I am a ba’alas teshuvah (I became religious) making my observation of the Jewish community a little more varied then most people. In America, I grew up Reform, going to Reform Hebrew schools and youth group events. During middle school, I went to a Conservative shul where I had my bat mitzvah (right of passage into adulthood). In Israel, at age fifteen, I lived and identified amongst the more mizrachi sect of the population (non-religious traditional/religious Zionist). On my return to America, I studied at Hebrew Union College (the Reform rabbinical school in NYC for a high school program), when I decided to drop Reform Judaism and become religious. My senior year of high school I was involved with Chabad (an orthodox-lubavitch sect). Then on my return to Israel, I went to a Haredi (Ultra-orthodox/”black hat”) school with Modern Orthodox students. Honestly, I’d like to say I’ve seen it all, but I have only experienced a fraction of the types of Judaism out there. Judaism is often minimalized as the religious, non-religious, and country of origin, however this is so misleading I cannot begin to explain.
According to my unique perspective, I have gotten the chance to share what Judaism is to many “outsiders”. In fact, three days ago, I was telling my Spanish coworker, Jose, who works with me in a kosher supermarket, what Judaism is! I explained it as simply as I could: Judaism is a Nation. We are one nation. We (the Jews) are all descendants from Avraham HaIvri (Abraham, the patriarch) and over time we lost our land and were dispersed. You are Jewish if you are born to a Jewish mother, whether you like it or not. There are Christian Jews, Arab Jews, Muslim Jews, more often then not, Buddhist Jews. There are agnostic and atheist Jews and B”H (Thank Gd) there are plenty of Jewish Jews. There are Black Jews, European Jews, Middle Eastern Jews, and lots and lots of Spanish Jews. There are converts to Judaism and there are Ba’alei Teshuvah (people who return to religious Judaism). Even within the orthodox Jewish population, there are as many “types” of Judaism as there are poskening (ruling on a Jewish law) Rabbis!
While my summary of who/what Jews are was pretty brief, I decided instead of giving the world another long-drawn out lecture about how I see Judaism, this assignment would do the trick.
Now that I have hopefully banished the notion that Judaism is a religion (If your still in doubt, why can non-Jewish people believe in Judaism ("the Noahides") and still not be Jewish? Also, if you are Jew, that doesn't mean you practice Judaism, which is the case with a buddhist and Christian Jew or even just a simple Russian or American secular Jew). I believe Judaism is a nation.
After studying secular Jewish History (on EIE in Israel during 2009), college level European and World histories (in high school), Middle Eastern history (as an independent study my senior year, with the inclusion of a thesis paper), and finally, after studying Torah and religious Jewish history, I feel I have a very well researched and credible opinion in this matter. If my opinion may not strike someone as "professionally" credible, I beg to reevaluate their judgement due to the amount of specific and detailed research on the topic that I have undertaken. However, I'll state it wether you believe me on the basis of my work or not: Judaism is a very unique type of nation.
In the words of Winston Churchill, "Some people like Jews and some do not; but no thoughtful man can doubt the fact that they are beyond all question the most formidable and the most remarkable race which has ever appeared in the world." His quote does nothing for my thesis (Jews are a nation, not a race or religion), but keep in mind this was during the time of WWII where "racial" and ethnic cleansing were taking place in Germany. I will not fight over semantics. What I intend to say is one of the greatest minds of the past generation agrees that Jews are unique. I want to address that this unique quality comes from what I think makes us a nation.
Judaism is not a nation in the sense that we are a "pure" ethnic group where where we are all binded by our common ancestry (Abraham). If this were the case, where would there be a place for Middle Eastern Jews, Spanish Jews, European Jews, Black Jews, and Asian Jews? And would that, then, make the descendants such as Ishmael (Arabs) and Esav (Edomites) Jews? This is why I disagree with Mr. Churchill, that we Jews are not a unified and single race.
Even still, we are also not a Nation-State. A nation-state is defined by a ruling government over an ethnically or culturally homogeneous group. Even though we are connected to the land (Canaan) Gd promised Abraham's descendants (in which we only received 400 years later, after the Egyptian exile), Jews would all be "Israelis" if this were the case. Oh, and I'm not talking about 1948 State of Israel, I am talking about 1100 BCE Kingdom of Israel. Instead, we were bound as a nation in a very different manner and here is where I ask you follow me to my last word.
I believe that Jews are a Torah-nation. Being an orthodox Jewish Jew, most people would think that this is another religious stint. Nonetheless, logically, Torah is the only thing that binds every single Jew. We live and dedicate ourselves to different countries. We dress differently, eat differently, and all-around live differently. However, if you are a Reform Jew (who believes the Torah was man-made) or an Orthodox Jew (who believes it was Gd-given), you are giving in to the idea that the Torah is integral to our identity. If not, why wouldn't Reform Jews abandon Torah all-together? Those who have abandoned Torah (example: many Germanic Jews during the 19th century) are no longer Jews and have no Jewish descendants. The Jews need Torah (whether you believe it to be True, fable, or complete fiction). Once Torah is lost, so are the Jews. For example, there is a famous quote, by Ha'ad Haam, "More than the Jews have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews."
Furthering this statement, in an article posted on Ynetnews in November 2011, Melvin Konner attributed the survival of the Jewish nation to two of our mitzvos (commandments), bris milah (circumcision) and taharat ha'mishpacha (family purity laws), which to Konner is consistent according to Darwin's theory of natural selection and evolution. Among the Sabbath, circumcision, and laws concerning family purity (separation between husband and wife during the time of niddah), lays the reason integral to our survival: Torah.
At the end of Konner's article he writes, "I don't think we would have survived as a people without the Torah," he says. "Even though every generation has people like me, who draw away from observing the Torah's mitzvot, it remains the core of the Jewish people... In Israel today you can be completely secular without affecting your Jewish identity. In the Diaspora there is no such thing. In recent generations, secular Judaism has been a way out of Judaism. But three things have allowed the existence of the Jewish people in the past, and in the future: The people, Torah and God."
So what's a Jew anyway? A Jew is born to a Jewish mother (Deuteronomy 7:3-4 - We see that by Gd saying "They will turn your son away", we come to understand three halachot/laws, one of them is the establishment of matirilinial descent.). We also now know what Judaism is NOT. It is not only a religion, it is not just a nation, and it is most definitely not a nation-state comprising of Israel (the land or country). What Judaism is, is a Torah-Nation. One nation united, divided, and defined by Torah
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