Early criticism of Judaism and its texts, laws, and practices have been recorded since the Hellenistic era, such as by Hecataeus of Abdera. Criticism persisted into the Roman era from both pagans (notably by Apion and Tacitus) and by members of the emerging faith of Christianity. Important disputations in the Middle Ages gave rise to widely publicized criticisms. Modern criticisms also reflect the inter-branch Jewish schisms between Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism.
Various elements of the religion have been criticized, from Judaism's understanding and description of the nature of God, to the status of the Jews as a "chosen people", to the moral precepts of core religious texts, to critiques of specific Jewish practices such as Kashrut or circumcision. Polemics against Judaism are a significant component of Paul the Apostle's early Christian writings, and are also a part of the Islamic theological tradition.
Doctrines and precepts
Personal God
Baruch Spinoza, Mordecai Kaplan,Kertzer, Morris N. (1999) "What is a Jew?" in Introduction to Judaism: A Source Book (Stephen J. Einstein, Lydia Kukoff, Eds.), Union for Reform Judaism, 1999, p. 243 and prominent atheists have criticized Judaism because its theology and religious texts describe a personal God who has conversations with important figures (Moses, Abraham, etc.) and forms relationships and covenants with the Hebrew people. Spinoza and Kaplan instead believed God is abstract, impersonal, a force of nature, or composes the universe itself. Theologian and philosopher Franz Rosenzweig suggested that the two viewpoints are both valid and are complementary within Judaism.
Chosen people
Most branches of Judaism consider Jews to be the "chosen people," in the sense that they have a special role to "preserve God's revelations" or to "affirm our common humanity." This attitude is reflected, for example, in the policy statement of Reform Judaism, which holds that Jews have a responsibility to "cooperate with all men in the establishment of the kingdom of God, of universal brotherhood, justice, truth, and peace on earth." Some secular and critics affiliated with other religions claim the concept implies favoritism or racial superiority, as have some Jewish critics, such as Baruch Spinoza.*Eliezer Schwied (2007) "Does the Idea of Jewish Election Have Any Meaning after the Holocaust?". In Wrestling with God: Jewish theological responses during and after the Holocaust, Steven T. Katz, Shlomo Biderman (Eds.); Oxford University Press, p. 233. ISBN 978-0195300147 Some Jews find the concept of "chosenness" problematic or outdated, and such concerns led to the formation of Reconstructionist Judaism, whose founder, Mordecai Kaplan, rejected the concept of the Jews as the chosen people and decried it as being ethnocentric.Writers such as Israel Shahak have noted that for all the claims that any criticism of Judaism is "antisemitic", Judaism's own texts have portions which treat non-Jews differently.
Criticism of religious texts
Scholars have questioned the authorship and legitimacy of the Bible as a historical text. By the 20th century, the academic consensus held that the vast majority of the Bible's authors are unknown, and that most of the claims of attribution to authors preserved in the Jewish and Christian traditions do not stand up to scrutiny.
Philosophers have also criticized the ethics espoused by the Hebrew Bible and their role in Judaism and other religions. Episodes such as the conflict between the Israelites and Amalek and other stories of intercommunal violence have been criticized as encouraging or condoning genocide.
Assessing both Jewish and Christian texts, Elizabeth Anderson states that "the Bible contains both good and evil teachings", and it is "morally inconsistent". She criticizes the Bible's apparent license of violent punishment, genocide, slavery, homophobia, sexual violence, polygamy, and child sacrifice. She also criticizes the moral character of God as described in the text, noting that he "Routinely punishes people for the sins of others" to extreme extents.
Status as religion Immanuel Kant believed that Judaism fails to "satisfy the essential criteria of [a] religion" by requiring external obedience to moral laws, having a secular focus, and lacking concern for immortality.
Religious criticism
Inter-branch criticisms
Criticism of Conservative Judaism from other branches
Conservative Judaism is criticized by some leaders of Orthodox Judaism for not properly following Halakha (Jewish religious law).Avi Shafran, "The Conservative Lie", Moment, February 2001. It is also criticized by some leaders of Reform Judaism for being at odds with the principles of its young adult members on issues such as intermarriage, patrilineal descent, and the ordination of homosexuals—all issues that Conservative Judaism opposes and Reform Judaism supports.Joe Berkofsky, "Death of Conservative Judaism? Reform leader’s swipe sparks angry rebuttals" , J. The Jewish News of Northern California, March 5, 2004. (The Conservative movement has since moved in the direction of allowing for gay rabbis and the "celebration of same-sex commitment ceremonies".)Laurie Goodstein, Conservative Jews Allow Gay Rabbis and Unions , The New York Times, 2006.
