r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • Sep 25 '24

AAJ "Ask A Jew" Wednesday

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

Please remember to pick an appropriate user-flair in order to participate! Thanks!

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u/TurnYourBrainOff Atheist Sep 25 '24

What do you think about how Israel represents Judaism?

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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Sep 25 '24

Israel doesn't claim to represent Judaism as a religion, they claim to represent Jewish Peoplehood.

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u/douglasstoll Reconstructionist Sep 25 '24

A claim that many of us dispute

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u/Saul_al-Rakoun Conservadox & Marxist Sep 26 '24

No, they claim to represent Judaism as a religion too.

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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Sep 26 '24

There has never been a time where the Israeli government has claimed to represent Judaism as a religion. The Israeli Chief Rabbis are not even necessarily accepted by religious Jews in Israel, and are not accepted by any non-Orthodox groups.

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u/Saul_al-Rakoun Conservadox & Marxist Sep 26 '24

"God gave us this land"

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u/-ballerinanextlife Sep 26 '24

What’s the difference ?

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u/DurianVisual3167 Jewish Sep 26 '24

Jewish peoplehood links Jews together as an ethnicity that includes people from many places in the world such as Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Eastern Africa, Western Asia, and many small communities in other regions. This links us culturally and includes Jews who are religious, secular, believe in G-d, atheist, assimilated to the local customs where we live or not, and the full spectrum of politics. This is what Israel claims to represent. I'd guess most people in here would strongly disagree it represents us, or at least say it does a very bad job.

Judaism is the religion the Jewish people practice. It's an ethno religion that has existed largely in diaspora (which is how we became such a diverse peoplehood). They don't claim to represent Judaism for a variety of reasons but probably the most obvious is that the religion specifically tells the Jewish people not to create a Jewish state.

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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Sep 26 '24

Judaism is the religious tradition of the Jewish People. A Jew doesn't need to observe the religion or believe it in order to be considered part of the Jewish People. Israel's official national understanding of Jewish identity is in this cultural and ethnic sense. This is also why Israel's Law of Return includes those who have ethnic Jewish heritage but are not considered Jewish by either Orthodox or Reform religious standards.