Global Judaism – REL 2300: Introduction to Contemporary World Religions

Over thousands of years, a diverse range of different Jewish communities developed in different areas of the world. As Judaism spread around the world (usually through forced migrations), different communities experienced unique circumstances that resulted in distinctive histories, languages, religious practices, customs, and culture. This lesson will draw from theoretical frameworks introduced in the Globalization & Diaspora lesson to address diversity within global Judaism today.

Objectives:

identify different Jewish communities worldwide
recognize modern Judaism as a global collection of different Jewish communities
situate a contemporary Jewish community within its unique social and historical context using terms and concepts from Globalization & Diaspora Studies.

Many People, One Book

Over the course of more than three thousand years, the global flow of Judaism around the world encountered a variety of unique circumstances in different areas and through time. The interactions of Judaism with a variety of different circumstances that resulted in cultural and religious variations among Jewish communities within Judaism. At the same time however, most contemporary Jewish communities shared three common characteristics:

observe the oneness of a single creator God named Yahweh
recognize the Tanakh as sacred text
share the history of Judaism and are connected through Jewish memory

This course will approach diversity within Judaism according to three different yet overlapping categories; geographic variations that led to cultural differences, belief and/or worship variations leading to religious variations, and syncretic blending with other religions or ideological movements.

Geographic Communities

The Jewish diaspora created a multicultural landscape within modern Judaism which has become a world religion comprised of a diverse array of different cultural, racial and ethnic communities. As Jewish people migrated into new regions and encountered different cultural communities, regional culture such as language, food, and dress integrated into the daily lives of Jewish people in that region.

Judaism in Europe

Jewish people migrated to Europe just before the rise of the Roman Empire. Large numbers lived in Greece (including the Greek isles in the Aegean and Crete) as early as the beginning of the 3rd century BCE, and Jewish people in Croatia dates to the 2nd century. The expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, as well as expulsion from Austria, Hungary and Germany, stimulated a widespread Jewish migration to Poland which became the cultural and spiritual center of the Jewish people in Europe for many centuries. Prior to World War II, the Jewish population of Europe is estimated to have been close to 9 million. During the Holocaust, approximately 6 million Jews were murdered in German concentration camps. During and after the war, a mass migration of Jewish people left Europe. The current Jewish population in Europe is estimated to be approximatel 2.4 million people representing only .3% of the European population.

Ashkenazi Jews are originally from Germany and Eastern Europe (Ashkenazim come from “Ashkenazic” the Hebrew word for Germany). Yiddish, is a blend of German and Hebrew languages. From the late 19th and through first half of the 20th century, many Ashkenazi Jews left Germany to live in the United States and the modern State of Israel. Sephardic Jews trace their ancestry to the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal. Sephardic comes from the Hebrew word for Spain, and Ladino is a blend of Hebrew and Spanish languages.

To learn more, check out the journal, European Judaism, which explores the Jewish experience in Europe.

Judaism in Africa

Judaism in Africa is represented mainly by two separate groups of people: Jews from Europe and the Middle East and indigenous (native) Africans who claim Jewish or Israelite descent. Jews from the Middle East arrived in Africa before A.D. 400, settling mainly in North Africa such as Egypt and Algeria to work as artisans, merchants, or laborers. In the late 1300s many Jewish people left Spain and sought refuge in Islamic Algeria to escape Christian persecution and remained until the mid-twentieth century when Arab leaders in Egypt and Algeria established anti-Jewish policies. Today, South Africa is home to the largest population of Jewish immigrants in Africa.

Many modern African groups claim to be descended from early Jewish groups. Most scholars believe these peoples were not originally Jewish but picked up elements of Jewish culture and religion through contacts with Christians or Muslims. These groups include the Lemba of South Africa and the Bayudiya of Uganda, the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. after the establishment of Israel in 1948, more than 45,000 Jewish people from Africa have moved to Israel.

Mizrahi Jews trace their origin to North Africa and Asia. ‘Mizrahi’ means ‘Eastern,’ and many Mizrahi Jews speak Arabic, Aramaic, Persian and/or Kurdish. Mizrahi texts are written in Arabic language with a modified Hebrew script. For Mizrahi immigrants to Israel, the cultural differences between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews affected the ability to inntegrate into Israeli society. Segregation, especially in the area of housing, limited integration possibilities over the years. However, multi-ethnic marriages in Israel began to increase in the 1990s.

