Mastodawn

This video is probably the best summarization of the various Jewish denominations/branches, the history of Judaism, including the various geographic changes that lead to changes, belief structures, understanding of Judaism as different from Christianity, differences on observance, and more.

It's such a great explainer video, I highly recommend it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsBgluFGz7Y

#Judaism #ReformJudaism #ConservativeJews #OrthodoxJuaism #OrthodoxJews #Masorti #Ashkenazi #Sephardi #Mizrahi #Mazeldon #Jewdiverse #reconstructionistjudaism`

Jewish Denominations Explained

YouTube

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Serge from Babka Jan 30, 2024

The one area where I disagree with him is on Zionism being a political movement.

For me, Zionism is a religious viewpoint. At least it is for me, and there's intersectionality between religion and politics, as there are with most political things.

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TerryB Jan 30, 2024

@serge Whereas for me it'd be a cultural thing. Which encompasses both the religious and political, too.

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Kris LK Jan 30, 2024

@serge Thank you for sharing this, Serge. It is surprising how often classes at my Lutheran congregation delve into certain aspects of what this video covers. I've done my best to bring clarity to the conversation, and we've had Reform and Conservative rabbis also lead classes to do the same.

That said, this video is the best source I've encountered that succinctly covers the continual evolution of Judaism. Best yet, it's length is short enough that a group can watch it in one sitting and then have a conversation about it.

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Serge from Babka Jan 30, 2024

@krislk

I'm still watching the one @emilyk recommended, so stay tuned.

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Kris LK Jan 30, 2024

@serge I only saw @emilyk 's reply after I shared my above post. I may not get around to watching that video today, but hopefully soon.

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Serge from Babka Jan 30, 2024

@krislk @emilyk

Okay, finished the second video. It's fine, and good, and covers mostly the same topics- albeit in a slightly different way- perhaps a bit more liberal and queer oriented, unless I missed something big. In my opinion they cover much the same material in much the same way, with different emphasis.

They're both very dense, and I didn't study them in a lot of depth.

The irony of there being a schism in the video essays discussing Jewish schisms is not lost on me.

Do we need a Shulchan Aruch of these two videos?

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Serge from Babka Jan 30, 2024

@krislk @emilyk

On thinking about it more, I like the emphasis on Judaism's differences and evolutions, including orthodoxy as a newer concept.

I just think both videos do a poor job at explaining Modern Orthodox vs Convervative vs Reconstructionist vs Reform, and not just vs, but how similar these streams can be in practice.

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Kris LK Jan 30, 2024

@serge @emilyk I just finished watching the second video as well. In terms of presentation, the first one was slightly easier to follow (because of the highlights, moving lines, and whatnot), though the second video is still better than most historical YouTube presentations.

I'm no authority on the topics of either video. I appreciated (and gained more from) the second video's time spent on 2nd Temple Judaism and the time around the Enlightenment. I had never heard of Elephantine Jews previously. Also, though I knew of the Karaite Jews, I had assumed their origins were earlier, somehow tied to the Assyian or Babylonian exiles.

I agree with your final paragraph, Serge, that fleshing out the similarities and differences of the current, main streams of Judaism (at least in America) would be nice.

In the end, both videos are worthwhile for my community to view, and we may figure out an appropriate time to do so. Thanks to you for sharing these!

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