I want to know more about Jewish thought, especially what made 0.02% of the world population win 35% of the nobel prizes etc. (don't want to sound like a /pol/fag so I don't list other achievements here)
What is a good way to start?
I saw they have multiple religious scripts such as Talmud, Kabbala, Torah... but maybe a book that gives a complete overview is a better place to start.
I had this great picture of a Torah (or was it Talmud?) reading guide that was basically IRS accountancy levels complicated. Being a Jew can't be healthy for you.
They are genetically superior. They have a god-given intellect.
Probably Talmud. The Torah is literally the old testament in Hebrew. The Talmud is a Jewish law book, which has parallels in the Muslim world. Probably not worth it to read the Talmud. Kabbalah is Jewish apocryphal mysticism. I've sometimes heard it referred to as "magic" so that might be interesting, but also very strange.
it is not just their thought but also their history
Their average intelligence is nearly a standard deviation greater than the average intelligence of pretty much everyone else.
Jews were prohibited from working fields and own crops so Jews made their living in banking, accounting and other intellectual tasks.
Their conditions selected for intellect and so the most intellectual reproduce more successfully. Thounsands of years of this selection pressure is potentially why they have such a high average IQ amongst Ashkenazi Jews.
This is far from settled or even beyond a hypothesis at this point but this is a potential explanation.
Obviously excluding israeli jews who are just mediterranean sleazebags like every other dime-a-dozen lebanese/greek/italian type greasy pubefaced fuck. Also, Jews can be retarded. The best of them go on to win life, the worst of them (of which there are many) form dirty little snitchy groups of repressive social norms and inferiority complexes extrapolated into a lifestyle. Go watch "One of Us" on Netflix.
anyway:
>High IQ
>Culture built around constant persecution
>Every member of your race is an immigrant, thus have high work ethic
>Religion requires bilingualism, understanding complex ancient laws and texts for worship
>High emphasis for education and financial wellbeing
>Taking care of each other.
Basically your typical immigrant story but with higher IQ and dedication to academics.
Read Chaim Potok.
As a Jew, let me just say that you should be extra careful about what you read since we have a lot of religious charlatans (every religion has them, but since you're not familiar with Judaism it will be hard for you to discern). I personally am not religious so I can't tell you much, and it depends what areas you're interested in. A look at the 3 things you listed:
>Talmud
It's more like religious law which was and is maintained in traditional communities.
>Kabbala
That's mysticism and takes a very specific orientation. Orthodox Jews go crazy for it.
>Torah
That's just the bible, really.
As for philosophy, I recommend looking at the works Philo of Alexandria and "Jewish Cryptotheologies of Late Modernity: Philosophical Marranos" by Agata Bielik-Robson (pic related). The later covers the Jewish elements in the works of 20th century Jewish philosophers. Also remember that the contents of Judaism and the Torah were formed during the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, so it takes A LOT from Mesopotamian mythology and religion on the one hand and the mystery schools surrounding the area of Israel on the other. It's very apparent that a lot of the prophets mentioned in the Torah were involved in these mystery cults/schools, but to understand that you need to read between the lines.
Gershom Scholem?
This is on the reading list for my religious studies-class, does anyone know if these Oxford-introduction type books are any good or should I just go to Wikipedia instead..?
My experience with Oxford secondary literature is rather sub-par. The best place to start with is your local synagogue and booking a meeting to chat with the rabbi.
They say, "two jews, three opinions", so that's actually a terrible idea. No two rabbis will give you the same answer on anything, and yeah I mean Orthodox rabbis.
Only if you delve into it deeper, the basics are the same. It's called Orthodox for a reason.
If you're that skeptical then just refer to the canonical literature of mainstream Judaism.
...
jewish revolutionary spirit by e michael jones
you should really be ashamed
They're just smart you antisemantic incel.
Jews control America with the media and central government.
based
There are literally millions more genius whites by the numbers shlomo besides IQ is for racist incels ;^)
Marry a Jewish chick and have a boy with her. Don't mutilate the baby and see how he grows up.
pretty based if you swap out the soncino chumash for an artscroll chumash and you delete no. 10
It would be cool if we could actually investigate this topic without degenerate into useless anti semitism.
artscroll is shit
by what measure
>hurr durr any negative aspect of anyone is le buzzword I can disregard xP
shut up retard
It translates Ruah Elohim as "Shekinah" right off the bat in Genesis (to give just one example), and their translation of the Song of Solomon is just a whole other level of travesty. It's a very loaded translation that's coming from a particular Chabad-type wishy washy kabbalah point of view.
I can't argue against the Shir haShirim point at least.
Uncircumcised Ashkenazi Jews with secular Jewish parents turn out brilliant because they are born with high intelligence but are spared from the emotional instability that mutilation causes.