A READING OF JUDAISM THROUGH POST-STRUCTURALIST LENSES

Abstract

There are various, sometimes contradictory, perceptions about definitions or boundaries of Jewishness. For some, Judaism is a nationality or a cultural identity while for others it represents a religious tradition. There is also a common assumption that Judaism was born as a religion, then, gradually grew into a broad formation including culture and nationality. This article is an inquiry into the ways in which we can understand constructions of Jewish traditions and multiple versions of Judaism. I argue that religious texts, practices, law, and thought of Judaism have been produced through and in relation to various structures of power, whether these structures are institutional, cultural, material or discursive. In order to illuminate the inter-articulation of Judaism and forms of power in particular contexts, I employ a Foucauldian conceptualization of power. This post-structural conceptualization of power enables us to illustrate the ways in which practices, thoughts, and perception within religious traditions are constituted in relation to dominant structures within a particular time and place. Based on this post-structuralist thinking, I examine two concepts in two different periods of Jewish history, gender in Roman Period Judaism and Zionism in Europe. Through examinations of these concepts in different time and places, I articulate the ways in which Judaism or Jewishness have been formed in relation to hybrid social constructions during its encounter with various civilizations, cultures, and authorities. Therefore, I argue that a study of Judaism must be attentive to forms of constitutive and regulative forces in a particular era.