The Bible and Jewish Identity
Author: Jacob Lumbroso

The Bible never approaches the subject of Jewish identity
quite as directly as the Mishnah and only addresses it
circuitously.  The patriarch of Abraham for example, the
founder of Biblical faith, does not appear until the end of
chapter eleven in the book of Genesis, yet others with a
relationship with God are mentioned before his appearance.

The first eleven chapters of Genesis view the people groups
introduced as aboriginal peoples defined by their location
in a specific land. Egyptians are those in lived in Egypt,
Chaldeans, those who lived in Babylon, etc.

Abraham breaks this model and journeys to a land where he
is not an aboriginal. Abraham and his descendants are the
first non-aboriginal peoples and are defined by different
set of criteria.

They are instead a people brought into being by the
establishment of a covenant. In the biblical definition,
the parameters of the covenant establish the definition of
who is a Jew; hence the definition is a theological one.
Jews are Bnai Brit, the sons of the covenant and are a
chosen group.

From a theological perspective, the concept of the "chosen
people of God" as the basis for Jewish identity is also an
extension of the idea of a covenant people and arguably
implies that this is the product of an exclusionary choice.

The exclusionary term used in the Bible is the word bachar.
Biblical scholars have review bachar as implying an
exclusive choice as in the case of marriage. Chosen means
exclusive "chosenness and holiness of a differentiating
sort. Deuteronomy 7:6 reads "You are a people holy to God."

In rabbinic literature, it is not a rational choice since
it is based on God's love and is not based on conditions or
on merit. Nothing Israel does can abrogate the covenant.
This view suggests that this relationship cannot legally
end in divorce. This idea is predicated on the idea that
Israel's entry into the covenant at Sinai was not voluntary.

Perhaps a better analogy is that God and Israel reflect the
relationship of a father and a firstborn son. Regardless of
behavior the love for the child remains. The purpose of the
people of Israel is the covenant/divine mission which helps
in the process of God's economy for the world.

In later Biblical passages, the descendants of Jacob are
known as the "Bnai Israel" (i.e. the children of Israel)
and so the Bible remains cognizant of both a theological as
well as "genetic" kinship between its members. They are
members of the group of Israel which indicates class
membership -a same class membership reflected in the
Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony of today.

The dual nature of Israelite identity reflected in the
Bible can also be found in the case of Jonah. Jonah is
asked who he is and responds that he is both a Hebrew and a
God fearing man. His definition is national and religious
in nature and not simply a halakhic one. Throughout history
these two ideas have existed - A national group with an
extended identity of a religious nature.

Shaye Cohen emphasizes the view that understands Jews
(Judaeans) of antiquity as an ethnos that is an ethnic
group. Jews were a specified group and were recognized as
directly or indirectly connected attached to a specific
territory. Jews shared a sense of both a communal and
unique history and   possessed one or more characteristics.

An ethnic community shares a sense of common origins,
claims a common and distinctive history, possesses one or
more distinctive characteristics, and feels a sense of
collective uniqueness and solidarity.


About the Author:

Jacob Lumbroso writes articles on history, foreign
cultures, and Judaism for http://www.judaicaquest.com/