Judaism or Judaisms?
We have a literature the Hebrew Bible (Tanak), the Talmud, and other works that teaches about the linear evolution of Judaism from Abraham through the Kings and Prophets to the Rabbis. Even Christian teaching supports this picture, as the Christians argue that their religion is the replacement of this Judaism. As always, history is written by the victors. This story of Judaism is a myth created by the ancient Rabbis to justify their position and to hide the many alternative strains. Its first misrepresentation is the essential monotheism of the tradition. There is plenty of archaeological evidence and some textual evidence that the religion of biblical times was not truly monotheistic. But that s a subject for another time. The other historical misrepresentation is the essential unity of the tradition. In fact, When Alexander conquered Persia and came to the Middle East he found many Judaisms, competing both politically and philosophically, all trying to work out the implications of th
