I'm doing Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida" which is about the Trojan War. But my director had a more relavent vision for it, so we're doing it about the Israel and Pakistan conflict. The thing is, I know very little about Israel, Pakistan, Judaism, Islam, etc.
Any seen some interesting news clip/article about the conflict? Or is anyone Jewish/Muslim?
to be Jewish has two connotations: the Jewish race/people and then Judaism, the religion. They're separate but usually coincide with the other. You can believe in Judaism (the religion) without being Jewish (the people). If you are Jewish (the people), you can believe in the religion or not... thus you have atheist Jews, Jews For Christ, Islamic Jews, Buddhist Jews, etc.
It's pretty complicated....
As far as the conflict... I believe you mean the conflict between Israel and Palestine (not Pakistan... though they would support Palestine since they are largely Muslim also).
Basically, Jews (the people and the religion, both were closely intertwined until the 19th century) have a long history of being conquered by other civilizations like the Romans, Persians, various Islamic rulers, Christians/Crusades, etc. They haven't had a true homeland in many centuries and thus they wandered throughout the world (this is why they are so spread out and why there are different sects within the people/religion). As a result of wandering and setting up diasporas in other countries, they were met with extreme persecution and, more often than not, eviction from the country (i.e. France, Spain, etc.)... continuing their 'exile.' As the 19th century (1800s) rolled around, the main divide in the Jewish culture was: one half that wanted to assimilate a little better in the countries they were living in (and opening the requirements of Judaism, the religion, so others could join with less strict rules); and the other half wanted strict orthodoxy and the creation of a Jewish homeland (this movement came to be known as Zionism). The half that wanted assimilation/less strict rules created the Reform Church, where you can be Jewish but without some of the strict orthodoxy (like only marrying another Jewish person, strict observance of the Torah, etc.); it's kind of like the Protestant movement versus Catholicism break (The Great Schism) in the 1500/1600s.... a large portion of Jewish people in the United States are Reform Jews. The Zionists, however, became increasingly vocal about wanting their own homeland over the course of the 1800s, with various locations as possible 'homelands' including present-day Israel (their traditional homeland), Brazil, and Eastern Europe. After the Holocaust and the forced displacement of Jews by Hitler during World War II, the Allies agreed to give the Jews their own homeland... they settled on what is today Israel, thus founding the country.
So here's the current conflict..... the area where Israel was ad-hoc created was also the homeland of the Palestinians. Now, with the creation of Israel, the Palestinians didn't have a homeland... so now they are pissed and want their homeland back.... and long story short, the Jews and the Palestinians have been fighting with each other ever since 1948 when Israel was created. The Palestinians are Muslim (practicing the faith of Islam) and thus lay claim to many of the sacred sites that Jews hold dear also (i.e. The Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock). Currently, the Dome of the Rock/Temple Mount is owned by the Muslims in Jerusalem but the Jews want their most sacred Temple back, however the Muslims don't let them inside and only allow them to go as far as the Wailing Wall (outer wall of the Temple). It's a conflict over real estate ownership in a land that has switched hands countless times between various civilizations.
I probably left out a LOT of stuff in the story but I'm tired and it would get far more complicated if I explained every detail..... Wikipedia has good articles about the Jewish people, Palestinians, and the Israel-Palestine Conflict. Might want to look up Anti-Semitism too because it plays a large role in how the Jewish people migrated over the centuries.
According to strict Jewish law, you can only be truly Jewish (the people) if your mother is Jewish or part-Jewish; even if you're part-Jewish, there can be exceptions to whether a rabbi would actually consider you Jewish or not.
*sigh* okay I'm done talking for now but if you have other questions I can probably answer them... took multiple classes on the conflict and Jewish history, etc.
Hm; I usually hate when people do this, but I really don't care enough right now so I'll admit it:
tl:dr
I know the history behind Judaism (at least to the extent that a World Religions class can teach), and I've always been taught that there's no such thing as the "Jewish race," just the religion Judaism which is maternally inherited, so to speak.
