When did Judaism Really Begin? - Q&A Session with Professor Yonatan Adler

Following the interview - "When did the Judaism really begin?" with Professor Adler, we received many comments and questions. We thought it would be best to bring the questions and ask Prof. Adler for answers directly.

===
Link to the original episode:
When did Judaism really begin?
===
"When did Judaism begin?" is not a naive question. Every answer to this question would require presenting an acceptable definition of Judaism. Not an easy task. There are many definitions. Most (or all) of them are the subjects of fierce and never ending debates.
Prof Yonatan Adler of the Ariel University, face this challenge in his new book, The Origins of Judaism, which has already attracted much attention. In his study, he deals bravely with the definition of Judaism and then determines the time and place of its emergence.
On this talk with Alex, Prof Adler presents the methodology of his study, explains his analysis and shares his surprising conclusion: Judaism was probably widely adopted in the times of the Hasmonean dynasty throughout the second century BCE.
Now, is this early or late?

Yonatan Adler is associate professor in the department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Ariel University in Israel. He is a member of the State of Israel's Council for Archaeology since 2018.
====
A link to purchase Prof. Adler’s new book The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal
(affiliated):
Kindle
Hardcover

====
#history
#ancient
#archeology
#bible
#religion
#lecture
#jewish
#jewishpeople
#judaism
#historyfacts
#lecture
#interview
#earlyjudaism

[stevenv]

A lot of Adler's available lectures on yt are repetitive or introductory, so I was glad to find this video that is so open and informative.

[barblc]

Thanks for both these conversations with Professor Adler. I look forward to his next book as the current book does raise the question: how did this form of Judaism emerge/transition from the post-exilic ancient Israelite (ancient Judean) religion? Were those Hasidim he mentioned proto-rabbinic?

[kjerwe]

I am surprised that Ezra’s reading of the Torah to the people (Nehemiah 8) is not given more space. I would assume that that was an important event in the path to general observation, even though some of the customs (e.g. mikveh bath) were introduced later.

[eswn]

The title should be: "When did widespread Judaic Observance Begin?"

[Achill]

Thank you very much for making this Q&A video that I found very interesting.
. . . My question wasn't taken up but a very similar one, about Samaritans adopting the Torah but in their slightly different form. That Torah was enforced on the Samaritans by the Hasmoneans is, ofc, a possibility. But it strikes me as strange the Samaritans would adopt the religious text by a conqueror who destroyed their temple. More likely seems to me an early cooperation with Jerusalem against Antiochus, using the Torah already in different form, but a later fallout with John Hyrcanus over something.
. . . @3:33 books of Macabees says Antiochus IV forbidding circumcision, sabbath, kosher food caused revolt, but actual causes might have been different - do we know more about Antiochus and what he did to other tempels in his kingdom? To Mt. Gerizim temple? Did he rob them of their money, or did he interfere in their cult?
IIRC Egyptians practiced circumcision widely, too, and while they were outside of Antiochus' reach the Greeks must have known about it and probably ridiculed but tolerated it.

[ronin-ThorstenFrank]

Again, thank you for this post.
The whole discussion about the emergence of the Abramistic religions makes much more sense from an historical point of view.
It´s not only about Judaism but much more for it´s younger siblings.
Especially the adoption of Judaism in other regions (Yemen and probably the Khazars) and the rise of the early Islam makes sense from this point of view.

[gcolwill]

I'm looking forward to the next book mentioned here: 38:11

[jeffmacdonald]

As far as the discussion about pigs and goats go, it's one thing if people over a large region don't commonly eat one or the other, but if one relatively small region doesn't show signs of consuming pork (or goat meat), while their neighbors do, that's more of a sign that they're deliberately avoiding it for one reason or another.
Whether or not the full Torah prohibition on pork existed at an early date, it's meaningful if a cultural practice of not eating pork existed in ancient Isreal and Judah that was distinct from other cultures around them.

And I believe there's at least some evidence of that, dating back to the earliest days.

[samb]

Are the oldest synagogue-houses found in Alexandria older than the oldest synagogue-houses in Judea?

[AmericanShia]

I watched the original video two days ago. Since I discovered this YouTube channel only recently, I haven't left any comments until now.

Thanks you for following up with this Q & A session. All the questions raised by the first video in my mind were answers in this video.

[brentnagtegaal]

Great interview. One archaeological discovery that pushes back at the observance of the Sabbath commandment before the Hasmonean period would be the Mesad Hashavyahu Ostracon, probably from the reign of Josiah (late 7th century BCE.). This discovery itself would not negate his thesis that mainstream Judasiam did not exist en masse till the later era, but it does show that some, even a farmer on the outskirts of Josiah's kingdom, was observing the Sabbath almost 500 years earlier.

[bell]

25:48 What scietific principle lies in anihilating texts without the lightest proof of an falsificative assumption or an alternative ?

[lsmart]

The learned professor's statement at 31:30 that based on the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish masses did not observe the laws of the Torah for a thousand years after Sinai, is contradicted at the end of Joshua. Shortly before his death, "Joshua said to all the people, 'Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us; it shall be a witness against you, lest you deny your God.' " It goes on to state right after his death and burial: "And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and who had known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel." If Joshua made a monument attesting that they they will uphold "all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us, " and the Bible then says that they indeed served the Lord throughout his rule and the period thereafter, it clearly means they obeyed the laws of the Torah. There are other references re. King David's reign and other periods as well, but certainly the period of Joshua alone is an extended period.

In addition, your title is highly misleading. Regardless of how the professor defines Judaism, the title as stated would widely be understood to mean the beginning of the Jewish faith. Adding the word "Observant" before "Judaism" would make it far more accurate.

[larrylangman]

The question then is "Then came there unto him a company of Assideans who were mighty men of Israel, even all such as were voluntarily devoted unto the law.' (Macc 1 were they and what was the

[ADEpoch]

That last question from the people I think can best be answered with another question, "Are objective truths important, or just personal truths?". To those who say it is then this type of research is important. To those that say it isn't then they can't see the value behind it.

[haroldnicol]

During the Temple period of Jewish worship, was there any archeological evidence of a priestess class involved in Jewish worship?

[davidmassey]

I have a question: when can we expect the price of your book to come down 😩

[paulgeorge]

The trend for the founders of religions to backdate their myths of origins seems to be universal. (See Islam and Mormonism and now Judaism) Is there any reason why Christianity should be treated any differently? When we consider Christianity we should find the same principle at work. Hence we are forced to conclude that the writers of the gospels most probably imagined that the religion was founded years before it actually was...

[johnbecay]

love the content but the interviewer's volume is too low.

[KEDEMChannel]

Link to the original episode:
When did Judaism really begin?