This thread shall discuss the fairly recent phenomenon of Jewish-non-Jewish mixes in faith, including Messianic Judaism

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/mess.html

and "Jews-for-Allah" (Muslim Jews)

http://www.jews-for-allah.org/

(Warning: this site contains material that may be offensive to anyone who practices Orthodox Judaism, as it "counters" the Torah when it compares the Torah to the Qur'an)

Both combine interpretations of the Torah with interpretations of gentile scriptures to produce a blend of Judaism with other religions that mostly turn out as ethnicity-based Judaism with a totally different spirituality.

Sadly, I haven't yet heard of other religions having these mainstream blends except for Buddhism, which permits other religions to be practiced alongside it in its scriptures; and there are increasing numbers of Jewish Buddhists (ethnicity-based Judaism again, as there are some practices in Buddhism forbidden by Orthodox Jewry such as bowing before a statue of Buddha in admiration, cremating the dead, and the belief in reincarnation; alone, Buddhism is essentially atheistic and discourages the belief in Divinity).

My question is, why is Judaism experiencing the above trend in the first place? Evidently, many Jews are unhappy with the spiritual identity brought by Judaism in general, and of course, the question remains as to whether Judaism is more of an ethnic identity, or a spiritual one. Of course, it is both, but please explain why people are evidently finding Jewish spirituality in itself totally useless and turning towards other branches of spirituality, as this is a question that is important to the Jewish community as a whole.

P.S. Chag Sameach everyone; Happy Shavuos!

Not only Judaism is experiencing this "trend", but all religions have people searching for something to fit into. I know of many Christians and a few Buddists who are turning to Judaism. Many people find that Judaism is the only "sensible" way of worship. I even have a Muslim co-worker who is quite interested in Judaism.
G-d Bless,
Avi

In Judaism however, this trend is mainstream. See my post in race vs. religion; I don't think very much about ethnicity-based Judaism. Evidently, something's wrong when gentiles see Judaism as "the only sensible form of worship" while those who are already Jews see Judaism as a religion as useless. This thread shall discuss the workings and cause of this trend, which, in my opinion, is started by a mix of consumeristic pressures and fear of anti-Semitism/spiritual identity crisis stemming from the Holocaust and the terror attacks against Jews. What is to be done?

Do you really feel that this trend is growing in Judaism? I can't really comment on how others view their faiths. I know that in today's society many people feel that organized religion as a whole is useless. I've never heard anyone (Jew) say that Judaism was a useless religion. I was under the impression that most people today have a certain respect for Judaism. People today know of the Holocaust and how the Jews survived in spite of it, and that builds admiration. I feel that anti-Semitism is being conquered by education... anti-Semites and other hate mongers are usually uneducated.
However, I agree that many Jews have a problem with Judaism. I do think that many people have trouble understanding Torah, for example, I know of many women who view the Torah as sexist. Many others view Hashem as an angry G-d so they turn away without understanding the meaning of the Torah. Many other Jews have never been taught the meaning of being Jewish as they were growing up. I can think of a few things that we can do to counter the problem of unfulfilled Judaism: one thing that can be done is for parents to read Torah with children at an early age and encourage them to ask questions about the section being read...I was taught that "Why" was an important word in Judaism. Jews have contributed much to society and every Jewish parent must show their children that they are proud to be Jewish and pass that pride on to the next generation. Finally, parents must pray with their children and teach them to respect Hashem. Hashem has blessed us with children and it is our responsibility as parents to make sure that they grow up to be proud Jews.
Yecheal, your posts are very informative and well written. You add much to the forum.
G-d Bless,
Avi

<<Evidently, many Jews are unhappy with the spiritual identity brought by Judaism>>

It has been my experience with Jews who are unstatisfied and searching, that almost without exception, they are virtually ignorant of true Judaism. I don;t understand how someone can reject something without really undestanding it. The only explanation I can find is that those who are taught a "watered down version" of Judaism (Judaism Lite - tastes great - less filling) are so mislead and fed something that has no meat, they they cannot help but look elsewhere. Orthodox Judaism is usually denigrated in these shuls so people are not likely to look there for satisfaction.

Robby