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Alternative Judaism

Alternative Judaism or Agnostic Judaism refers to a variety of groups whose members, while identifying as Jews in some fashion, nevertheless do not practice Rabbinical Judaism as most other Jews.

Variety

Generally, beliefs of these groups are not compatible with mainstream Judaism. Instead, their beliefs fall outside of the traditional views of the Torah and Jewish law. These movements may be explicitly atheistic, or they may incorporate certain elements foreign to Judaism, such as pagan or other religious traditions. Mainstream Jewish movements often criticize alternative groups as “not being Jewish”, as alternative groups often follow ideas that fall outside two important parameters historically apparent in Jewish theology: the oneness of God and God’s non-corporeal nature.

History

Alternative forms of Judaism are nothing new in Jewish history, and have appeared in the past in such forms as the Sabbateans and Frankists which fell outside the common Orthodox and Non-Orthodox (Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist) classification of the four major streams of today's Jewish denominations. These may be combinations of secular Jewish culture and Jewish symbolism with non-Jewish religions and philosophies.

Alternative movements within Judaism

Modern alternative movements that have emerged from within traditional Judaism:

Humanistic Judaism, an organized group that takes a non-theistic or agnostic approach to Judaism and which has around 50,000 members worldwide in over 60 congregations. It is cultural and human-centered, rather than spiritual.
Jewish Renewal, an organized spiritualist approach to Judaism, incorporating Kabbalah and New Age principles, with around 50 congregations worldwide.

Alternative movements outside Judaism

Movements (some of which are syncretic) with origins outside of traditional Judaism:

Judeo-Paganism, loosely-organized groups or individuals who practice pagan or Wiccan beliefs.
Jewish Buddhists, another loosely organized group that incorporates elements of Asian spirituality in their faith.
A number of non-Jewish movements consider themselves to be "Israelites" due to a purported connection to the Lost Ten Tribes, such as the Anglo-Israelism movement. These groups are not generally made up of Jews, and in some cases deny that the Jewish people are related to the ancient Israelites. See also Supersessionism.
The Messianic Judaism movement, Hebrew Christians, Jews for Jesus and other groups that believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, are not considered a part of Judaism by Jews, Jewish denominations, and many Christians. Messianic Jews are also not considered Jewish under the State of Israel's Law of Return.