Cultural Judaism

Cultural Judaism encourages individual thought and understanding in Judaism. Its relation to Judaism is through the history, civilization, ethical values and shared experiences of the Jewish people. Cultural Jews connect to their heritage through the languages, literature, art, dance, music, food, and celebrations of the Jewish people. For example, Jews who identify only with their particular culture may call themselves cultural Jews. There is no homogeneous Jewish culture. Since Jews have lived in diverse geographic regions for centuries, some of their cultural practices were influenced by the country in which the practices arose. For example, there are differences in the culture of Jews in Ashkenazi, or Eastern European communities, from those in Sephardi, or Spanish-influenced Jewish communities, but both Ashkenazi and Sephardi are Jewish cultures. In studying Jewish culture, the Jewish languages often give a clue as to the source of the culture influencing the different Jewish customs arising in the Diaspora.