Day 2 of Judaism - Who IS a Jew, exactly?

There seems to be some confusion (at least on my part) about whether Judaism is a race, a religion, or maybe just a cultural identity. If I were given a multiple choice with those answers, I would choose (d) all of the above. But one of the beauties of Judaism is that it is what you make it.

For those who have read or are familiar with the Bible, you know that in the Old Testament, the Jewish people are not referred to as “Jews” so much as “Hebrews.” With their own language, their own nationality, their own cultural traditions, and their own religious traditions, it is easy to see that in the ancient context, the Jewish people were a race, a religion, AND a cultural identity.

But, through the years, the Jewish people by and large rejected Judaism as a “Race” and instead those with European Jewish Ancestry identified more strongly with “Caucasian”. To be sure, the persecution of Jewish people throughout modern history (and before!) makes the distinction of a Jewish “race” less than desirable.

In addition, you can become Jewish. A person can convert to Judaism. I could not convert to Asian, even if I wanted to really bad! You can’t change your ancestral heritage, but you can become a Jew.

Culture doesn’t make you a Jew either. The culture of Jewish groups around the world varies dependent upon where they are! Although holiday observances are mostly similar, and the religious text as well, American Jews have very different traditions than Russian Jews, for instance.

The Jewish “Religion” doesn’t make you a Jew either. There is a Jewish religion, obviously, which I am studying! But the amazing thing about the Jewish religion is how flexible and open to interpretation their holy books are. It is not practiced in the same way across the board in Jewish homes or synagogues. And more than half of the people in Israel who call themselves “Jews” don’t believe in G-d or, in fact, ANY of the religious beliefs of Judaism!

So, what is Judaism today? Perhaps the best description of Judaism would be that Jews are a family, as Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz describes the Jewish people in his book; as spiritual or physical descendents of forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – by birth or conversion. Jewish people are a community of people bound together by tradition, a common ancestry (either spiritual or physical), and most oddly, a connectedness to each other regardless of religion or DNA. ((I find this fascinating.)) The Jews are an exclusive group, to some extent: compared to Christianity, for example, who invite anyone into their church off the street (for the most part) any day of the week. But they are more connected to each other – even to those who don’t practice or live the way they do – than many Christians within the same CHURCH, and certainly most within the same denomination!

So, for my purposes, I would say that Judaism is more a community than anything else, and that is how I will approach it, as a community of people who are as different and varied in belief and practice and culture as my own community, having in common the fact that they all live on the same ground – not literally, but historically: having the same heritage and spiritual or physical ancestry. Additionally, I will approach the Jewish Community from an American perspective. Not only because we Americans are ego-centric and believe that our way of life is THE way of life (haha), but because the American perspective is what we live here in the US, and since the study is about American women and religion, not about international women and religion, we will approach it from that context!

Joel & Abby Finkelstein

With that introduction, I would also like to introduce you to JOEL FINKELSTIEN. Yes, he is a man, which makes him unusual in persons I’ve interviewed in the past. But he is also very knowledgeable about the Jewish Community. He was raised Jewish, as a Rabbi’s son, no less! We went to school together in Tyler, and he offered to answer any questions I or my readers have about Judaism. He is also married to his beautiful wife, Abby, and they have two children, Annika and Nathaniel. He lives in California and works at Stanford Medical School. He has a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience (yes, he’s uber smart!!) and his work at the Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education makes me breathless (yes, I realize that makes me both nerdy and creepy at the same time!!). So a big thanks to my personal Moreh (that’s TEACHER in Hebrew) – I greatly appreciate your help and insight!

In that vein, Joel has agreed to answer any questions we have via video, which I will post on my blogs! The FIRST question I had was this: “Do Jews believe in Heaven or Hell?” And he kind of delves into the things I spoke about above.