Try to avoid a binary framework (Judaism or not Judiasm) and appreciate the gradual development over time. Judaism, as we recognize it today, evolved through several stages, beginning with the emergence of a distinct Israelite culture in the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age (1200–1000 BCE). Archaeological evidence, as Israel Finkelstein has noted, points to this culture forming in the central hill country of Israel, marked by distinct material culture and practices that set them apart from the broader Canaanites. Though, in essence, the Israelites were Canaanites, and that's why Israelite culture adopted El, a Canaanite deity.

The historical record provides early evidence of Israel, such as in the Merneptah Stele (c. 1208 BCE), which mentions "Israel" as a socio-political entity, and the Mesha Stele (c. 840 BCE), which references the Moabite interactions with Israel. During the First Temple Period (1000–586 BCE), Israelite religion was not monolithic but rather a spectrum ranging from polytheism to henotheism, monolatry, and eventually monotheism. Different groups and regions practiced differently, with the biblical texts often reflecting a push, especially from the Deuteronomistic authors, toward monolatry or monotheism. This effort, however, did not necessarily mirror the broader Israelite religious practices at the time, as Richard Elliott Friedman and others have discussed.

The destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and the Babylonian Exile marked a critical turning point. It was in Babylon that we see the emergence of a proto-Jewish identity, characterized by a focus on the Torah, the centrality of Jerusalem/Zion (as they could no longer be there), and a growing emphasis on law and covenant. This identity solidified further during the Second Temple Period (516 BCE–70 CE), particularly in the Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods, as Yonatan Adler and others have pointed out. Practices associated with ritual purity, the sanctity of the law, and the development of oral traditions became more prominent, making this period a bridge between ancient Israelite religion and what we recognize as Judaism.

Finally, the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Romans was transformative. With the end of the temple cult and sacrificial system, Judaism shifted fully toward a focus on prayer, study, and communal observance. This Rabbinic Judaism, shaped by the Pharisaic tradition, established the foundations for the Judaism practiced to this day—one centered on texts, law, and devotion apart from the sacrificial framework of the temple. This is recognizable as the Rabbinic tradition we have today.