The Jewish people exist outside religious texts. We are an ethnoreligious group, meaning we have genetic ties to one another.

This is particularly true with Ashkenazi Jews, but is to a lesser extent true with Sephardic Jews as well.

Of course you can convert to Judaism and be part of the religion, but one is considered Jewish ethnically if one has Jewish ancestors, even if one is not at all religious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What history of the early Jewish people is there outside of the religious texts?

That was my question.... is there a historical/FACTUAL (as in, through archeology and documents transcript maybe) version to this? Of how the Jewish people came about?

I don't want to offend anyone but it seem inevitable - I don't believe there was a guy named Abraham who was sitting around looking at his sheets and soundly "God" came and told him to move to Cannan and that his children would be the chosen children, yah daddah...

I di

I didn't even posted here initially because I wanted to avoid exactly what is happening - the religious discussion of this topic. I just want to know if there is a historical version of how this came about.

Like, the Bible says that the world was created in 7 days and all that Adam and Eve story, but science and history has another version. I want to know if there is the same type of thing regrind he Jewish people.

Yes, as noted above See "The Bible Unearthed" and the 2002 NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/books/new-torah-...nds.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm about "New Torah For Modern Minds"

They are not directed to children, but they do address the historical information, vs the religious stories.

The NYT article can also be found, without a subscription needed, at https://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.htm and discussion of the archeology can be found in any conservative synagogue in the big ''Etz Hayim'' (''Tree of Life'') books that are in the pews. It's in The Biblical Archeology section, that starts on page 1343.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What history of the early Jewish people is there outside of the religious texts?

That was my question.... is there a historical/FACTUAL (as in, through archeology and documents transcript maybe) version to this? Of how the Jewish people came about?

I don't want to offend anyone but it seem inevitable - I don't believe there was a guy named Abraham who was sitting around looking at his sheets and soundly "God" came and told him to move to Cannan and that his children would be the chosen children, yah daddah...

I di

I didn't even posted here initially because I wanted to avoid exactly what is happening - the religious discussion of this topic. I just want to know if there is a historical version of how this came about.

Like, the Bible says that the world was created in 7 days and all that Adam and Eve story, but science and history has another version. I want to know if there is the same type of thing regrind he Jewish people.

Yes, as noted above See "The Bible Unearthed" and the 2002 NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/books/new-torah-...nds.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm about "New Torah For Modern Minds"

They are not directed to children, but they do address the historical information, vs the religious stories.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What history of the early Jewish people is there outside of the religious texts?

That was my question.... is there a historical/FACTUAL (as in, through archeology and documents transcript maybe) version to this? Of how the Jewish people came about?

I don't want to offend anyone but it seem inevitable - I don't believe there was a guy named Abraham who was sitting around looking at his sheets and soundly "God" came and told him to move to Cannan and that his children would be the chosen children, yah daddah...

I di

I didn't even posted here initially because I wanted to avoid exactly what is happening - the religious discussion of this topic. I just want to know if there is a historical version of how this came about.

Like, the Bible says that the world was created in 7 days and all that Adam and Eve story, but science and history has another version. I want to know if there is the same type of thing regrind he Jewish people.

The scriptures are the best history we have of the Jewish people. It's the most accurate version of the who and where and when everything happened. That said, there are clearly things that a non-religious person is going to take with a spoon of salt. Generally, it sounds like for your belief system you can just discount anything supernatural - a burning bush, a ghostly hand writing on the wall, God speaking to any number of prophets, etc. and stick to King whoever did whatever during his reign and was followed by his son who did something else and then they were conquered by invading army X.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What history of the early Jewish people is there outside of the religious texts?

That was my question.... is there a historical/FACTUAL (as in, through archeology and documents transcript maybe) version to this? Of how the Jewish people came about?

I don't want to offend anyone but it seem inevitable - I don't believe there was a guy named Abraham who was sitting around looking at his sheets and soundly "God" came and told him to move to Cannan and that his children would be the chosen children, yah daddah...

I di

I didn't even posted here initially because I wanted to avoid exactly what is happening - the religious discussion of this topic. I just want to know if there is a historical version of how this came about.

Like, the Bible says that the world was created in 7 days and all that Adam and Eve story, but science and history has another version. I want to know if there is the same type of thing regrind he Jewish people.

