Our first ever blog posting asked for your views on the meaning of Judaism, and it seems the topic remains — five years later — more current than ever. The recently released Pew Survey on American Jewry, which found that one in five American Jews describe themselves as having no religion, has caused much discussion and introspection.
Judaism is a funny thing. Inherently, it is a religion, but many people who describe themselves as Jewish don’t connect with religion or religious rituals. Instead, they connect to ‘being Jewish’ is through history, culture or Israel, among other things.
What’s your view on the topic? What you describe your primary connection to being Jewish as:
- Ritual (Shabbat, synagogue, holidays)
- Jewish History (including the Holocaust)
- Culture (film, literature, food)
- Humor
- Israel
So far, ritual is clearly in the lead, with history running second. Cast your vote! You’ll find the poll @ ijn2.wpengine.com & leave a comment to let us know the reason behind your vote.
All of these are valid reasons to consider one’s self Jewish but where is the question identifying spirituality as the reason to identify as being Jewish?
The idea is that people can access ‘spirituality’ through various means, although ritual would probably be the one most closely tied to spirituality. Interesting point though!