Judaism, part 1

Intro: ideally, this should be a huge post like Mencius Moldbug likes to write, but I can’t write that much at once, so I’ll have to split this into several posts, if I don’t get bored with the topic first.

* * *

As readers of HBD blogs know, Jews have the highest IQ of any identifiable ethnic group. It’s usually estimated at 110-115, significantly higher than the white Gentile average of 100. Readers of this blog also know that intelligent people are less religious. American Jewish secularism is compounded by the fact that they live in a Gentile society. It’s hard to believe in something when the majority believes in something else. The end result is rather weird: Jews identify with a religion that most don’t truly believe in.

So what does Judaism stand for if not actually believing that the Torah is the word of God and that Jews must follow God’s laws?

Judaism, for some, fulfills the very strong need that humans have to belong to some sort of group. Jews can’t belong to Christian groups without believing in Christ, so for many Jews, belonging to a Synagogue fulfills the void in their life that they can’t fill by going to a Christian Church, even though they don’t actually believe in all that Torah nonsense.

In order for a religion to survive for thousands of years, it must possess some strategy for continuing its existence. Like most other religions, part of the strategy is encouraging its members to have lots of children, and to make sure the children are indoctrinated in the religious beliefs. An important part of the strategy has been to strongly encourage the children to marry other Jews—this is an important strategy for any minority religion, for without this survival strategy, the minority religion would be eaten up by the majority in a matter of a few generations.

Most religions keep up their numbers by attempting to convert the unbelievers. This strategy has not been pursued by Jews for hundreds of years, and it makes Judaism a rather unusual religion. If a gentile inquires about becoming Jewish, he or she will be discouraged rather than welcomed with open arms. In another quirk of Judaism, the children of a marriage between a Jewish man and a Gentile women are not considered Jewish unless they formally convert. Jews don’t understand why this attitude towards converts puts Gentiles off. From the Jewish perspective, they are doing Gentiles a favor by not trying to convert their children. But some Gentiles see the Jewish attitude towards conversion as some sort of conspiracy which involves keeping away outsiders.

The biggest threat to Judaism has always been that people will leave the religion because it sucks so bad. In order to be an observant Jew, you can’t eat any good food, you have to deal with eight days of Passover where hardly any normal food is allowed to be eaten, and then there is Yom Kippur when you have to starve yourself. You can’t do anything fun on Saturday, you have to deal with religious services which are hours upon hours of chanting in a language which no one understands, you have to spin a sad little plastic dreidle while the rest of the country is enjoying Christmas. And for all that you have to give up, Judaism doesn’t even offer you Heaven.

The traditional weapon against the temptations of not being Jewish has been guilt. In Jewish Atheist’s blog post, he explains how Jewish parents use guilt to ensure that their children marry within the religion and remain Jewish. When I was little and I asked my father why we couldn't eat bread during Passover (or why we had to comply with any of the other seemingly infinite number of Jewish laws), his response was “GUILT! It's GUILT!”

Comments

[KingM]

Secular Judaism will be dead within a couple of generations in this country. The only ones left will be the weird orthodox types. A shame, that.

In terms of long-term preservation, the modern world probably provides too little opposition, rather than too much.

[Common cents]

"Jews identify with a religion that most don’t truly believe in."

Judaism is an ethnic-religion, a system to ensure the genetic continuity of ethnic Jews. Jews are an 'ethnoreligious' group, with the ETHNO clearly predominating over the RELIGIOUS.

Far too many people, Americans especially, fail to understand this fact and view Jews as a religious group even though there are MANY 'Jewish atheists' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Jewish_atheists

[ironrailsironweights.wordpress.com]

"In another quirk of Judaism, the children of a marriage between a Jewish man and a Gentile women are not considered Jewish unless they formally convert."

If it's the mother who is Jewish, the children automatically are Jewish too. So this quirk is pretty much neutral as far as Judaism's survival in the face of intermarriage is concerned. A one-drop rule as is the case with black ancestry would be even more advantageous, but I don't know of any religion which goes that far.

