What is Judaism?

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What is Judaism?
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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

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

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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

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Not a Race

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

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Not a political entity

• live in many different political systems

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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

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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
  Scriptures account of Israel as holy people
  whose life encompasses the experience of exile
  and return. Jacob Neusner