Judaism for myself is more than the sum of its religious and historical parts. Studying the historical and cultural circumstances of Judaism will aid to a better understanding of its present form.
However, there are varied scopes with in Judaism that need to be explored that will enhance the value of experiencing Judaism to its fullest degree. Today, the study of Culture, Genealogy, philosophy, and social approaches are able to give us a greater understanding of where Judaism has come from and where Judaism will be going in the future.
My own interest and study of Judaism starts in the Medievil time frame in Eastern Europe circa 1500. We as modern day historians of Judaism need to create a magical time line in order to jump off from. Circa 1500 seems to be a decent era in which to make this gigantic time travel leap.
The, so called discovery of North America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus (as we know isn’t the first discovery of North America. Sorry I am Canadian and one of the first discoveries of North America was a settlement in about the year 1000 A.D. by L’Anse aux Meadows a Norse settlement in northern Newfoundland. But, the historically noted first discovery of North America by Christopher Columbus seems to be a good starting point for the study of modern Judaism.
Spain was in the throws of its Spanish inquisition, the Sabbatai Tzvi dissolusionment was on the horizon and the European and Russian Pogroms had not yet occurred. Better yet, who could have for seen World war one or World War two and let alone the Holocaust, and the establishment of the State of Israel? So this time frame seems to be a decent one to start from.
Judaism as a religion and culture must come to an understanding regarding the Spanish inquisition and the Sabatai Tzvi movement and how much impact these events had on Judaism’s future. The Spanish inquisition made traveling nearly readily available in Western Europe and as well between the America’s. Therefore, immigration and movement to North America did not seem out of reach for the average Jew of that time. The European Pogroms made immigration all that easier
On a spiritual scale the Sabatai Zevi movement changed Judaism forever. With out this man Massiah complex Judaism may have stayed stagnant or unchanged. This one man’s Judaic exuberance changed Judaism forever. Sabbatai Tzvi was supposedly born in the month of Av. He studied Haskalah law and had a major fascination with mysticism. These are two core components of religious Jewry coupled with the mantenance of daily prayer observance. Where this man went wrong was he thought he was the Massiah. He was able to get other individuals to believe that he was also. This was the start of Judaism’s downfall. The direct movement that took over from the Sabbatai Tzvi movement was Hasidism. These Hasidic groups have a strong sense of genealogy and history. However, they interpret Judaism very different than most observantly orthodox people. The Hasidim are for all intensive purposes anti orthodox and mystically based.
Without an understanding of the above where will Judaism go in the future?
