Is Judaism Best Described as a Religion, a Culture, a Race or something else?
Within academia the debate regarding the definition of the word ‘Judaism’ as a political identity or as a religious community has been on-going, thus it is imperative that a number of definitions should be established, and kept in mind when considering this paper. To begin with the term ‘Israel’ has a number of meanings as it encompasses an individual, an ancient Biblical tribal people, a geographical region and national identity, a culture, and a social group based on religious affiliation. The earliest documented mention of the Israelite people is on a stela erected by the Pharoah Merneptah (1213-1203BCE) in which …