Judaism a religion or ethical group?

[mathinspiration]

Since when it became ethical group instead of a religion?

 

[Not David]

Since when it became ethical group instead of a religion?

Since the beginning.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Since when it became ethical group instead of a religion?

Perhaps the word you are searching for is Ethnic?

 

[Tanj]

Since when it became ethical group instead of a religion?

Or you know, both at the same time.

 

[jayem]

Or you know, both at the same time.

Of course. If the OP is a Christian believer, she should know that. Just consider Jesus—Jewish, and ethical.

 

[Dave-W]

Since when it became ethical group instead of a religion?

Not “instead,” but “in addition to.”

That would go back to the time of Ruth.

“Your people shall be my people and your God my God.”

Since then, if you join the religion, you also join the ethnicity.

 

[usexpat97]

If it is an ethnic group, then it is an ethnic group comprised entirely of beliefs, and actions, and traditions. That's not the same as the color of your skin, which you can't help. When you think something of someone because of concrete actions they have taken, sorry, that's not prejudice.

 

[ruthiesea]

Judaism is a hard term to define. It is a belief system, an ethnic group, a people, a heritage, and yet, more than all of those things. If a Christian converts to another religion he is no longer a Christian. If a Jew converts to another religion he is still a Jew. That is why there are people of Spanish and Portuguese descent who are discovering that they are Jewish. In Jakarta there was a rabbi whose tiny congregation consisted if Muslims who, discovering their Jewish roots, returned to Judaism.

 

[Resha Caner]

The Jews are one of the 12 Hebrew tribes (Judah), Judah being the southern half of the nation of Israel that survived when the northern half was destroyed and scattered by the Assyrians. Judah also contained some Levites (the priests) and the Benjamites (Paul was a Benjamite). The Hebrews were a Semite tribe (the descendants of Shem according to the Bible), others being Arabs, Assyrians, Canaanites, etc. Therefore, in a strict sense, Jews are ethnically Semite, and what distinguishes them as a unique group is their religion.

However, with the Zionist movement of the late 19th century, which was part of a plethora of nationalist movements, the Jews shifted away from a religious focus to a national focus that centered on Palestine as their homeland. They became more about food, dress, habits, and moral law than about the worship of God.

 

[Albion]

Judaism is a religion. Being Jewish is something else.

 

[ruthiesea]

The Jews are one of the 12 Hebrew tribes (Judah), Judah being the southern half of the nation of Israel that survived when the northern half was destroyed and scattered by the Assyrians. Judah also contained some Levites (the priests) and the Benjamites (Paul was a Benjamite). The Hebrews were a Semite tribe (the descendants of Shem according to the Bible), others being Arabs, Assyrians, Canaanites, etc. Therefore, in a strict sense, Jews are ethnically Semite, and what distinguishes them as a unique group is their religion.

However, with the Zionist movement of the late 19th century, which was part of a plethora of nationalist movements, the Jews shifted away from a religious focus to a national focus that centered on Palestine as their homeland. They became more about food, dress, habits, and moral law than about the worship of God.

Yes, Judaism is also a culture. I’m not quite sure how food, dress, etc has become more important that obeying G-d’s Laws. We all dress different and eat different foods. If by morality you mean striving to be righteous, then you are correct. Oh yeah, and we still worship G-d.

 

[Resha Caner]

Yes, Judaism is also a culture. I’m not quite sure how food, dress, etc has become more important that obeying G-d’s Laws. We all dress different and eat different foods. If by morality you mean striving to be righteous, then you are correct. Oh yeah, and we still worship G-d.

When you speak of a group, you typically speak in average, general terms. Like all groups the individuals within vary about the center. So of course Jews vary from conservative to liberal, traditional to progressive, etc. And of course you know your personal situation infinitely better than I do.

In terms of religions shifting their focus from God to other things, the same criticism applies to general trends among American Christians. There is a long history of people leaving their foundations behind.

And, in the end, you and I are simply going to disagree on some matters.

 

[Kaon]

Since when it became ethical group instead of a religion?

Hebrews are an ethnic group; heathen means [other] ethnic groups.

 

[Albion]

Yes, Judaism is also a culture.

What you mean is that the religion that is Judaism has, like other religions, produced in its aherents certain cultural patterns of behavior etc. etc.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

A more accurate version is that Jews are a Tribe that has like other tribes, produced in its adherents certain cultural patterns of behavior, religion, etc.

 

[Dave-W]

The Jews are one of the 12 Hebrew tribes (Judah), Judah being the southern half of the nation of Israel that survived when the northern half was destroyed and scattered by the Assyrians.

Since the return from the Babylonian exile, "Jew" has referred to a person from any of the 12 tribes.

 

[Dave-W]

Hebrews are an ethnic group; heathen means [other] ethnic groups.

That is a terminology imposed on the Jewish people by gentile academics who do not really understand the situation.

 

[Dave-W]

Judaism is a religion. Being Jewish is something else.

That just shows you do NOT understand the issue.

 

[Resha Caner]

Since the return from the Babylonian exile, "Jew" has referred to a person from any of the 12 tribes.

Do you have a source for that?

I know of various groups in India and Africa who claim a connection to the lost 10 tribes, but they don't typically refer to themselves as Jews ... except in those cases where they are accepted into an existing Jewish community, i.e. they are adopted into the tribe of Judah.

Those from the northern kingdom who remained behind after the Assyrian conquest are referred to as Samaritans, not Jews.

 

[Dave-W]

Do you have a source for that?

What Are Judaism's Lost Tribes? | My Jewish Learning

Judaism 101: Who Is a Jew?
Originally, the term Yehudi referred specifically to members of the tribe of Judah, as distinguished from the other tribes of Israel. However, after the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms: the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel (I Kings 12; II Chronicles 10). After that time, the word Yehudi could properly be used to describe anyone from the kingdom of Judah, which included the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, as well as scattered settlements from other tribes. The most obvious biblical example of this usage is in Esther 2:5, where Mordecai is referred to as both a Yehudi and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

In the 6th century B.C.E., the kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria and the ten tribes were exiled from the land (II Kings 17), leaving only the tribes in the kingdom of Judah remaining to carry on Abraham's heritage. These people of the kingdom of Judah were generally known to themselves and to other nations as Yehudim (Jews), and that name continues to be used today.

In common speech, the word "Jew" is used to refer to all of the physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob/Israel, as well as to the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and their wives, and the word "Judaism" is used to refer to their beliefs. Technically, this usage is inaccurate, just as it is technically inaccurate to use the word "Indian" to refer to the original inhabitants of the Americas. However, this technically inaccurate usage is common both within the Jewish community and outside of it, and is therefore used throughout this site.