I have jewish blood, as in the ethnicity, not the religion. My grandfather on my mom's side was jewish but converted when he married my grandmother. However, my grandmother was his third try on marriage, so my mom has 4 half brothers and sisters who are all fully jewish, both in ethnicity and religion, therefore I have about 1000 jewish relatives. So technically, I'm a quarter jewish, but since jewish ethnicity is matriarchal and my grandmother was not jewish, my mom is not jewish, and therefore neither am I.
I think the large posting above gives you enough context to get started; just wanted to add, though, that the debate of Judaism as religion or race is ongoing and unlikely to be resolved any time soon.
My mom's side of the family is Jewish, and I was raised for a time in the Jewish faith, but I consider myself Jewish in no way-- I subscribe to none of the precepts of the Jewish religion, and personally don't think of Judaism as a race.
I know little about being either jewish or muslim. I do have jewish friends, but they aren't strong about their religion. I did take a muslim studies class. It's very enlightening. I highly recommend it if you have the choice.
Qabbalah, an ancient sect of Judaism, is pretty baller..... magic stones, spells, demons on earth, red ribbons that protect you from the evil eye, etc.
.... but, as I feel with other ancient Western religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism), really don't have a place in a society based on rationality and the empirical/scientific method.... God couldn't have died because 'he' never existed, except in the rationale of our ancient ancestors trying to explain the world through mythology.
---> and, yes, the Jewish 'race' is still debatable... but it all comes down to 'when does a people become a separate race.' Orthodox Jews, and Jews in general up until the 1800s, maintained separate identities and strict marriage guidelines (a Jew can only marry another Jew) for centuries, since Judaism began (long before all other major Western religions, which build on the Torah and Talmudic texts). Orthodox Jews to this day are still a fairly homogeneous group as far as bloodlines are concerned.
NOTE: This message was edited by the author on Oct 27, 2008 at 6:24pm
Qabbalah, an ancient sect of Judaism, is pretty baller..... magic stones, spells, demons on earth, red ribbons that protect you from the evil eye, etc.
.... but, as I feel with other ancient Western religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism), really don't have a place in a society based on rationality and the empirical/scientific method.... God couldn't have died because 'he' never existed, except in the rationale of our ancient ancestors trying to explain the world through mythology.
---> and, yes, the Jewish 'race' is still debatable... but it all comes down to 'when does a people become a separate race.' Orthodox Jews, and Jews in general up until the 1800s, maintained separate identities and strict marriage guidelines (a Jew can only marry another Jew) for centuries, since Judaism began (long before all other major Western religions, which build on the Torah and Talmudic texts). Orthodox Jews to this day are still a fairly homogeneous group as far as bloodlines are concerned.
Qabbalah is very interesting, but from what both my orthodox and reform Jewish cousins tell me it's pretty much discarded as an extreme sect in most mainstream denominations of Judaism.
And I do think Judaism is a race. I believe the reason people disagree is the lack of a homeland until the last 60 years in modern history. Jews in ancient history were certainly regarded as a race, and one of the oldest in recorded history at that, and there are still Jewish people today who can trace their family history literally back to the biblical era of enslavement under the Romans. And today, if you ask someone living in Israel that is of jewish decent, they are going to tell that to them being a Jew and being an Israeli is virtually the same thing.
very good response... I've heard similar stories too (identification as a Jew and Israeli = same thing).
I've done some reading on Qabbalah and it is supposed to be more true to the Torah and Talmudic texts than Orthodox Judaism (or mainstream Judaism... but then again 'mainstream' is another word for 'watered-down')... The high priests and rabbis of Judaism up until around the time of Jesus would meet in Qabbalah sects. It was like the extra-special Judaism for the rabbis... the one rabbi who could enter the Holy of Holies, the most sacred spot in Judaism, and commune with 'God' was usually trained in the arts of Qabbalah (magic spells, etc.). I've always found it really interesting....
---> though it should be noted that the Qabbalah that Madonna and other celebrities practice is nowhere near the ancient Qabbalah practices (in fact, the celebrities spell Qabbalah as 'Kabbalah'.... I guess they don't dig the 'q' without the 'u' spelling)
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NOTE: This message was edited by the author on Oct 27, 2008 at 6:26pm