Talk to me about Judaism

[UmbongoUnchained]

I feel really drawn to Judaism and I can't really explain what it is and why. I'd love to go to a synagogue one day and listen but don't know if I would be welcomed?
I'd just love to know more about the community, the religion itself, what would be expected of me if it was something I wished to pursue really.

Thank you for the information.

The reason Judaism does not encourage conversion is that we do not believe we are the only truth. In general, whatever religion you are, as long as you behave yourself, you will be judged favourably.

By contrast, if you are Jewish you have a whole set of complicated rules you should live by. (Less so with liberals). So by becoming Jewish you would be making things more difficult for yourself. This is in contrast to many other religions, which believe that adopting their beliefs is necessary or at least important for "salvation".

Outwith - very nice that your son goes to the Jewish assemblies. In my experience, they are amusing and often have better food!

Does he get invitations to bar mitzvahs? That is often the selling point!

SamG76

DS was invited to go to a Bar Mitzvah but for some reason it fell through.

However, I went to the Bat Mitzvah of the daughter of the family I was lodging with. What I remember most of that occasion is ... the catchy tunes! For some reason, I was put in mind of Broadway.

And yes, the food was good too!

I’d be interested to know if the questioning ethos I mentioned up thread is something you recognise in your own Jewish community? I have sometimes wondered if the large number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners might be related to the way Judaism sanctions a search for understanding through reason, where another religion might have a more ‘ours is not to wonder why’ approach.

Another unique feature I find intriguing is that, in progressive Judaism, there is no insistence on the existence of an afterlife.

I’d be interested to know if the questioning ethos I mentioned up thread is something you recognise in your own Jewish community?

The popular phrasing is "two Jews, three opinions"... but I'm sure someone will be along to disagree shortly

I like that EssentialHummus

When I'm wrestling with reality, I very often find I have two different opinions that I can justify to myself - so I'd fit right in!

Out with - I think that because Judaism is a matter of doing things (eg keeping kosher, festivals, etc) rather than believing a set credo, there is more scope for questioning things than in a more faith-based religion.

I'm a Reform Jew, I think the main differences from Orthodoxy are in conversion (we make it hard but not impossible and there is a clear timeline of classes etc) and status (we generally recognise as Jewish the children of mixed-faith marriages who affirm their identity as Jews). Our conversions are not recognised by Orthodox groups, which any Reform Rabbi will explain to you should you approach them about conversion. They are recognised by Masorti and Liberal Jews and other liberal groups. There is also the issue of gender segregation and women being allowed to take an active part in services eg making a blessing on the Torah, saying the mourners prayer for dead relatives, etc. Orthodox Judaism has tended become more right-wing in recent years and the London Beit Din are notoriously difficult towards converts so if you want to go that route I wish you luck - see crazyjewishconvert.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/monster-that-orthodox-conversion-has.html though she has more of a US perspective. This is the website of the UK Reform movement: www.reformjudaism.org.uk if you find a local synagogue they will be happy for you to attend services but you usually have to call or email ahead first to let them know, for security and so they can welcome you. Feel free to PM me if you like

Hiya, I'm Jewish and a Religious Studies teacher so I'm happy to answer any questions about Judaism, or living a Jewish life.
MyJewishLearning.com is a great website with fantastic introductory articles about any and all Jewish topics - a great place to start!

Flora my interest in Judaism was piqued by a year spent living with a Jewish family as mentioned up-thread. Like hmcAsWas, I’m particularly intrigued by the interconnections amongst the Abrahamic faiths. I’d like to know your thoughts in two areas specifically.

I’d like to know how you think the historical figure of Jesus, assuming he existed, viewed himself. Do you think he intended to start up a new religion or was he more concerned with restoring Judaism to its original pure form?

I’m also interested in the way that the earlier writings in the NT seem to be addressed to a Jewish audience and the later writings to a Gentile audience. I feel like I can see an anti-Jewish ‘edge’ developing in the later material. And in later Christian writings, outside of the Bible, there is blatant anti-Semitism culminating in Luther’s outpourings. Those particular writings are very upsetting to read as a human being, never mind a Jewish person.

Do you think we should be talking about this sort of stuff more openly in modern times or is it better to quietly assume that we have all moved on from those ways of thinking? Personally I feel it's probably better to talk about it than bury it but I'm not sure.

I know the interface between Judaism and Christianity is a controversial area but I would love to know your views if you feel able to share them, as a Jewish person and a Religious Studies teacher.

The questions you raise, Outwith, are live ones in Christian-Jewish interfaith dialogue. You might find much of interest in the research and teaching programme of the Woolf Institute for Muslim-Jewish -Christian Relations (I studied there last year and can heartily recommend it - one of the things we talked about a lot was how to understand and deal with Luther's anti-Judaism. The Cambridge Interfaith Programme pioneered Scriptural a Reasoning, in which people of different faiths and no faith meet to read and discuss their scriptures. I attended a brilliant scriptural reasoning group in north London that was run by a mosque and also comprised members of local churches and synagogues. In terms of Jewish-Christian relations, the Catholic Church has been in the forefront - for example in the pioneering Nostra Aetate. In biblical scholarship the questions you raise about the audience of different parts of the NT have been well debated - the question of how far supercessionism (the idea that Christianity supersedes Judaism) is actually justified by scripture is an ongoing one about which there are different views - I would say supercessionism I associated with conservative evangelicalism for the most part.

Also the whole issue of Jesus's Judaism is a fascinating one which has been well aired in recent scholarship - Geza Vermes's Jesus the Jew being only the most well known. A more recent - and fascinating - text is The Jewish New Testament which includes commentaries and essays by leading Jewish scholars.

Whether Jesus intended to restore the 'original purity' of Judaism is an interesting one. Certainly the Jesus movement was originally a Jewish revival movement - just as were the Pharisees, who became the origins of Rabbinic Judaism in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple and the end of the sacrificial system - hence the many scathing references in the Gospels to the Pharisees. There were other revival movements too: it's likely that one was led by John the Baptist. So Judaism was in a period of flux, both internally and because of the terrible aftermath of the uprising in CE70, which ultimately led to the forms of Judaism we have now.

By 70, of course, the Jesus movement had begun to style themselves Christians and become both gentile and Jewish. Most of the Jewish Christians left Jerusalem in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple, leaving the way clear for the development of Rabbinic Judaism.