Origins of Judaism
For centuries, the traditional understanding has been that Judaism came before Christianity and that Christianity separated from Judaism some time after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Starting in the latter half of the 20th century, some scholars have begun to argue that the historical picture is quite a bit more complicated than that. In the 1st century, many Jewish sects existed in competition with each other, see Second Temple Judaism. The sects which eventually became Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity were but two of these. Some scholars have begun to propose a model which envisions a twin birth of Christianity and Judaism rather than a separation of the former from the latter. For example, Robert Goldenberg (2002) asserts that it is increasingly accepted among scholars that "at the end of the 1st century CE there were not yet two separate religions called "Judaism" and "Christianity"".
Daniel Boyarin (2002) proposes a revised understanding of the interactions between nascent Christianity and nascent Rabbinical Judaism in Late Antiquity which views the two religions as intensely and complexly intertwined throughout this period.
List of Dune religions
These Jewish communities are led by rabbis, at least some of whom have working relationships with the Bene Gesserit. "Heretics of Dune" suggests that Jewish thought may have influenced the development of Bene Gesserit philosophy. The Jewish community described in the novels defines itself as part of "Secret Israel", which, in conjunction with the sparse historical information given in the novel, suggests that the Jewish people had decided to conceal themselves to follow their religion and avoid the recurrent atrocities of their past. Long ago, the Bene Gesserit and the hidden Jewish communities came to an understanding of sorts: the Bene Gesserit would provide aid to hidden Jews if they were ever threatened, and help hide the fact that the Jewish religion survives in secret; in return, if ever a Bene Gesserit acolyte is lost and threatened on an isolated planet, the local Jewish community give her aid and shelter. A simple arrangement, but one which endured between both groups for millennia. Moreover, the Torah and Talmudic Zabur are listed in Appendix II of "Dune" as having contributed to the Orange Catholic Bible; the appendix also notes that these books were preserved on Salusa Secundus.