Carl Kinbar's Definition of Judaism (It's Interesting)

So I'm all for dialogue and learning from other people's points of view.  Carl Kinbar today gave an interesting definition for Judaism.  Here it is:



[DISCLAIMER:  Carl wanted me to add the following disclaimer:  "As I wrote, the definition is “unedited.” Feel free to post it on your blog with this disclaimer: “This definition was written at the request of Peter —-. It is unedited, so reading a particular sentence or phrase very closely may reveal the lack of editing rather than the author’s intention.”]

"Here are my unedited reflects on “What is Judaism.”

It’s been mentioned that there have always been varieties of Judaism. So in the broadest sense, Judaism consists of a variety of approaches that Jews have fashioned to living out a substantial version of the Jewish past in the here and now, from Essene Judaism to today’s Humanistic Judaism.

Although virtually all varieties of Judaism have provided a place for non-Jews through conversion and other forms of association, Judaism is essentially a Jewish enterprise.

The limits of the varieties of Judaism are crossed in two ways: (1) when Jews shape a way of living in the present with no conscious effort to connect substantially with the Jewish past (e.g, AIPAC, formed by Jews to promote American-Israeli relations, is not a form of Judaism); (2) when non-Jews play a formative role in shaping the so-called “Judaism” and, especially, when the group who practices it is preponderantly non-Jewish (e.g., the Church of those drawn from the nations). .

So all Judaisms envision a unique calling of the Jewish people for the sake of the whole world. The integrity of that calling is guarded by the establishing and sustenance of varieties of Judaism that protect the identity and calling of the Jewish people in national and geopolitical situations in which they are a tiny, tiny minority.

The notion of a Judaism that legitimately connects with the Jewish past but is shaped by non-Jews for a group of non-Jews is an innovation of the last few decades (excepting groups that claimed to be Jewish by descent but probably were not). As far as I can tell, these so-called Judaisms do not protect the identity and calling of the Jewish people in a practical way. They advocate for the rights of Gentiles to the Jewish inheritance rather than the importance of Jews and their calling.

I choose to believe that these so-called Judaisms consist of sincere men and women who, though mistaken in some of their beliefs and practices, love Yeshua and seek to walk in his ways."