Search

Judaism is primarily an inward looking religion. Its theology defines Judaism's own goals, aspirations, and problems but seldom evidences any concern for, or interest in, those outside its faith community. 1 While traditional Jews believe that their deity daily (re-)creates the entire world, 2 controls all of the world's activities, and is the God of all humankind, still they focus on the fact that at Sinai God entered into a special relationship with the People Israel in particular. Judaism focuses almost without exception on that exclu…

The possibility and desirability of non-Jews' converting to Judaism has always been a complex issue. This is because, encompassing an ethnic as well as religious component, the very nature of Jewish identity has been hard to conceptualize. From the first century c.e. forward, on the one hand, all children of Jewish mothers have been deemed Jews, whether or not they undergo any ritual of entry into the community, accept any theological doctrine, or perform any of the religious and cultural practices Jews view as commanded by God. In thi…

Numerous recent studies by historians and social scientists have examined the nature of Jewish identity, attempting to discover how Jews create their identity, how they maintain their Jewishness, and what this means for our understanding of Jews in particular and other minority groups in general. 1 While these investigations have opened new avenues for comprehending Jewish identity and its construction, they largely have failed to investigate what major Jewish thinkers themselves have said on the subject throughout the medieval and modern …