God proposed, “I will take care of your offspring if they worship me.” Abraham agreed, Judaism was born and forever mired in two most violent human subjects: race and religion.
History complicated Judaism almost from the beginning. Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, lost 10 sons after King Solomon died. Anyone can be a descendant from one of them. The historical definition of “offspring” follows the maternal line: if one’s mother is a Jew, one is a Jew. But what qualifies one’s Mother Jew? Did she really worship God?
The strictest definition of “worship” follows the Torah: the sacred scripture that governs, in great detail, a Jew’s daily life. The more relaxed definition requires only observance of common Jewish traditions, such as circumcision, Seder, or Bar Mitzvah. The disagreement between these two ends is beyond huge.
Racial issues frequently begin with delineating “us” and “them,” and quickly followed by how they have wronged us. I have long suspected righteousness is really rooted on politics, money, or power. Why does it matter that they cannot be us? Would God give his blessings based on human’s own classification? Would the judgment at the Pearly Gate based on earthly affiliations? Clearly, all these efforts to delineate serve only that.