The 4,000-Year-Old Question: Is Judaism a Religion, Ethnicity, Race, or Culture?

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2019

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What is Judaism? What does it mean to be Jewish? Is it an ethnicity (being one of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), a religion (following the tenets of the Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud) or a cultural experience (a common experienced developed through millenia of being ostracized, otherized, and demonized by majority groups in their homelands).

Today I tackled this enormous question by first looking at the origins of the Jewish people. There's not universally accepted answer to this question. Some say the Old Testament account of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, and the deportations into Assyria and Babylon tell the story. Others say the Jewish people were an offshoot of the Canaanites who developed into their own culture. We then look into the creation of the Jewish diaspora across the Mediterranean world and how Jewish identity shifted as the circumstances of this religious group changed from the ancient world to the medieval and early modern periods. There is no clear answer to all these questions, but this episode will hopefully provide plenty of historical context.

Transcript

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0:00.0	War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding right down to the present.
0:06.2	Wars made the United States independent, kept it together, increased its size, and established it as a global superpower.
0:13.2	Hi, I'm James Early, host of the Key Battles of American History podcast.
0:17.6	In each episode I discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's Wars.
0:23.2	To start listening now, go to pathanonpodcast.com or search Key Battles of American History on your favorite podcast and platform.
0:36.1	The history of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, from their deep origins to our present epoch.
0:46.0	Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time,
0:51.1	focusing on the compelling, wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders, environment, and geography.
1:01.4	I invite you to come along for the ride.
1:06.5	Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, the unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes,
1:12.9	Mythbust's historical lies and rediscoveres the forgotten stories that changed our world.
1:19.6	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:30.0	Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, the unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes,
1:36.6	Mythbust's historical lies and rediscoveres the forgotten stories that changed our world.
1:43.2	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:48.3	Many of the episode topics on this podcast come from questioners, from listeners like you,
1:53.6	in the parlance of national public radio.
1:56.4	Some of the questions are pretty straightforward.
1:58.1	Others are very large, and it's hard for me to wrap my mind around how to answer them effectively and succinctly.
2:05.5	Doesn't mean the questions are bad, it just means I really have to work at it.
2:08.4	Well, I have a question from listener and Michael that goes along those lines.
2:12.0	Let me just jump right in and give it to you.
	...

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