Spinoza was paradoxical in that he is viewed as religious or at least quasi religious but he actually did not believe in the immortality of the soul or a personal God.
Many view Spinoza as a Pantheist and it is correct to do so and while his "religiosity" is not of the common type, he is still to be considered religious nonetheless.
Christian civilization lays down requirements on religious attitudes and proposes that to remain orthodox one has to adhere to those pre-established and sometimes absurd requirements, but these criteria are not necessarily required for one to be religious per se.
Therefore Spinoza should be regarded as a religious person, though his "religion" is beyond the pale of orthodoxy for most religious movements.
As previously stated, Spinoza identified God with nature.
Regarding the Judaist background of Spinoza, it seems that the idea of a personal God was not prominent in the thought of Judaism, nor was the idea of immortality or freedom.
Some would even argue that Judaism had no place for petitionary prayer, but proposed instead a grateful acceptance of what is sent into one's life. This stood in contradistinction to the typical religious notion of seeking of favors from God.
