My religious history of Judaism (the
dominant Israelite religion) (draft)
by Benjamin Fleischer
Early man attributed divinity to every natural force or power he did not understand and sought to bring its favor. This viewpoint necessarily led to a multiplicity of gods. Perhaps influenced by Egyptian ideas (Akhenaton, 14th century BCE), early Hebrews began to doubt the rationality of multiple gods. The idea of a single God with demands of a single ethic evolved. Oppression in Egypt after the Hykso expulsion inspired an intense desire for ethical conduct. Since unethical behavior was often associated with the cults of other religions, ethical behavior was insured by avoidance of all cults which necessarily had different (lower) ethical standards. Since all cults had local gods, they could justify their actions as sanctioned by their local specialness [The universality of YHWH is later than David, viz. I Samuel 26:19, see syncretistic worship in I Kings 18:21].
Rationalization of God showed that all men are of one origin and should be treated with justice. Justice was said to come from God and it was that divine ideal the ancient Israelites copied. Nonetheless, the ancient Israelites continued to participate in foreign cults, the less educated never having fully accepted the more rationalized, abstract god of the elite [the transition taking place in the 7th-5th centuries BCE]. Religious and ethical arguments proliferated as the nation was ravaged politically, by the breakaway of the Northern Kingdom, and by a spate of syncretistic kings.
Even before the Babylonian exile, the Samaritans (remains of the Northern kingdom) were rejected by Southern Judaens. In exile, many Judaens lost faith in the power of their God and largely assimilated. The culture shock, however, convinced enough of the exiles that they must try even stronger to maintain their identity and separate form all foreign influences. When Cyrus the Persian allowed their return, these all too joyfully returned to their land to purify it with their new understanding of God's ways and Israel's specialness. They collected their traditions and brought them back in the form of their holy books, the Torah and Prophets.
The returned Jews had lost much of their culture in the Babylonian exile but were so fervent in their desire for tradition they overtook the political scene in Judaea. They changed the script of their scripture from the Phoenician Paleo-Hebrew to the square Aramaic script (Ashurit in Hebrew) to make it legible to the now Aramaic-speaking Judaens. Sects proliferated over the meaning of ancient traditions and perhaps even had different ones (viz. the numbers of different texts among the Dead Sea sect and variances in other ancient and modern versions). With the destruction of the Temple, only the Judaites able to adapt to a life without a temple flourished. That is, the Pharisee sect following the teachings of Hillel became Judaism as it is known today. Sadducees, Shammaite Pharisees, Essenes, Judeo-Christians have all disappeared. Small remaining Pharasaic sects from before the crystallization of the Hillelite sect include the Ethiopians, the Beta Yisrael of India, sects in Madagascar, and possibly the Karaites (beginning 9th century CE). The Samaritans didn't adapt and have become reduced from millions to about 660 individuals. Hillelite Judaism (now known as Rabbinic Judaism) later split in to three general streams known as Sephardic (from Arab lands), Ashkenazic (from Christian lands), and Yemenite (from the south-western Arabian penninsula).
Popular Judaism became text-driven by the elite though the commoners often held onto the old traditions, were ignorant of them and did as they pleased, or ignored the new understandings of the rabbis (new religious historians, of a sort). Here, biblical history ended and the present became dedicating to retaining a glorified past. The second temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE and the second exile began.
External pressures popularized this secure, text-based system, so full of the ancient ethical flows of the early days. Ethics were refined in the light of and response to Hellenized then Islamic and Christian culture. The new exile was a source for fertile discussion about the meaning of a templeless Judaism. Perhaps in response to the numerous sects which caused so much stress at the end of the 2nd Temple period, the sages attempted to standardize religious practice (halakhah). At first, this was local, then regional, then even national. Increasing reverence of the past as the source of tradition as well as a desire to avoid increasing arguments with the old texts and traditions led to a change in direction of the creative process from adapting Jewish practice to the sociocultural reality to harmonizing and preserving received traditions. The exclusion of Jews from general society fostered this direction. With nothing to adapt to on a large level, the religion and its practice became nitpicked.
The last 200 years of Judaism have been a response to the Jews entering secular culture in Enlightenment Europe. In 19th century Europe, with the sudden openings and closings of the universities and culture to Jews, the question of how to be Jewish returned to its early 2nd century days of how to maintain Jewish ethics and culture in the face of foreign influence political, religious, and cultural. The very value of anything Jewish was questioned in what was seen as the brilliant glory of Europe's Enlightenment. The bulk of Western European Jews renounced Jewish practice for secular success. Some traditionalists tightened down the textual sanctity and ancestor worship to force a return to traditional practice and maintain those who hadn't left yet. Another group of Jews valued their tradition as it had historically developed and sought to apply it as it had been historically done, including the more creative precedents and ethical principles ignored by more right-wing groups. Another group maintained that Judaism was merely a faith (like Protestant Christianity).
The end of the 19th century destroyed the God idea by the very rationality that had led to Judaism's monotheism. Thus, a new twist was added. Now the (elite) scene is, in brief, from left to right, Jews avowed of their Judaism1, Jews maintaining some cultural aspects and the occasional orthodox ritual2, historical Jews that have left the traditional system of practice (halakhah) and see Judaism more like a culture or ethnicity, perhaps even a civilization3. A blurry line away are those who may or may not believe in a God (usually transnatural and highly rationalized) and don't feel bound to traditional ritual, but feel obligated to it (culturally) in the absence of a compelling reason to dismiss it4. Parallel is system that usually believes in God and the importance of some ritual but more in an existential way5. The next line crossed is a group that is a positive-historical Judaism, traditional Judaism, but the inheritors of the entire Jewish tradition rather than only what preceded them6. Next is a more conservative group that primarily accepts only the recent parts of the tradition in determining practice7. Till here, the groups are very open-minded and integrated into secular society. The next step are the descendents of the reactionaries to secular culture, beginning with the Enlightenment. They perpetuate medieval Judaism and often work in the modern world but avoid its secular aspects8. To the right of that are the most extreme fundamentalists who build fences to protect anything old in the face of new ideas in religion, philosophy, or technology. They are about as cutoff from the secular world as is possible9.
This is a sketch of the major organized Judaisms. There are many who still have not developed a consistent structure of belief or practice. We are in a time of flux, without any sure tradition to blindly inherit and apply, when religion often takes a back seat to the more pressing matters of day-to-day life. However, with the birth of the state of Israel, a nationality for the Jews, the revival of Hebrew and with it Jewish culture, the trend to pride in our roots is driving a return to tradition. Which tradition or system and how identity is expressed is often determined by individual personalities as well as personal research and struggle.
I am a Jew of Israelite history. I adopt what I find compelling and beautiful. I do not believe in God, but (like Feuerbach), believe in the ideals of God, of a life of courage to be good and do good, to tradition and change, to maintaining a ritual structure or better, ritual structures to unite Jews and forge a commonality (not a universality). We are united by our ideals, language, history, and culture-- not by the words we pray or the motions we make. We are united by how we think and approach the world: with honesty, reason, respect, and a lack of satisfaction for the simplistic answer.
"While most peoples' opinions change, the conviction of their correctness never does."
From Robert Redford's "The Natural"
"We lead two lives: the one we learn from and the one we live
with."
Questions, Comments, Corrections? Email <bfleischer@mail.com> with the subject 'Ask the Rebbe'.
Note: Though these groups generally reflect the European strands of Judaism, their influence is strongly felt in other streams. These other streams tend to describe themselves as Orthodox though some of them are quite secular in practice while other are quite right-wing. Again, take any generalization here with a grain of salt.