By Leïla AMGHAR
/M2RS0506/

This is a course point on the first course we had in the history of Judaism with M. Chouraqui. M. Chouraqui started the course by pointing out the paradoxes in the perception of Judaism by the Jews themselves. In this course point, we will try to expound you these paradoxes, which enable us to better understand what Judaism is, beyond the clichés.
The first paradox is that in Judaism, contrary to Christianity and Islam, one can be a Jew and an atheist, even if it seems a bit complex to be a genuine atheist and also a Jew: M. Chouraqui quoted Elie Wiesel, the famous writer, who statd «A Jew can be pro-God or against God, but never without God». Anyway there is the possibility of being agnostic and a Jew as being a Jew means to be part of a people, the Jewish people, regardless of religion.
The second paradox is that, contrary to what one may imagine, the Jewish people is constituted by only 14 million people. The medias, and their preference for treating some events linked directly or indirectly to Jews, give the impression that Jewish people are far more numerous in the world.
The third paradox, linked to the previous one, is the fact that despite the Diaspora, despite their assimilation within new cultures, despite all the attempts to exclude or destroy them (Egyptian Empire, Roman Empire, Persian Empire, Spanish Empire, Nazi Germany), the Jewish people is at the same time one of the oldest peoples and one of the most modern on the political, scientific and technical levels. This is why, Jews see a sign in the durability of their people, which should have disappeared because of their dispersion and extermination. This continuity has raised a lot of questions concerning what is called the «Jewish Mystery».
The fourth paradox is that Judaism is the only monotheism that in all its liturgies includes references to its geographical cradle named «Sion», «Jerusalem». It testifies to the nostalgia and the messianistic hope of returning to the Promised Land.
The fifth paradox is that Jews are a unique people, a people chosen by God to fulfil his words. But at the same time, their message to the world is universalistic. Judaism is not a universal religion like Christianity or Islam, which have led conversion wars and policies of proselytism, but their message is valid for all human beings. Thus, Jews consider themselves to be the servants of all the nations but not through a judaisation of the world. For example, they consider to be a good believer who will be saved, not someone who has decided to practice Judaism and its 613 mitzvoth (laws), but everyone who fulfils the seven laws of Noah (interdiction of idolatry, blasphemy, murder, robbery, eating members of a live animal, incest, and respecting the obligation to have courts). That is why, it is very tough to be converted to Judaism, as Jews already have provisions for non-Jews and as being a Jew is being a member of a religious community, but also of a nation.