Judaism Or Judaisms?

It has been argued that Judaism can be seen not only as a single religion, but as a
group of similar religions. It has also been pointed-out that through all the trials
and tribulations that Judaism has suffered through, that there have been common
themes that have proven omni-pervasive. Any institution with roots as ancient
and varied as the religion of the Jews is bound to have a few variations,
especially when most of its history takes place in the political and theological
hot spot of the iddle !ast.
In this discussion, many facets of Judaism will be e"amined, primarily in the
three temporal subdivisions labeled the #ribal $ %re-onarchy %eriod, the
&ivided onarchy, and the 'asmonean $ accabean and (oman !ra. Among
all the time periods where the religion has been split, these three seem to be the
most representative of the forces responsible.
As for a common thread seen throughout all Judiasms, the area of focus here is
the place associated with the religion ) Jerusalem. #his topic will be covered in
detail first, and then the multiple Judaism arguments will be presented. In this
way, it is possible to keep a common focus in mind when reading about all the
other situations in which the religion has found itself. A brief conclusion follows
the discussion.
A %lace to *all 'ome
+o other religion has ever been so attached to its birthplace as Judaism. %erhaps
this is because Jews have been e"iled and restricted from this place for most of
their history. Jerusalem is not only home to Judaism, but to the uslim and
*hristian religions as well. 'istorically this has made it ,uite a busy place for
the various groups.
Jerusalem is where the temple of the Jews once stood- the only place on the
whole !arth where one could leave the confines of day to day life and get closer
to .od. In /01 2*! when the temple was destroyed, no Jew would have denied
Jerusalem as being the geographic center of the religion. 3rom that point on, the
Jewish people have migrated around the world, but not one of them forgets the
fact that Jerusalem is where it all began. It is truly a sacred place, and helps to
define what Judaism means to many people- a common thread to run through all
the various splinters of the religion and help hold them together.
!ven today, as the Jewish people have their precious Jerusalem back 4through
the help of other nations and their politics5 there is great conflict and emotion
surrounding it. Other nations and people in the area feel that they should be in
control of the renowned city, and the Jews deny fervently any attempt to wrestle
it from their occupation. It is true that there is no temple in Jeruslaem today, nor
are all the Jews in the world rushing to get back there. 2ut it is apparent that the
city represents more to the religion of Judaism than a mere place to live and
work. #he city of Jerusalem is a spiritual epicenter, and throughout Judaism6s
long and varied history, this single fact has never changed.
#ribal $ %re-onarchy
Judaism6s roots lie far back in the beginnings of recorded history. #he religion
did not spring into e"istence e"actly as it is known today, rather it was pushed
and prodded by various environmental factors along the way. One of the first
ma7or influences on the religion was the *anaanite nation. 8arious theories e"ist
as to how and when the people that would later be called Jews entered into this
civili9ation. 2ut regardless of how they ultimately got there, these pioneers of
the new faith were sub7ected to many of the ideas and pre7udices of the time.
Any new society that finds itself in an e"isting social situation, can do no more
than to try and integrate into that framework. And this is e"actly what the Jews
did.
!arly Judaism worshipped multiple gods. One of these gods was known as
2a6al, and was generally thought-of as a :statue god6 with certain limitations on
his power. #he other primary deity was called ;'<' 4or ;ahweh5 and en7oyed
a much more mysterious and illusive reputation. 'e was very numinous, and one
was to have great respect, but great fear for him at the same time. 2a6al was not
ever really feared, as his cycles 4metaphorically seen as the seasons5 were fairly
well known, and not at all fear-inducing.
#he fact that the early Jews and *anaanites had these two radically different
representations of a deity active in their culture, basically assured that there
would be splits in the faith. One group inevitably would focus on one of the
gods, and another would focus on another. In this way, the single religion could
support multiple types of worship, leading to multiple philosophies and patterns
of behavior, which could then focus more and more on their respective niche,
widening the gap into a clear cut distinction between religious groups.
#his early time period was generally ,uite temporary and non-centrali9ed,
stemming from the fact that technology was at a very low level, and people6s
lifespan was fairly short. #hese conditions led to a rapid rate of turnover in
religious thought, and left many factions of people to their own devices.
<idespread geographic distribution coupled with poor communication certainly
did not help in holding the many faiths together. #he #ribal %eriod in Jewish
history is one of the more splintered eras in the religion, but since these people
were all living in the area near Jerusalem, the common thread can be seen
clearly through the other less-defined elements of the religion.
&ivided onarchy
2y its very name, it is apparent that this period of history is host to a great deal
of divergence in the Jewish religion. As =olomon was king, people began to
grow more and more restless. =ome ob7ected to worshiping a human king, while
others balked at the oppression of the poor that was going on. %olitical unrest in
this period led to a decisive split in geographic territory, and thus a split in
religious views.
