraced themselves in some way so that the blessing fell on Judah (the 4th son). Each son was the ancestor of a tribe. Even though Judah became the eventual namesake of the Jews, The 11th son, Joseph, was the most famous for his coat of many colors and leading his family to Egypt where they eventually became enslaved (hence the Exodus, the plagues, the parting of Red Sea).

All 12 tribes were freed from Egypt and returned to Palestine, but in the 8th century 10 of the tribes vanished after being taken into slavery by the Assyrians. The tribes of descendants of Judah were known in Aramaic as Y'hūdāi which was translated into Greek as "Jewish". But it includes some descendants from the other brothers (notably Levi and Benjamin).

Mathematically, if Jacob (Israel) was born in 1760 BC his descendants (through both sons and daughter) would most likely number in the billions today.

The Jewish Virtual Library provides these estimates for Historic Jewish Population
Year Population
1880 7,800,000
1900 10,600,000
1939 16,728,000 (all time maximum in modern era prior to Holocaust)
2012 13,746,100

The Lost Tribes is a PBS documentary.