Peter

[Shawn]

By not believing in Jesus one is taking a risk. Suppose someone believes that there is no afterlife and that there is only a big nothing. But let's say that this person also believes that there microminiature chance that there in fact is. If this person becomes a believer he or she will be saved and if there is a big nothing (which I disagree with) that individual is no worse off for his or her beliefs. So in a sense it can be thought of an insurance.

[Sid]

I don't much about Judaism, but I'm surprised that heaven is summarily disbelieved by Jews. I thought that the Pharisees affirmed heaven while the Sadducees didn't, and the Pharisees were the ones from whom the Rabbis derived their theology.

[Ice Hole]

Judaism, part 1 You left out (A Gentle Introduction)

"From the Jewish perspective, they are doing Gentiles a favor by not trying to convert their children. But some Gentiles see the Jewish attitude towards conversion as some sort of conspiracy which involves keeping away outsiders."

People can be funny that way. For years, Gentiles tried to do Jews a favor by "discouraging" them from joining Gentile country clubs, and look where that got them. Apparently, no good deed goes unpunished.

[Sid]

I don't really understand how a few Gentiles, never raised into Jewish customs, would convert to their religion. Since you're saved by grace in Christianity, especially in the Protestant denominations, it's much more convenient to become a Christian, because Paul declares in Romans that the Law was instituted just to prove to human beings that they fail by any standard, so all of the rigors of Judaism become meaningless tasks to Christians, who get off easy.

[Fred]

"I'm surprised that heaven is summarily disbelieved by Jews."

It's not, exactly. Judaism is just a lot more vague about the afterlife than Christianity is. In general, Judaism does suggest that good things happen to good people in the afterlife, and that their position in the afterlife can be improved by good works done on earth in their memories (hence, all the big Jewish donations in memory of deceased parents).

More generally, there is a lot within Jewish theology that makes sense, but it requires some interpretation and subtlety. Most Jews don't have the intellectual patience to get to that level though.

As with many religions, there's the child stage, where you accept the bible accounts literally, then there's the adolescent stage where your rationalism kicks in and you reject them, and the religion itself. Most people never get past this stage, but for those who do, there's an adult stage where you get a deeper understanding. That requires some effort, but it makes faith possible, even for smarties. And those who have faith live happier lives.

[Turambar]

I find this subject very interesting, so I'll provide a running commentary of issues that occur to me as the reader.

"The end result is rather weird: Jews identify with a religion that most don’t truly believe in."

Can this be said across all strains of Judiasm? The Orthodox and ultra-orthodox seem to believe, but have a weak philosophical footing (cf the Times just ran an article on buildings with elevators being rigged to run on the Sabbath). Could the philosophical basis for Conservatives be sound and it have true believers? The Reform I believe not to be sound and to have few true adherents, but I base most of my knowledge on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

"Like most other religions, part of the strategy is encouraging its members to have lots of children, and to make sure the children are indoctrinated in the religious beliefs."

Well thats every culture, so I think you are missing some components here.

"Jews don’t understand why this attitude towards converts puts Gentiles off."

Believe me, we never think about this. Everyone assumes that you can convert although it be an involved process.

"And for all that you have to give up, Judaism doesn’t even offer you Heaven. "

Ok, seriously this is the part I dont get. A religion lack explanatory power if it doesnt address man's mortality. You follow the Mosaic Law to be closer to God. But to what purpose? In Christianity the purpose is to be in communion with God for eternity, but what is the pay off in Judaism? And why dont Jews address this question?

"The traditional weapon against the temptations of not being Jewish has been guilt."

We all hear about this Jewish guilt but what is it? This is where we need the "5 Why Methodology " applied- guilt over what? Why should you be guilty over that? How does following dietary laws address guilt of that?

