Over the course of my life I have heard many definitions of what it means to be Jewish. There are those who say it is an ethnicity, others a culture, still others who contend that it can only be a religious philosophy. Frankly, I don't think that any of these designations are entirely accurate. By the same token, I think it's important that we do come to an understanding of just what Judaism or the Jewish life is. I would like to submit, however humbly and inadequately given the limits of this blog, that Judaism is best defined as a civilization.
The task of defining Judaism is so difficult thanks in large part to the evolution of the Jewish people through time. It began in the customs of the Hebrew people, a loose collection of nomads to whom there are only a scant few references in the art and literature of dominant societies at the dawn of recorded history. Through some means, the Hebrew people became the Israelites and briefly held a kingdom in the Levant, but that particular strip of land fell under the control of so many other forces even in its earliest days that it's impossible to say whether or not having actual borders was the source of the Jewish identity. That this identity has survived long after the original kingdom fell suggests otherwise.
In consideration of the above, many people have been satisfied to call Judaism a culture. After all, it is a string of language, customs and beliefs that are held in common between a distinct group of people. Still, there is a difference between distinct and discreet. However recognizable Jews have been in any given society, we have never been entirely apart from the cultures we inhabit. The Jews of medieval France differed greatly from the Jews of medieval Morocco. They were people of their cultures, just as Jews around the world today are people of their cultures. I, for instance, am American in my manner of dress, in my primary language, in the food I eat and the way I celebrate holidays both national and religious. I am certainly a Jew, but Judaism is not my culture.
This in mind, Judaism is also not just a religion. One does not have to practice Jewish rituals in order to live by many other Jewish customs. Indeed many people who self-identify as Jews and are recognized by others as being Jewish don't actually engage in Judaic ritual and philosophy. There are, strange as it sounds, atheist Jews. Even if the religion does not survive unto the next generation, certain elements of the lifestyle persist.
So, it is my contention that Judaism can only be accurately defined as a civilization and nothing more exact than that. In the same way we refer to "Western Civilization" as a vague but undeniably influential force in human society, likewise should we refer to Jewish Civilization. It is a thread that has run through much of recorded human history, the central driving force behind the dominance of monotheistic faith around the globe and a continued presence in an era when many cultural distinctions are breaking down. That Jewish Civilization hasn't ever been geographically restricted is in keeping with its origins in nomadism. It is not my intent here to make Judaism seem more important or grandiose, simply to adjust a number of ill-fitting definitions.