Then, you pretty much thought correctly...

Vince Said: I would have thought that Jews pride themselves in having accumulated wisdoms from their long history and from their memorable rabbi interpretations, philosophies etc. I also perceive that Jewish life is highly family oriented and that kids are encouraged to be independent and confident -something that Mennonites discouraged ... to their own detriment. I've always thought that is a POSITIVE of being Jewish.

Of course, this is true.
-- Look at how many Jewish Doctors, Lawyers and Accountants there are...!
-- (And, the Accountant is the "Black Sheep" of the Family...!)

The wisdom, philosophy and interpretations handed down from Rabbi to Rabbi...
-- Over thousands of years...?
Yes, this is an important aspect of the Jewish mindset.

But...
Your average Jew-on-the-street probably doesn't know any of the "Specifics"...
Or, for that matter, even "Keep Kosher"...
-- (Heck... The Bacon Cheeseburger is a big hit in many Jewish circles...!)
However...
Many of them ARE into the "Kitsch"...
Like...
They'll know the "Names" of the Three Rabbis...

-- Because of the Coffee Mug...
But...
They wouldn't know any of the Teachings of those Rabbis.

In much the same fashion as some Christians might know the names of Augustine or Eusibius...
But...
They wouldn't be able to tell you anything specific about their writings.

As it is with any religion...
Generalities are just that... "generalities".
-- There are good points and there are bad.

However, there is a "Nationalist" aspect to Judaism...
Which, of course, is centered around the "Holy Land"...
-- The Biblical "Kingdom of Israel"...
-- (As it was said to have been under David and Solomon.)

And, here...
We run into a sense of "history"...
The likes of which...
We simply cannot grasp in North America.

The US and Canada are relatively "young" nations...
Our "history" is counted in the Hundreds of years...
Our most ancient National "grudges" being the Civil War...
The American Revolution against the British...
And... The War of 1812.

Whereas, in England...
Some "Saxons" STILL hold a Grudge against the "Normans"...!
And, for the Jewish People...
The "good old days" were under the Davidian Monarchy.

Vince Said: I perceive that Jews SCHEME a lot amongst themselves ... on ways to exploit and maybe even "cheat" ... gentiles ... and on ways to get their own business plans going and how to help each other. In some ways, that's a good thing -the mutual helping of each other.

I could tell you a tale of Insider Trading...
-- Whoooo-Boy...!
Talk about "Scheming amongst themselves"...!

Vince Said: You seem to have a fairly dim view of Judaism though?

C'mon Vince, you should know by now...
I have a fairly "dim" view of Organised Religion on the whole.
Heck...
-- You don't hear me praising Christianity, Islam or ISKCON either.

Vince Said: Were you raised a Jew or did you become one?

I converted to Judaism to make my Ex-Mother-in-Law happy.
-- (It didn't help.)

-PRev1-

President Barrack Hussein Obama

-- Nobel Peace Prize, 2009 --
"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
-- George Orwell, "1984" --