[Joshua Holmes]

The problem with Jewish cooking has nothing to do with Judaism. The problem is that American Jews are primarily descended from Eastern European and German Jews. They cook like the cultures they came from. Ever hear the raves about German and Slavic cooking? Me neither.

Adding pork and shellfish to Jewish cooking wouldn't make it good. Cooking beef, chicken, and fish well would.

[JonPTP]

I can't respond to everything, but I want to note two things. 1) Judaism most certainly DOES have heaven, referred to as the World to Come. 2) Traditional Judaism (Orthodox) is not only about rules and fasts. We have feast days (including in decorated outdoor huts), strong values and community, great old customs like Tefillin, a wide body of scholarship, and (mostly) great food. L'chaim!

[Cinco Jotas]

"By not believing in Jesus one is taking a risk. [...] So in a sense it can be thought of an insurance. "

See: Pascal, Blaise.

[egoboost]

"The traditional weapon against the temptations of not being Jewish has been guilt."

This explanation seems to lack explanatory power. Guilt is not a sufficiently powerful force to keep people from doing all kinds of bad things, like cheating on their wives.

A better reason is the ego-boost that comes from being part of an elite club. Being part of an elite group automatically increases the status and prestige of the member, even if the member himself has no special achievements or accomplishments.

[Common cents]

It is also worth mentioning here that the religion of Judaism (and thus Christianity and Islam) was mostly cobbled together from other religions, especially Zoroastrianism, Egyptian Sun religions, and some other Middle Eastern monotheistic Sun cults in areas of what is now Iraq and Kurdistan.

[Common cents]

Also, some Jewish texts of the Old Testament such as the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes, parts of Isaiah and other 'Prophets,' Proverbs, Psalms, and possibly some others were not even written by ancient Jews/Hebrews at all according to most evidence -- rather they were written by other peoples or religious groups and then later on adopted by Jews/Hebrews.

[Malamar]

Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews have great cuisine.

[J]

Judaism is the last pagan religion among the civilized peoples (okay, Hinduism may be another, but Hindus are mostly still barbarians). Paganism is about the exaltation of one's ancestors. The other paganisms have been devoured by universalist religions like Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam.

Jews are particularly susceptible to secular universalism, because everybody around them thinks that tribal morality is repugnant. In the past, Jews were better able to resist the universalist temptation by separating themselves from the universalists, just like the Orthodox Jews still do.

[HS: Judaism is about following God's commandments, not about exalting one's ancestors.]

[Sheila Tone]

I hope one of these posts explains why the men are so whiny and fussy. And overly attached to small housepets.

[HS: Probably because, in the past, Jewish women rewarded such men with more children.]

[Peter A]

"Ever hear the raves about German and Slavic cooking?"

All the time. Russian food, when done correctly, is fantastic. Same with Czech food. German cuisine may not be up there with French or Italian, but it's much better than English or Scandinavian. And Germany has some of the best bread in the world.

[JewishAtheist]

Guilt is somewhat useful for Judaism, but I believe it is insufficient. It may have kept me from marrying non-Jews, but there's no way my kids are going to feel too guilty too marry non-Jews, right? Guilt fades over the generations.

What's kept Jews Jewish historically is anti-semitism. In a country like America where anti-semitism is very low, the attrition rate is huge.

Of course high attrition doesn't mean the Jews will disappear, as the groups with the lowest attrition also have the highest birthrates. Also, those groups are pretty good at "converting" secular Jews. (They don't try to convert non-Jews, but they sure go after non-Orthodox Jews.)

[HS: I'm not so sure that Jews didn't lose people throughout the centuries to Christianity. It was pretty easy to lose your former life back before ID cards. A Jew could just wander over to the next town, tell everyone he's Christian, and enjoy good food and not have to deal with 8-hour prayer sessions.]

[coldequation]

" A one-drop rule as is the case with black ancestry would be even more advantageous, but I don't know of any religion which goes that far."