Criticism of traditional Judaism by reform movement
The reform movement grew out of dissatisfaction with several aspects of traditional Judaism or Rabbinic Judaism, as documented in polemics and other 19th- and early-20th-century writings.Shmueli, Efraim (1990) Seven Jewish cultures: a reinterpretation of Jewish history and thought Cambridge University Press, p. 123, 167-168, 172-174, 177, 261. Louis Jacobs, a prominent Masorti Rabbi, described the polemics between the Orthodox and the Reform movements as follows: David Einhorn, an American Reform rabbi, calls Reform Judaism a "liberation" of Judaism :
The criticisms of traditional Judaism included criticisms asserting that the Torah's laws are not strictly binding;"Abraham Geiger ... stressed the belief in progress: the Bible and Talmud represent an early, primitive stage in a revelation that is still continuing. Many traditional ceremonies (such as circumcision) are distressing to modern sensibility or incompatible with modern life... Geiger become increasingly convinced of the need to 'dethrone the Talmud'... " - De Lange, Nicholas (2000), An introduction to Judaism, Cambridge University Press, p. 73 "According to [Mordecai] Kaplan, the Jewish heritage, including the belief in God, must be reinterpreted so that it will be consistent with the intellectual outlook of the twentieth century. The Torah, which is Jewish civilization in practice, must be given a new functional interpretation." - Scult, Mel (1993) Judaism faces the twentieth century: a biography of Mordecai M. Kaplan, Wayne State University Press, p. 341. "Israel drew within herself, shunned the world, and lived apart. In her seclusion, her religion became her all. The interpretation of the Law and the construction put upon the commandments tended toward the upholding of the letter rather than the spirit. ... Reform was born to protect the spirit of the Law, to place the spirit above the letter, to make the latter subservient to the former.... The abolition of those forms and ceremonies that were not conducive to proper living, or that had, by reason of altered environment, become meaningless, was of the highest importance to the spiritual welfare of Israel." - Stern, Myer (1895), The rise and progress of reform Judaism: , Harvard University, p. 5. criticisms asserting that many ceremonies and rituals are not necessary;"Reform Judaism rejected the concept of Divine revelation, and ... the law is considered instructional and inspirational, but not binding, ... and by eliminating many ritual practices..." - Dosick, Wayne D. (1995), Living Judaism: the complete guide to Jewish belief, tradition, and practice, HarperCollins, p. 62. "Reform Judaism first took hold in Germany in the early nineteenth century. This tradition asserts that many of the ritualistic practices and dogmas of the past are outmoded..... Reform Jews assumed a prerogative to choose which Biblical laws were worthy of their allegiance, and which were not.... Orthodox Jews adhere to a literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible and continue to observe all the traditional Jewish laws... Conservative Jews ... were ... less likely than the Orthodox to accept the infallibility of sacred texts asserting that 'the divine origin of Jewish law ... [was subject] to human development and application'". - Berger, Ronald J. (2002), Fathoming the Holocaust: a social problems approach, Aldine Transaction, p. 179-180. "We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation." - Pittsburgh Platform, section 4. "...in the view of rabbinical Judaism every command of the written law in the Pentateuch (Torah sh'bikthab), and of the oral law (Torah sh'b'al peh), as codified in the Shulchan Aruk, is equally binding. The ceremonial law has equal potency with the religious and moral commands. Reform Judaism, on the other hand, claims that a distinction must be made between the universal precepts of religion and morality and the enactments arising from the circumstances and conditions of special times and places. Customs and ceremonies must change with the varying needs of different generations. Successive ages have their individual requirements for the satisfaction of the religious nature. No ceremonial law can be eternally binding. " - Philipson, David (1907) The Reform Movement in Judaism, Macmillan (reprinted by University of California, 2007), p. 5-6. criticisms asserting that Rabbinical leadership is too authoritarian;".. the immense authoritarian power of the orthodox Rabbis and Hasidic Zadikkim in the traditionalist communities ... As a result, there was open conflict between the rebellious youth .. and the religious establishment.... This was the context in which a virulent 'anti-clericalism' developed among progressive Jewish intellectuals, leaving countless evidence in the shape of polemical articles, autobiographical works, and imaginative literature." - Lowy, Michael (1992), Redemption and utopia: Jewish libertarian thought in Central Europe : a study in elective affinity, Stanford University Press, p. 45. "[Reform Judaism was] founded as a response by Jewish laity to the perceived authoritarian rigidity of traditional or Orthodox Judaism and its rabbis." - Palmer-Fernández, Gabriel (2004), The encyclopedia of religion and war, Routledge, p. 253. "Mosaism and rabbinic Judaism were appropriate for earlier ages, [Kohler] argued. But the age of man's maturity called for freedom from the letter, from blind authority, 'from all restriction which curb the minds and encroach upon the hearts'. The contemporary Jew had 'outgrown the guiding strings ... of infancy'; he was ready to walk on his own. What he required was not law, but a 'living Judaism', both enlightened and pious, appealing to reason and emotion." - Meyer, Michael A. (1995) Response to modernity: a history of the Reform Movement in Judaism, Wayne State University Press, p. 267.