What is Judaism?What is Judaism?

Monotheistic

With Islam and Christianity it is part of a monotheistic family.

All three share an active belief that God is creator of the world, existing beyond the world yet active in it.

All three rely on direct revelation

Religion?

Unlike most religious systems Judaism is not a fixed adherence to a system of beliefs.

The Thirteen Articles of Jewish faith are as follows: 1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, be He Blessed, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that

exists. 2. The belief in G-d's absolute and unparalleled unity. 3. The belief in G-d's noncorporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling. 4. The belief in G-d's eternity. 5. The imperative to worship Him exclusively and no foreign false gods. 6. The belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy. 7. The belief that the prophecy of Moses our teacher has priority. 8. The belief in the divine origin of the Torah. 9. The belief in the immutability of the Torah. 10. The belief in divine omniscience and providence. 11. The belief in divine reward and retribution. 12. The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era. 13. The belief in the resurrection of the dead.

Way of Life

Adherence to such a list does not make one Jewish nor does denying such a list make someone non-Jewish

Jews do not have converts they have proselytes (immigrants)

Shared corporate and individual rituals

Not a Race

do not share any universal genetic features non Jews can become Jews

Not a political entity

live in many different political systems

Not a shared attachment to land

Land is considered sacred but its sacredness is not contingent on a Jewish national state.

One is not less Jewish for not living in Israel or more Jewish for living there

Shared Historical Experience

It is a shared past, a common historic experience of exile and restoration which marks the group as special, distinct and select.

A Judaism is a religion that privileges Scripture’s account of Israel as holy people whose life encompasses the experience of exile and return. Jacob Neusner