Anonymous wrote:What history of the early Jewish people is there outside of the religious texts?

That was my question.... is there a historical/FACTUAL (as in, through archeology and documents transcript maybe) version to this? Of how the Jewish people came about?

I don't want to offend anyone but it seem inevitable - I don't believe there was a guy named Abraham who was sitting around looking at his sheets and soundly "God" came and told him to move to Cannan and that his children would be the chosen children, yah daddah...

I di

Anonymous wrote:So you are wanting to separate Abraham’s trek to Canaan from his belief in God? I’m not sure I understand what the issue is.

I want to know if there is any actual factual/historical version to the foundation of the Jewish faith - preferably in a child friendly version.

I don't even know why this thread is under religion topic because it was the THING I wanted to avoid.

OP here btw.

Anonymous wrote:What history of the early Jewish people is there outside of the religious texts?

See "The Bible Unearthed", above

Also Check out the 2002 NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/books/new-torah-for-modern-minds.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm about "New Torah For Modern Minds"

So you are wanting to separate Abraham’s trek to Canaan from his belief in God? I’m not sure I understand what the issue is.

What history of the early Jewish people is there outside of the religious texts?

Anonymous wrote:an? And the founding of the Jewish religion/people?

I am asking because I bought Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer CDs (and book) for my 6y old to listen. It is a good cd (read by Jim Weiss) and I like to listen to it as well as I love history. However, everything was going well until we came to to point of describing the episode with Abraham being told by God to move to Cannan and being know as the children of God (or something along those lines), etc.

Every mention of religion and Gods up until this point was clearly as a legend/myth/believes. This thing about Judaism was said as a fact. Aside the obvious problem with this, how can I correct this to my child? Is there any child friendly historic version of why they left to Canann?

The lines are blurred in this book, and while entertaining, I can't in good faith just let it pass.

Maybe that's because the author considers everything up until the Bible as being legend/myth/beliefs and everything in the Bible and thereafter to be factual.

This may not be accurate, but it's a popular view: older religions are myth; ours is real.

The Bible Unearthed, by Jewish scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, provides an accurate account of the Old testament.

Here is the Amazon review: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BOR8S7A/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 The Bible Unearthed is a balanced, thoughtful, bold reconsideration of the historical period that produced the Hebrew Bible. The headline news in this book is easy to pick out: there is no evidence for the existence of Abraham, or any of the Patriarchs; ditto for Moses and the Exodus; and the same goes for the whole period of Judges and the united monarchy of David and Solomon. In fact, the authors argue that it is impossible to say much of anything about ancient Israel until the seventh century B.C., around the time of the reign of King Josiah. In that period, "the narrative of the Bible was uniquely suited to further the religious reform and territorial ambitions of Judah." Yet the authors deny that their arguments should be construed as compromising the Bible's power. Only in the 18th century--"when the Hebrew Bible began to be dissected and studied in isolation from its powerful function in community life"--did readers begin to view the Bible as a source of empirically verifiable history. For most of its life, the Bible has been what Finkelstein and Silberman reveal it once more to be: an eloquent expression of "the deeply rooted sense of shared origins, experiences, and destiny that every human community needs in order to survive," written in such a way as to encompass "the men, women, and children, the rich, the poor, and the destitute of an entire community." --Michael Joseph Gross --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

In ancient times every tribe had an ancestor and their own god. No big deal
The type of inbreeding that this required to keep up is not possible

You are taking it too seriously

The book is neither gospel nor well written. Nor do you need to contradict the Old Testament, which is reasonably accurate.

Find different history books, OP.

an? And the founding of the Jewish religion/people?

I am asking because I bought Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer CDs (and book) for my 6y old to listen. It is a good cd (read by Jim Weiss) and I like to listen to it as well as I love history. However, everything was going well until we came to to point of describing the episode with Abraham being told by God to move to Cannan and being know as the children of God (or something along those lines), etc.

Every mention of religion and Gods up until this point was clearly as a legend/myth/believes. This thing about Judaism was said as a fact. Aside the obvious problem with this, how can I correct this to my child? Is there any child friendly historic version of why they left to Canann?

The lines are blurred in this book, and while entertaining, I can't in good faith just let it pass.