Why are most Jews not religious?

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This is a mystery? Are most descendants of baptized Catholics also practicing Catholics?

If ex-Catholics were a denomination in the US, it would be the 2nd-largest denomination, after Roman Catholics…and that’s just first-generation.
 
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I also think there are degrees of Jewishness or better phrased degrees of adherence to traditional Jewish belief. I read an article about the writer Cynthia Ozick once which made the distinction between two schools of religious orientation within Judaism, one associated with Russia (I think) which was more - I don’t want to say superstitious so let’s call it magical: it’s the world you enter when you pick up a book by Isaac Bashevis Singer and there are people and spirits inhabiting the shtetl, dybbuks, golems, spells, etc. The other school, associated with Lithuania, with which Ozick identifies, is more self-consciously rational and denies the existence of magic and magical beings. This school arose in response to, and was influenced by the Enlightenment. I suspect that for many Jews that eventually shed their religion entirely they or their ancestors first passed through this phase or Lithuanian school. Or perhaps the Lithuanian school was overrepresented in the Jewish emigrants who came to the U.S. and Canada. Just speculating here.
 
tomarin said:
I suspect that for many Jews that eventually shed their religion entirely they or their ancestors first passed through this phase or Lithuanian school. Or perhaps the Lithuanian school was overrepresented in the Jewish emigrants who came to the U.S. and Canada. Just speculating here.
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It’s a good speculation. Hasidic Judaism is very much still entrenched in superstitions though they, too have lost some of them…it’s a process. It’s been a process through most of Judaism. And it’s been generational, too. Each generation shedding just a few more rituals, a few more superstitions, a few more traditions.

When I was young, our synagogue was strictly Orthodox Judaism…men sat separately from women, everyone kept strict kosher, Mikva baths. Now, the men and women sit together. Kosher basically just means no pork or shellfish, yarmulkes are worn in services but not necessarily after. The only Jews that still are very strictly Jewish are self isolated groups. You just can’t live in two worlds at the same time.

The branches of Judaism are not divided on any beliefs other than believing how much of the law you practice…so there’s a progression of law obedience between Hasidic, orthodox, conservative, reformed…unlike Christianity where every division is about the beliefs, not the practice. I certainly don’t hate my Jewish past…many parts of it I absolutely loved. It’s not hard to obey the laws, especially if you’ve grown up with them and I could still walk into an orthodox service and feel at home…even if I’m a bit shocked by men and women sitting together! For me, it was just a wee bit too hypocritical to remain within the faith when I no longer believed in God. For many, they feel more at home with their homies, so they stay within, doing the Sabbath maybe or just the holidays. That’s not much different than ex Christians that still celebrate Christmas and Easter even though they no longer believe in the reasons for the holidays. It’s what you grew up with!
 
I think the Hasidic movement was also a response to the Enlightenment (but don’t know enough about it to say how, exactly). It’s been compared to evangelicalism in American Christianity.

Thinking about your posts about your personal experiences growing up Jewish and walking away, I wonder what does it mean to renounce the religious part of Judaism while all the time remaining Jewish? Wouldn’t it be easier to pay lip service to some of the traditions while privately questioning the religious tenets? I think the majority of my Jewish friends are fairly agnostic without explicitly stepping away from being Jewish.
 
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I have a colleague who happens to be a rabbi (one of the first women to be ordained a rabbi in the US) and she often talks about preparations for Jewish holy day observances and yet does not believe in an afterlife. It’s something that puzzles me, because it’s obvious that her Jewish identity is very important to her… but then I don’t know much about their beliefs. And although she is a rabbi, I can see she is not particularly religious (nor even spiritual, as most people claim to be “not religious, but spiritual”)
 
tomarin said:
Wouldn’t it be easier to pay lip service to some of the traditions while privately questioning the religious tenets?
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Because Jews don’t think that way. In Judaism, it’s ok to question God. Sure, they much prefer you DO believe in God, but if your doubting, questioning, it’s very Jewish to discuss it. While some families may feel shame that their son or daughter no longer believe, it’s still better to stay in the community…please don’t ask my why…there are hundreds of reasons why. The biggest is all that Jews have gone through and a feeling of staying united even if you doubt.

Here’s one to ponder…to become an atheist is preferred over converting to Christianity. Converting to Christianity is seen as a horrible betrayal. It’s more acceptable to become Buddhist or atheist than a Christian…and that is almost entirely because of prosecutions over the centuries. Jews tend to have very long memories :hugs:. Is it understandable? Probably. Is it right or fair today? No. But, it is what it is!
 
bluerose said:
Jewish holy day observances and yet does not believe in an afterlife.
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Many Jews don’t believe in an afterlife. Many do believe in The World to Come…where God finally fixes everything. Some believe in heaven. It’s the old story that Jews, like Jesuits, get three together and you’ve got six opinions. Heaven is a much later addition to Judaism most likely brought in from the exile In Babylon. The OT barely mentions it until the later writings. Jews are free to decide that for themselves…or accept the Rabbi’s opinion.

Better still, we don’t have Hell! :hugs:
 
The ancient Greeks also didn’t have much of a concept of the afterlife; they certainly didn’t think of it as a reward for good behavior in this life.
 
The late Leonard Cohen, as his name indicates, was proudly Jewish and also became a Buddhist priest or monk I think.
 
tomarin said:
and also became a Buddhist
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Many Jews seem to get into Buddhism. I’m not really sure why the attraction but I knew several that went that way! To be honest, I’ve never delved deeply into that faith and have a very simple knowledge of it but part of the attraction seems to be because it is Godless…at least the versions they go into…and that it is a philosophy more than a religion.