To learn more about Ashkenazi, Sephardic and Mizrahi cultural communities, watch the video by My Jewish Learning below.

Judaism in the United States

Depending on religious definitions and varying population data, the United States has the largest or second largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel. In 2012, the American Jewish population was estimated at between 5.5 and 8 million, depending on the definition of the term, which constitutes between 1.7% and 2.6% of the total U.S. population.

The majority of the American Jewish population, 90-95%, is comprised of US-born Ashkenazi Jews. During the colonial era, Spanish and Portuguese Jews represented the bulk of America’s then-small Jewish population which includes Sephardic Jews, Mizrahi Jews, various other ethnically Jewish communities. After world War II during the 20th century, however, the mass migration of Ashkenazi Jews into the US changed the cultural landscape of American Judaism. European Jewish immigrants initially settled in and around New York City. In recent decades many Jewish Americans have relocated to South Florida, Los Angeles and other large metropolitan areas in the South and West. The metropolitan areas of New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami contain nearly one quarter of the world’s Jewish population.

Watch this PBS clip The Jewish Diaspora in New York to learn about one Jewish experience in America.

Judaism in Israel

After the formation of Israel in 1948, the new country received a mass immigration of Jewish people from all over the world seeking to return to their holy land. Nearly all Israeli Jews identify as either Haredi (commonly translated as “ultra-Orthodox”), Dati (“religious”), Masorti (“traditional”) or Hiloni (“secular”). To learn more, read the article ‘Israel’s Religiously Divided Society‘ by the Pew Research Center.

While the Israeli community is religiously divided, most Jewish people in Israel are united in the political spirit of Zionism which started as a Jewish nationalistic movement for the re-establishment of Israel and continues as a political effort for the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. According to the Pew Research Center, ‘Israeli Jews of every kind – native-born and immigrant, young and old, secular and highly religious – agree that all Jews everywhere should have the right to make “aliyah,” or move to Israel and receive immediate citizenship.’ To learn more about Zionism’s meaning, history and future, watch the trailer for the film, colliding Dreams (2017) below.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominates US politics and international relations, and it is important to differentiate Judaism as a religious practice from Zionism as a political perspective. Many Jewish communities and people do not support the modern state of Israel. To learn more, read this article ‘Anti-Zionism among Jews‘ in the Jewish Virtual Library and visit the Jewish Voice for Peace website.

Communities of Belief and Practice

Through time and historical change, Jewish groups and individuals began taking on new and different perspectives on Jewish belief and practice. The invention of the printing press and the spread of literacy among common people came to undermine hierarchical interpretations of sacred texts, and the ‘Scientific Revolution’ during the 1700s also challenged religious authority. This generated a multiplicity of religious perspectives among common people in all of the world’s religions.

Secular or non-religious Judaism views Judaism as cultural practice and an identity rather than a religion. Approximately 15-20 percent of Jewish people in the United States identify as secular.

Orthodox Judaism is considered the most conservative Jewish community because it is based on the belief that Jewish law is unchanging and mandatory. Until recently, Orthodox Judaism was the only form of the religion formally and legally recognized in Israel. Although less conservative branches of Judaism now have partial recognition, Orthodoxy remains dominant politically and legally.

Hasidic Judaism is a movement within orthodox Judaism that originated in Ukraine and draws from the Kabbalah. The Hasidic community is a very closed community with a large proportion of members living in New York. To learn more, watch the BinBam video below. The Fox news clip that follows provides a critical interpretation about the experiences of people who have left the Hasidic community.

Reform Judaism is considered the most liberal category that values ethical traditions over strict observance of Jewish laws. Followers promote progressive ideas and adaptation. Most of the Jews living in the United States follow Reform Judaic traditions. For more information, visit ReformJudaism.org and watch their promotional video below.

Conservative Judaism: Many people consider this form of Judaism somewhere in between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. Typically, conservative Jews honor the traditions of Judaism while allowing for some adaptation to contemporary changes.