Parsis (Persian Zoroastrian diaspora) and Syrian Jews do that. It looks like the Parsis are going to die out in the next century because of intermarriage + their unwillingness to acccept the children of intermarriage.

[J]

"Ever hear the raves about German and Slavic cooking?"

Yes, I have. I disagreed, but I've certainly heard them.

[J]

"HS: Judaism is about following God's commandments, not about exalting one's ancestors."

The commandments in Judaism mostly make no sense except as a way to separate Jews from non-Jews. Judaism is about exalting the actions and thoughts of your ancestors.

[HS: God commanded the Jews to do X, Y, and Z. There's no other purpose. That's what the orthodox rabbis taught me about the religion. Paranoid Gentiles assume "chosen" means Jews were chosen for stuff like dominating the world banking system. But the Jewish interpretation is that Jews were chosen to follow the laws and that's it.]

[tommy]

"From the Jewish perspective, they are doing Gentiles a favor by not trying to convert their children. But some Gentiles see the Jewish attitude towards conversion as some sort of conspiracy which involves keeping away outsiders."

Some white nationalists may see the Jewish stance on conversion as a conspiracy to keep away outsiders. Some Jews may interpret this as Jews doing a favor to other religions. Some Orthodox Jews certainly seem to view it as a way to keep out non-Jews.

I don't see it as a favor to other religions or as a conspiracy, just as Jewish self-interest. Judaism used to be a more proselytizing religion than it is today. Early Christian nations imposed severe penalties on Jewish proselytism. Jews responded by making conversion difficult.

As a small minority, Jews didn't wanted to ruffle the feathers in the Christian or Islamic worlds. Angering followers of the big two religions might have resulted in any number of consequences ranging from soured business relationships to violent persecution. Avoiding proselytism made Judaism less offensive and helped Jews survive an often turbulent world.

Modern Jewish interpretations of the conversion stance are just post hoc justifications for a practice that has been codified into the religion and thus rendered sacred.

[tommy]

To the extent that Ashkenazic Jews have substantial European ancestry, I am curious as to when and where the majority of European DNA entered the Jewish gene pool. Was it during the late Roman period when there were many converts to Judaism? Was it during the early Middle Ages when the Ashkenazim clustered in the vicinity of northern France (and were, at that time, less distinct from their Christian neighbors than they would later become)? Was it later when the Ashkenazim were displaced eastward?

Most of the genetic studies I read a few years ago offered contradictory explanations as to the origins of the Ashkenazim. Some studies didn't even support the conventional wisdom that the Ashkenazim were descended entirely from Roman Jews. I can recall some studies finding evidence of input from Jews in the vicinity of the Byzantine Empire.

[tommy]

"All the time. Russian food, when done correctly, is fantastic. Same with Czech food. German cuisine may not be up there with French or Italian, but it's much better than English or Scandinavian. And Germany has some of the best bread in the world."

Some of the best home-cooked food I ever had the privilege of tasting was Ukrainian.

As far as Russian food is concerned, Catherine the Great imported French chefs to improve the local cuisine. I'm not sure how much of this ennobled Russian cuisine survived the post-revolutionary period. Communism was not kind to fine dining.

[tommy]

[HS: I'm not so sure that Jews didn't lose people throughout the centuries to Christianity. It was pretty easy to lose your former life back before ID cards. A Jew could just wander over to the next town, tell everyone he's Christian, and enjoy good food and not have to deal with 8-hour prayer sessions.]

Maybe this is true, but life in the Middle Ages was highly regimented and medieval custom survived longer in East Europe than in the West. Given limited communication, differences in dialect and accent from one village to the next were more extreme than they are today. (Jewish populations would have had their own linguistic differences that would have been hard to mask. People don't often realize it, but Yiddish and Ladino were hardly the only medieval Jewish languages. There were Jewish variants of French, Provencal, Italian, Greek, and even Czech, for example. Yiddish itself has dialects and some of these dialects are not easily intelligible with others.) It might been difficult to find employment if you didn't have family connections in a town. Due to significant inbreeding, people in some villages may have even had a distinct appearance. An outsider would also have been suspect if they didn't have much knowledge of local religious practice or local customs. Passing yourself off as a freeman from a nearby village may not have been as easy as you assume.

