This article talks about how there are two different types of Jewish people, a maximilist and a minimalist. The maximilist is centered around meeting all sorts of Jewish people and meeting all the Jews that are in the world. A minimalist is someone who is "narrow in there studies" according to Ben Greenberg. For me it's interesting to think about how there are different types of Judaism besides Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. This type of Judaism is split by how social you are compared to how religious you are. I think that the people who try to meet other Jews are going to be the ones who will be able to keep Judaism united. Of course studying is important but when your whole life is just studying there's only so much you can do to get to know other Jews except for the ones who are like you. The ones who meet other sects of Judaism are going to be able to understand how others think and will be able to make decisions that would benefit all parts of Judaism.
The scary aspect to me is the fact that these two types of Judaism could lead to a split of Jews. We've seen through the past that when were not united we get tossed around. As a united religion there's not a lot that can take us down but if we have a split it creates a weak point for Judaism. We can already see that split happening today in the world. Orthodox Jews and Secular Jews don't always tend to get along. They both have two valid arguments for why they believe what they believe but at the end of the day they need to realize that were all one Am and being united is crucial to our survival.
I totally agree with this, Jonah. I also thought it was interesting that Greenberg categorized Jews in a way other than the three main denominations, and he did it in a way that I had never thought about before. And just like you said, the possibility of a split Jewish people is incredibly scary. Especially with the hardships Jews are already facing worldwide, and all the challenges facing Israel, the Jewish people needs to stay unified. Throughout our history, we were most vulnerable and were defeated most when we were not unified. And we can't let that happen again.
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