A group of people left the area of Judah and traveled +orth to found Israel,
where they could be free to practice their own political flavors, and their own
religious flavors as well. #his sort of behavior has come to be seen as common
of oppressed people, and the result is almost always a great deviation in the
ways of the :old world6. A perfect e"ample of this comes when e"amining the
point in American history where independence was declared from !ngland.
+ow, mere centuries later, America is as different in its politics, religions, and
social forces from !ngland as one could imagine. #his was most likely the result
when Israel was founded, far back in 2iblical history.
*ommunication between the two cities was sparse. #he priests and prophets
were undoubtedly addressing items pertinent to one group, but not neccesarily
the other. #he influence of foreign traders to each of the two places, as well as
the political attitudes of each all would have had enormous impact on a newly-
spawned religion. #hus, it can easily be seen that the religion was split into 4at
least5 two ma7or divisions during this time period.
#oward the end of the &ivided onarchy, it seems that the prophets began
calling for ma7or changes in the basic foundation of the early Jews6 lives. #he
kings and priests had no ma7or disputes with the status ,uo, but apparently the
prophets were calling for a reorgani9ation. #his sort of :turmoil within6 can do
nothing but further split people6s faith. It was is if the ,uestion was posed ) to
follow the kings and the priests, who have guided us and kept us safe? or follow
the far-seeing prophets, who are more like us and honestly have our best
interests at heart? As the ne"t ma7or historical division occurred this sort of
argument would continue, and thus the Jewish people were left to practice their
religion in whatever way they felt best ) multiple groups of people with varying
faith in the many forms of Judaism as it e"isted toward the end of the &ivided
onarchy. 'asmonean $ accabean and (oman !ra #his time period in Jewish
history is politically tumultuous, leading to high levels of splits and variations in
the religion itself. One of the most disruptive types of all wars is a civil war.
And this is e"actly what occurs at the outset in the Jewish homeland of
Jerusalem. #he Jewish civil war was against the e"treme 'elleni9ers 4people
who tended toward utter reason in their beliefs5 and the moderate 'elleni9ers
4people who can see things rationally, but believe there are more items to
consider than this -- e". the accabean family, who became the 'asmonean
kings5. =o right away, it is apparent that the ideas that the .reeks introduced into
Jewish culture have acted as time-bombs of social memes, and have created a
ma7or split in the religion.
<hen the violence of the war has subsided, the moderate 'elleni9ers have won
4>everything in moderation?@5 and rule for a short time, until the (oman empire
attacks and throws even more kinks into the Jewish society. <hen the (omans
take over, the 'asmonean kings are left in place as :puppet kings,6 which
ultimately forces the general population to ,uestion their governing body.
<hen the (omans destroy the temple in Jerusalem, it is made painfully clear
that some changes are going to be made. ost obvious, the priests suddenly
have no ma7or role in the religion. #heir primary purpose had been to tend to the
sacrificing of animals, and since it is illegal to sacrifice an animal outside the
temple, the priests were in an unsettling position.
As can be seen in countless other e"amples, politics and religion are invariably
tied, and people began practicing their own flavors of Judaism after their
civili9ation had been so radically altered. At this point in history, there is really
no solid rule to prevent such splits, and for a time a mi"ed form of Judaism with
many varieties flourishes.
+o one was sure what to do once the heart of Judaism 4the temple5 had been
destroyed, but it soon became apparent that an appealing option was arising.
#wo ma7or social groups of the time period were vying for power. #he first
group, the =aducees were associated with the displaced 'asmonean kings. #he
second group, the %harisees, had an idea that would help work around the tragic
destruction of the temple. %eople were split, once again. #hey could stay with
the traditional =aducees 4who had the political power, believed in only written
#orah, and did not subscribe to resurrection -- basically a conservative view5, or
they could side with the newcomers, the %harisees 4who had religious power,
believed in both the written and the oral #orah, and believed in resurrection5 and
hope to preserve their Jewish heritage by worshiping outside of the temple, in
their everyday life.
It was not a hard decision, and the %harisees eventually gained power, leading
the Jewish religion into its ne"t phase of (abbinic Judaism.
It is apparent that in each of the three time periods discussed above that many
factions of the same religion were active. *ompeting philosophies, outside
political forces, and geographic isolation are among the most obvious of the
dividing forces. 'owever many other influences :pound6 each and every day on
a given social institution, subtly forming it and changing it into something it was
not. 3or this reason, the answer to the debate whether Judaism is a single, or
multiple religion4s5 is an obvious one, depending upon how you choose to look
at it. !very religion has many pieces, but as long as there are a few constants
4such as the birthplace, the language, literature, etc5 it is possible to view the
whole as a single force, and still acknowledge variations that will inevitably
spring-up.