Episode #5: Why is Judaism called “Judaism”? (Is it an Ethnicity? A Nationality?)
When a student asked about the nature of Judaism - about why it’s called Judaism - the stakes, for her, had suddenly grown very high. The Washington Post had recently published an article with the provocative headline: “Is Judaism an ethnicity? A race? A nationality? Trump signs an order and provokes an identity crisis,” and people began asking: “if other people who aren’t even Jewish are going to tell us about the very nature of Judaism, we should probably know ourselves.”
To answer the questions: “"Is Judaism an ethnicity?” and “Is Judaism a nationality” we uncover the roots of why Judaism is called that, and what it means for our understanding of the very nature of Jewishness.
We also learn about what Life of Pi can teach us about how to think about truth, history, and facts, and why memory is what makes Jewish stories good.
In This Episode…
[00:00 - Prologue - Life of Pi]
[03:35 - Why is Judaism Called Judaism?]
[04:33 - News Reports on Attacks on Jews]
[04:58 - The US President’s Executive Order Prompts an Identity Crisis]
[07:00 - Opening Credits]
[07:29 - Jewish Identity Crises in America vs. Canada]
[08:45 - Why is Judaism Called Judaism? The Technical Answer]
[09:35 - Introducing Joseph’s lesser-famous brother, Yehudah]
[11:02 - Complicating the Easy Answer]
[11:50 - Is the Bible True?]
[12:37 - Judaism Understands History and Truth Differently]
[14:31 - Is Judaism an Ethnicity? The Technical Answer]
[17:08 - Is Judaism an Ethnicity? The Better Story]
[18:22 - Is Judaism a Nationality? The Technical Answer]
[22:45 - Is Judaism a Nationality? The Better Story]
[24:04 - Judaism: Not an ism like other isms]
[24:37 - Ethnicity & Nationality are not Neutral Terms]
[26:44 -Three Things to Remember]
[27:55 - Jews Have Been Worrying About This for Quite Some Time]
[30:24 - “Yes” to Both Questions, but Sticking with the Better Stories]
[31:05 - Yehudah’s Legacy]
[31:51 - I am not a Noun in Search of an Adjective]
[33:52 - The Fish Who Don’t Know What Water Is]
[34:48 - What the Hell is Judaism?]
[36:33 - Closing Credits]