One the other hand, most of my Jewish friends (whose sacred book is the Old Testament) are neither right wing nor are they the sort of people who take things at black/white face value.

I used to live with a Jewish lady and I got to see how pragmatic their religion tended to be. In the passover service, there often seem to be slightly different ways of explaining things according to various talmudic authorities. On at least two occasions, I was pressed-ganged into a "minyan" for prayers - even though I'm not Jewish - it seems that being an adult male was the only qualification needed in an emergency. Jewish descent is via the female parent (except for Cohens) which makes good sense as it's much easier to prove who is the mother than the father - and it also provided a way of allowing outside genes into the group. There are all sorts of ways that Jews can get round the spirit of the law without contravening the letter of it - starting to cook a (very liquid) stew on a very low heat, just before the Sabath starts, so that they can have a hot meal (thick stew by then) on the Saturday without the need to kindle fire.