I’d recommend to you Living Judaism, by Rabbi Wayne Dosick. It goes into those questions. You’ll be unsurprised to learn that there aren’t one size fits all answers to those questions. Different Jewish traditions will have different answers to them all.Is being Jewish a matter of religion, or in some way a matter of race? Or is it a mixture of the two and if so in what proportions?
If a person converts to Judaism for religious reasons, would they then be a victim of anti-semitism if it is round and about?
Or is it a matter of culture, like if you are a recent convert you’re not quite as Jewish as a person from a family where the religious observance goes back for generations?
Thank you.I’d recommend to you Living Judaism, by Rabbi Wayne Dosick. It goes into those questions. You’ll be unsurprised to learn that there aren’t one size fits all answers to those questions. Different Jewish traditions will have different answers to them all.
Life, in short, doesn’t do handy equations.
'Dominion' by Tom Holland has some really interesting discussion of the notion of Jews as a race - he arugues that in many ways 'religion' was a concept invented by Christianity. The Jews started as 'a people', but Christianity really kicked off seeing things as a 'religion' because it's adherents were united by faith/belief, not background and now everyone sees things through that lens, and my husband and I have noted that people often look on Judaism this way and find it hard to get the concept of people like us (and, I'd say, most members of our synagogue) who don't believe in God, but practice Judaism and attend synagogue. Because our Judaism is not about faith, but it is our cultural identity and our spiritual practice.Is being Jewish a matter of religion, or in some way a matter of race? Or is it a mixture of the two and if so in what proportions?
If a person converts to Judaism for religious reasons, would they then be a victim of anti-semitism if it is round and about?
Or is it a matter of culture, like if you are a recent convert you’re not quite as Jewish as a person from a family where the religious observance goes back for generations?
Thank you for this very interesting reply.'Dominion' by Tom Holland has some really interesting discussion of the notion of Jews as a race - he arugues that in many ways 'religion' was a concept invented by Christianity. The Jews started as 'a people', but Christianity really kicked off seeing things as a 'religion' because it's adherents were united by faith/belief, not background and now everyone sees things through that lens, and my husband and I have noted that people often look on Judaism this way and find it hard to get the concept of people like us (and, I'd say, most members of our synagogue) who don't believe in God, but practice Judaism and attend synagogue. Because our Judaism is not about faith, but it is our cultural identity and our spiritual practice.
Yes, a convert could face antisemitism by simply identifying as Jew. Ironically, a bloke called Simon Schneider who has dark hair and wears glasses but isn't Jewish could also face antisemitism ('So, Simon who works in accounts, he a Yid then?') because people think he's Jewish, whereas I very seldom face any as I have an anglicised surname and I don't 'look Jewish'.
Converts have to go through a synagogue so they will be converting that movement - Orthodox conversion will be recognised by 'less observant' synagogues, but they won't recognise conversions from movements they don't consider up to scratch.
Religious observance has never mattered to antisemites - some of the Nazi's victims didn't even know they were Jewish. The anomosity seems to exist towards the Jews as a people, not as a practice.
In terms of spirituality - we like going to synagogue (well, my husband and I do) and it is a spiritual and reflective occasion to come together and to carry on a 3000-year-old desert religion in North London in 2021, which is pretty cool really when you think about it. In a similar way to going to a gig or a rave or, I imagine, a footy match is also a spiritual experience.
In terms of 'not up to scratch', the United Synagogue in the UK (the orthodox one) doesn't recognise my kids or me as Jewish because my maternal grandmother converted under the auspices of a synagogue in Czechoslovakia after WWII and there was no paper record of it. Also, it wouldn't recognise any convert from our synagogue or Reform - it's not about what you were before but who carried out and certified the conversion. I think our synagogue recognises all converts as long as the conversion is recorded somewhere. Some individuals are arsey about converts generally, unfortunately, but that's just people being shit.
Basically, you get all kinds of Jews. We're relatively observant I suppose and attend synagogue other than at big festivals, but most of our friends aren't Jewish. You get some people who don't really observe at all, but might send their kids to a Jewish school and their social circle is almost 100% Jewish. And all points in between, as well as yourestraight up observant socially and spiritually Jewish Jew
In terms of spirituality - we like going to synagogue (well, my husband and I do) and it is a spiritual and reflective occasion to come together and to carry on a 3000-year-old desert religion in North London in 2021, which is pretty cool really when you think about it. In a similar way to going to a gig or a rave or, I imagine, a footy match is also a spiritual experience.
Does ‘thou shalt not kill/murder’ apply to animals?
Or plants for that matter.
Or yes.
Or yes.
That leads on to another philosophical question regarding the taking of life.
The answer to most theologico-ethical question is in fact: "No. Or yes."Well, I guess, if counting humans as animals. Don’t think that’s what was meant.
The answer to most theologico-ethical question is in fact: "No. Or yes."
I suppose 'practicing' could be the operative word here. I suppose it suggests we are more 'people' than 'faith' - i think the 'doing' has always had more weight than 'believing' in some senses in Judiasm.I think that’s close to the nub of the question when seen from the perspective of a Christian tradition (including as an atheist from a Christian position).
That question being, in what sense is it carrying on a 3000 year old desert religion if you don’t actually believe in the deity or the details of the events described in scripture or many of the edicts etc.?
Well, I suppose it is by definition.This is a philosophical question...
THAT WOULD BE AN ECUMENICAL MATTER!The answer to most theologico-ethical question is in fact: "No. Or yes."
8ball There's a really interesting book on Confucianism by an American philosopher called Herbert Fingarette which deals with something very akin to what we call religious practice absent any god or theology The Secular as Sacred
One famous account in the Talmud (Shabbat 31a) tells about a gentile who wanted to convert to Judaism. This happened not infrequently, and this individual stated that he would accept Judaism only if a rabbi would teach him the entire Torah while he, the prospective convert, stood on one foot. First he went to Shammai, who, insulted by this ridiculous request, threw him out of the house. The man did not give up and went to Hillel. This gentle sage accepted the challenge, and said:
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—go and study it!"