From the orthodox point of view, reformed Judaism is barely one step away from atheism. Reformed Judaism is all the holidays without the laws. There may be a few but most of the reformed I ever knew never kept kosher and only occasionally lit the sabbath candles. I’m sure there are exceptions…
 
Please do not generalise based on one poll, based on 2 countries.
 
St. Paul in his Epistles writes about how the Kingdom of God is open to Gentiles as well as Jews.
 
in respect to election, they are beloved because of the patriarchs. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11:28-29
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Yes, I know there’s a lot of Jews that aren’t particularly religious… or are completely atheist/ agnostic. But honestly, replace “Jewish” with “Catholic” for these particular examples; and many of us would know plenty of people who fit into these scenarios.
 
As a Jew who is not religious, I think I have a few possible reasons.

First you should realize that, to Jews, being non-religious does NOT mean being a non-believer. Yes, there are Jews who are agnostic or atheist, or only consider themselves cultural Jews, but the term “religious” denotes for most Jews being “orthodox” or at least “conservative.” Reform and Reconstructivist Jews, for the most part, do not consider themselves “religious,” although they do regard themselves as believers.

Now, some reasons why most Jews are “non-religious” include:
  1. Jews do NOT fear going to hell in the way some or many Catholics do. They are not raised with such fear or concern. Hell is rarely, if ever, mentioned in Jewish teaching. Neither is heaven for that matter. This life on earth is the main concern in Judaism.
  2. Jews ARE raised with a concern for their BEHAVIOR in the world toward other Jews as well as non-Jews. Being a good person, being kind, compassionate, generous, doing good deeds toward others is taught as highly important. I am NOT saying this is not taught in Catholicism as well (and in Christianity in general); it certainly is. But in Christianity, it seems to me, there is always the HIGHER, GREATER GOAL of achieving heaven and avoiding hell: the Beatific Presence. This is not really the ultimate goal in Judaism. The ultimate goal is leading a good life here on earth, even among Orthodox Jews. Although Orthodox Jews insist that doing good toward others is only half the equation; the other half is worshiping Gd by following His commandments as written in the Torah.
  3. Many Jews believe that being a “cafeteria Jew” is all right. Unlike Catholicism, Judaism is NOT an all-or-none religion. What I mean is that, for many or most Catholics, they believe that they are a lapsed Catholic if they do not follow the Church’s teaching in its entirety. This is not the case among most Jews. Non-religious Jews believe they are just as “good” as religious Jews, just as Jewish as religious Jews. Many believe that being religious does not make you more righteous. Your righteousness is revealed only by how you treat others in your day-to-day life, and NOT by how often you go to synagogue or pray. Again, this is based on the importance of BEHAVIOR in Judaism.
  4. The notion of sin and perfection is somewhat different in Judaism. It is difficult to explain but many Jews are taught that Gd does NOT expect us to be perfect. Our goal is not really perfection but rather IMPROVEMENT in our lives. We believe Gd understands our imperfections and does not expect human perfection. The idea of sin, of course, exists; but it is thought of more as “missing the mark,” or erring, with the opportunity to do better the next time. It is not simply praying for forgiveness, but repenting by turning away from bad behavior and improving. Judaism has several categories of sin, but no real mortal sin. You cannot die in mortal sin and, as a result, automatically go to hell. Your life is judged in its ENTIRETY rather than on what you may have become at the very end. And this judgment is based more on your behavior than on your holiness or religiosity.
 
Pattylt said:
Here’s one to ponder…to become an atheist is preferred over converting to Christianity. Converting to Christianity is seen as a horrible betrayal. It’s more acceptable to become Buddhist or atheist than a Christian…and that is almost entirely because of prosecutions over the centuries.
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Yes, this reminds me of when I watched an old debate on youtube, I think it was from the 90s. It was about the Jews for Jesus movement (basically Messianic Jews). On the panel, which obviously included Messianic Jews themselves too, was a rabbi who was very against this group and basically stated that these people cannot be Jews and believe in Christ. When asked if they could be Jewish and be atheists, he said yes, that was fine. His took such as issue with the Jews believing in Christ and still calling themselves Jews, that he, a rabbi (so I assume a believer) would prefer for them not to believe in anything. I actually found that quite shocking. It’s like he was suggesting that a central tenant, an essential characteristic if you will, to being Jewish, was disbelief in Christ.
 
I think that may be (and please correct me if I’m wrong, whoever may be reading this) because to Jews and Muslims as well the idea that God could have a son or assume human form is tantamount to blasphemy.
 
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tomarin said:
I think that may be (and please correct me if I’m wrong, whoever may be reading this) because to Jews and Muslims as well the idea that God could have a son or assume human form is tantamount to blasphemy.
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“Idolatry” is another way to look at it. I’ve heard a couple orthodox Rabbis call the Trinity “idolatry”. Basically it’s the idea that God is one person, not 3 persons. So even if Christ was the messiah, he’d only be a man, not God himself. So in essence, we’re often seen as worshiping a man…which, understandably could be seen as idolatry.
 
You could have just as easily substituted “Catholic” in your whole example for the word “Jewish” because those are the only types of Catholics a lot of people meet as well.

One meets a good many Jewish people in STEM industry and they ran the whole gamut from Messianic Jews for Jesus, to Reform Jewish who was into equal parts Kabbalah and Edgar Cayce, to conservative Jewish who wore their little head coverings to work every day.
 
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