To learn more about the history of reform, conservative and orthodox Judaisms, watch the BimBam video below.

Reconstructionist Judaism: Reconstructionism dates back to 1922 when Mordecai Kaplan founded the Society for the Advancement of Judaism. This community believes that Judaism is a religious civilization that’s constantly evolving.

Humanistic Judaism: Rabbi Sherwin Wine founded Humanistic Judaism in 1963. Humanistic practice celebrates Jewish history and culture without an emphasis on God. To learn more about Humanistic Judaism, visit the Society for Humanistic Judaism website and watch the video below.

Syncretic or Blended Judaism

Syncretism is the blending of two or more religious beliefs and practices. There are some movements that combine elements of Judaism with those of other religions. In addition, some religious ideas and practice integrate principles from historical ideological movements (such as Civil Rights and Women’s Rights). The merging of Judaism with other religions and ideologies or the appropriation of Judaism into other forms of religious practice has created new forms of Judaism in the modern world.

Messianic Judaism is a movement that arose in the 1960s which combines the beliefs of Judaism and Christianity, particularly the beliefs that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, that Jesus is one of the Three Divine Persons, and that salvation is achieved through acceptance of Jesus as the only savior. To learn more, visit the Jews for Jesus website and watch the video below.

Feminist Judaism is a liberation movement that emphasizes and integrates ideas and principles of the secular Women’s Rights Movement of the 1970s to make the religious, legal, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. According to Judith Plaskow, the main grievances of early Jewish feminists were women’s exclusion from the all-male prayer group or minyan, women’s exemption from positive time-bound mitzvot, and women’s inability to function as witnesses and to initiate divorce in Jewish religious courts. Feminist Judaism has contributed to changes that have taken place in the practice of Reform Judaism. To learn more, watch this video on Jewish Feminism by the LivingTorah.org.

Semitic Neopaganism draws from early polytheistic practices believed to pre-date montheistic worship among Semitic people several thousand years ago as well as polytheistic survivals. Jewish polytheism was popularized in the 1960s by Raphael Patai’s book, The Hebrew Goddess, which highlights the ‘Cult of Asherah’ in Solomon’s Temple. The loosely organized sect integrates contemporary pagan beliefs and practices with some Jewish religious practices. To learn more, watch this video explaining a believers perspective of the connections between Paganism and Judaism.

Renewal Judaism borrows freely and openly from Buddhism, Sufism, Native American religions, and other faiths. Jewish Buddhism incorporates elements of Asian spirituality into Jewish belief and practice.

The Kabbalah Centre emphasizes the esoteric Jewish tradition of the kabbalah.

Hebrew Israelites is a liberation movement founded by Ben Ammi that emphasizes and integrates ideas and principles of the secular Civil Rights movement in the United States during the 1960’s with Jewish beliefs and practices. To learn more, watch this video interview with the founder, Ben Ammi Ben Israel, Anointed Spiritual Leader of the African Hebrew Israelites, who explains why the Community let the United States for Israel in 1967.

Situating Jewish Communities in their Social and historical Context

This lesson addressed different Jewish communities worldwide and presented modern Judaism as a global collection of different Jewish communities. The information presented here sheds light on diversity within the global Jewish community, and this makes it important to situate a contemporary Jewish communities within their unique social and historical contexts.

Readings & Resources:

Writing Assignment: To analyze and understand diversity within contemporary Judaism, select a contemporary Jewish community and use terms and concepts from the Globalization & Diaspora lesson to situate it within its unique social and historical circumstances in order to contextualize how the community is different from others. The community can be a religious group, a political association, a cultural group, etc.

Select a unique Jewish community (ie Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, Mizrahi Jews in Israel, Jews for Jesus in Tampa, etc.)
Locate scholarly sources about the community
Identify how the community is different from other Jewish communities
Review the history of the community to determine how the unique characteristics emerged (ie diaspora, ideological movements, interactions with other religions and cultures, etc. )
Develop a thesis statement
Organize data and write body paragraphs to support the statement (cite in-text)
Write Introduction and Conclusion
Format sources.

(1500 words and at least two scholarly sources properly formatted and cited in text; post in discussion, and respond to at least two other student posts)