Perhaps a more likely scenario would have been public conversion. The state would have supported it, but there would have been strong family and community pressure brought to bear on converts. Making the break at a time when your livelihood depended upon your father, and when Jews were fairly prosperous compared to their non-noble contemporaries, could not have been easy. Fasting was probably a small sacrifice in the scheme of things.

[Shawn]

"What's kept Jews Jewish historically is anti-semitism. In a country like America where anti-semitism is very low, the attrition rate is huge."

I have always heard that the ultra Orthodox actually prefer a little bit of anti-Antisemitism. This makes sense since it promotes continuity.

[PA]

The oft-repeated (and probably correct) fact that average Jewish IQ is higher than average white Gentile IQ might be misleading. I think it's likely that white Gentiles' bell curve reaches to the far right comparably with the Jerwish bell curve.

What might account for the difference in averages is that Jews have a smaller proportion of below-100 IQ people than other whites do.

For what it's worth, I've met about 5-7 people in my life whom I found intellectually intimidating; and let's just say I don't move in Prolesville/Trailertown circles. None of those people were Jewish.

[HS: Einstein was Jewish. Your theory sounds motivated by a desire to make Jews seem less smart.]

[cratylus]

Speaking of attrition rate...

"While the world population increased from 50 million in the sixth century to 285 million in the 18th, the population of Jews remained almost fixed at just a little over a million. Why were the Jews not expanding when everyone else was? We don't know for sure, but a reasonable guess is that a lot of Jews were becoming Christians and Muslims."
http://www.slate.com/id/2084352/

I read in one population study of American Jews that there'd be 40 million now had none converted.

[PA]

-- "Einstein was Jewish"

Newton and Hawking are Gentile.

-- "Your theory sounds motivated by a desire to make Jews seem less smart"

No, it's motivated by an assumption among some that non-Jews lack jewish-caliber brains at the high end.

[ironrailsironweights.wordpress.com]

[HS: I'm not so sure that Jews didn't lose people throughout the centuries to Christianity. It was pretty easy to lose your former life back before ID cards. A Jew could just wander over to the next town, tell everyone he's Christian, and enjoy good food and not have to deal with 8-hour prayer sessions.]

So long as he, you know, kept his pants on.

Peter

[Lou]

Unitarians, Quakers, and Episcopalians often score above Jews in standardised tests. So it can't be claimed that they are the highest scoring religious group. Also, it's only Ashkenazim who have the higher IQ. Sephardic IQ is closer to Southern European IQ. Israel's IQ is only 95.

I would like to see the scores of other ethic/religious groups - Indian Brahmins, Zoroastrians etc.

[SFG]

"I hope one of these posts explains why the men are so whiny and fussy. And overly attached to small housepets."

My theory is that neuroticism is a survival trait when the world is actually dangerous. The ones who freaked out and left Germany when things started going bad survived...

[The Undiscovered Jew]

Since Sigma has been discussing religious groups and leftism, Razib has some good posts up about why white Catholics are liberal:

Catholics somewhat less conservative even if observant

http://secularright.org/wordpress/?p=3129

Catholic Republicans are more liberal than Protestant Republicans

http://secularright.org/wordpress/?p=3104

Why are Catholics Democrats?

http://secularright.org/wordpress/?p=3096

[Eleanor]

Judaism does not "suck." I am a Reform Jew, active in my synagogue, and there are many pleasurable feasts, holidays, and special events for children. I'm not sure about anything supernatural, but Judaism is a religion of deed, not creed; what's crucial is how you act toward others, not what you believe. And Judaism is reasonable. We are directed: "what is hateful to you, do not do to others." This is more reasonable than telling people to "love others as you love yourself."