From Sacrificial Cults to Modern Religion: The Evolution of Judaism

In ancient times, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah did not have religions in the modern sense but rather a sacrificial cult and offerings made to a deity in temples.

People believed that gods possessed human-like qualities, such as the requirement for a temple and offerings of food in the form of sacrifices. Yahweh, in particular, was thought to display a range of emotions and behaviors, like anger, benevolence, severity, indulgence, jealousy, compassion, and many others.

Priests oversaw rituals to appease deities and seek forgiveness for sins, ensuring community protection. On the other hand, prophets rejected this approach and condemned sacrifices, emphasizing justice and moral behavior. Today’s Religions developed after people stopped practicing sacrificial cults.

In Israel, sacrifices were abolished after the destruction of the temple by Titus following a rebellion against Rome. As there were no longer priests or temples, the new religion replaced sacrifices with prayers and gradually recognized the Torah as its holy book.

So, a cult is not a religion. Religion depends on a dogmatic canonical text if the cult is primarily based on a sacrificial temple rite. Under Persian and Hellenistic influence, Judeans gradually adopted the concept of the universal God. Still, the era of sacrifices ended after the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.

During the Hellenistic era, both the Judeans and followers of Jesus relied on biblical literature as a shared source while competing for the loyalty of the Hellenes to their respective communities. Unfortunately, after the Bar Kochba rebellion against Rome, the Judeans began separating themselves from their surroundings and establishing a Jewish diaspora.

In Rabbinic Judaism, the written Torah was considered less significant, and emphasis was placed on the oral Torah, the Talmud. The Talmud was developed based on the idea of exile. It contains the principles of Halakha that dictate the daily religious practices of the Jewish people. The sages of the Talmud recorded this oral Torah more than a thousand years after the discontinuation of sacrificial worship.

In principle, Judaism is defined as a religion but not based on principles of faith like Christianity and Islam. It is based instead on strict obedience to the mitzvot (precepts) prescribed in the Shulhan Aruch.

Currently, rabbinic Judaism, based on the oral Torah, dominates the Jewish world and Israel. This form of Judaism has limited connection to the collections of laws in the Bible. The rabbis assert that just like the written Law, the oral Torah was passed down to Moses by Yahweh on Mount Sinai and holds equal legitimacy as the written Torah.

Rabbinic Judaism distanced itself from biblical laws because they no longer corresponded to reality. Consequently, it can be said that historically, Judaism has been in a constant state of reform, even if it doesn’t happen officially. Halakha has undergone profound transformations to adapt to social upheavals.

The new precepts often emphasized the difference between Jews and their non-Jewish or secular surroundings. However, certain communities favored the principle that state law prevails over Halakha.

From Religious Leadership to Political Influence

Judaism is a faith that stems from Yahweh, and therefore, its laws, known as Halakha, cannot be altered or compromised. This means that all Jewish individuals must follow the mitzvot regardless of their personal beliefs.

Jewish people are those born to Jewish mothers, except converts. However, non-Jews are not required to follow the principles of Judaism, which can make it challenging for them to become a part of this faith.

At first glance, the idea that laypeople do not want to be burdened by excessive religious precepts may seem absurd to rabbinic Judaism. Despite attempts by intellectuals, such as Maimonides, to establish articles of faith in Judaism, they were all rejected. Judaism persists as a religion of absolute obedience to the 613 mitzvot.

Halakhic Judaism is currently facing one of the most critical crises it has ever experienced. Without our knowledge, significant disruptions are happening in the ultra-Orthodox religious community. These changes are happening so quickly that their leaders have lost control over their followers and are now struggling to restore order by implementing new halakhic regulations and extreme measures to manage the chaos.

Rabbis facing a theological crisis are shifting their focus from religion to politics, seeking support from the democratic and secular state. Ultra-Orthodox leaders are working hard to increase their political influence, further separating their communities from the rest of society. They also limit their followers’ access to scientific information, resulting in a lack of knowledge. With the backing of the democratic state, these rabbis have abandoned their religious duties to fight against secularism and those who follow it.

Halakhic Judaism has failed to produce leaders bold enough to condemn practices such as magic, tomb worship, amulets, witchcraft, excommunications, and oaths. None of them has dared to stand up against the rise of ‘rabbi-sorcerers’ who amass immense fortunes by exploiting the most vulnerable, nor against the increasing delinquency among rabbis.

Populist Rabbinism

Rabbinism has veered towards populism, reaching a point where its pinnacle consists of offering young secular individuals to wrap tefillin (phylacteries) on the street, displaying slogans like ‘I love you, Yahweh.’ Can we hope for the emergence of a rabbi who will bring Judaism back to the enlightenment of the Middle Ages? Will we have new thinkers like Maimonides, Ibn Gabirol, Abraham Ibn Ezra, or David Kimchi? Will there exist a new religious leader capable of breaking down the walls of Halakha and adapting it to reality?

If the moral decline of Judaism continues, the religion will collapse like a sandcastle. Look at how Communism unexpectedly fell in the past.

However, secular intellectuals have yet to succeed in proposing a radical ideological alternative to religious deviations. Attempts to bring together the religious and the secular are one-sided. The secular often feels an inferiority complex in the face of the ‘Jewish library,’ while the religious are unwilling to compromise.

Jewish Law seems increasingly resistant to compromise, reinforcing its positions instead. Strict dogmas govern the daily life of the religious, while the liberal individual strives to navigate a world where doubt, logical thinking, and ideological pluralism are the norms.

Jewish and democratic state: oxymoron

In Israeli society, people treat the religious with sensitivity, even if they are secular. However, some traditionalists view religious customs as meaningless traditions, rituals without significance, or pointless symbolism. People have inherent religious feelings and a desire for the supernatural, just like they have negative tendencies that society and culture try to control.

The secular public often justifies itself by claiming it is not anti-religious but merely opposes any form of religious constraint. The term ‘anti-religious’ is thus perceived as denying a person’s fundamental right to practice their religion. However, focusing the debate between religious and non-religious solely on the issue of constraint impedes the possibility of an objective critique of the intrinsic nature of religion, including a critique of Judaism as a religious phenomenon.

Currently, Israeli society is divided into several distinct and separate communities. Despite Israel’s sovereignty for over 70 years and more than 100 years of settling in the region, religious and secular individuals rarely interact socially. They do not share meals, marry, attend school, work, or reside together.

It’s worth remembering that the followers of Jesus parted ways with the Judeans because they couldn’t eat together at the same table. It’s hard to predict what will happen to the national religious, settlers, and ultra-Orthodox communities, but it’s unlikely that they will vanish. Instead, they will undergo significant internal transformations that may surprise us. They may eventually integrate into the wider society they are distancing themselves from.

Following the failure of the dogmatic ideologies of the 1970s, the global intelligentsia is in crisis and shows signs of vulnerability to religious extremism. Liberalism, humanism, and scientific progress have not overcome this crisis or established effective ideological defenses against racism and violence.

Should we wait for the religious world to collapse on its own, or is it better to thoroughly critique the nature of Judaism and religions in general? Many voices rightly argue that a Jewish state cannot be democratic by definition, and a democratic state cannot be sectarian. Furthermore, as paradoxical as it may seem, Judaism, based on the concept of exile, cannot endure in a sovereign state, while a sovereign state cannot be considered Jewish. The Israeli ideology, which has renounced exile, has turned the phrase “Jewish and democratic state” into an oxymoron.

The author, Yigal Bin-Nun published two books. The bestseller “A Brief History of Yahweh.” His new book, “When We Became Jews,” shatters some basic facts on which Judaism rests.