What is Judaism

Defining this word is our task together as a class. As we have seen, this is not an easy exercise. I have refered often to Mordechai Kaplan's idea (and book of the same name) Judaism as a Civilization. In essence, Kaplan proposed that American Jews live in two worlds, American civil society with all of its trappings of citizenship, and the Jewish civilization. For Kaplan, the Jewish Civilization has a unique language, culture, religious tradition, history, etc. I find that this metaphor is useful in understanding that Judaism differs from other faith traditions in that its scope is wider than religion. Jewish life, Kaplan contends, is a round experience filled with culture, art, music and literature. One who is a member of the Jewish people, not only shares history and traditions with fellow Jews, but is a member of the people Israel which is a kind of national identity.