Judaism (1 Viewer)

[kalinda]

can people convert into Conservative or Orthodox Judaism or only reform

 

[ezzy85]

yes, you can. it takes a few years of study, but you can definately convert to orthodox if youre that committed.

 

[snapperhead]

read here...http://www.convert.org/

in particular this page http://www.convert.org/should.htm

lists all branches as possible "options"

A more easier to understand (and quite funny) info source
http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/judaism/judaism.html


Aussie perspective http://www.upj.org.au/30qthirteen.htm

cheers,
SH

 

[kalinda]

ok cuz it was my before understanding that only reform judaism would take converts however conservative would not as you had to be born jewish on ur mums side

 

[redslert]

things are changing these days

this would be a very controversial topic for the jews
i can imagine a bunch of rabbis standing around arguing for days and days over this

 

[ezzy85]

i was taught that the orthodox community tends to have more respect towards those who convert because they must have such a passion and commitment towards judaism. usually, those who convert know alot more about judaism then the regular jews because of the strict "conversion process"

 

[snapperhead]

probably varies from country to country, synagogue to synagogue, variant to variant....
I thought the same about orthodox as well but ppl are converting eg the "kaballah" (sp) is a pretty esoteric barnach of Judaism but is getting a lot of converts (eg Madonna!!)

 

[kalinda]

its weird really - too many different opinons

 

[ezzy85]

that thing that madonna made fashionable in hollywood wouldnt really be considered as judaism by most rabbis.

 

[snapperhead]

kaballah (I must check if this is the correct spelling....) has been around for a very, very long long time (given the recentness of conservative and liberal Judaism..both 18th C???) and from my readings was/is considered a very 'orthodox' version of judaism (note the ""). She has fortunately (or unfortunately) bought publicity to it but has also received other publicity as well eg the bombings in spain occured at a kaballah temple...
probably shouldnt make sweeping statements... unles you are 'most rabbis'!!
LOL

 

[ezzy85]

i meant how people have started copying her and not really practicing or learning about the real kaballah. it seems to be a fashion in hollywood rather than something serious.

 

[snapperhead]

yeah...ashtanga yoga last year, kaballah this year...whats next??

but it does bring some understanding and maybe tolerance to what some may see as a pretty out there concept..
for those that are interested http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/faq.htm
and
http://www.kabbalahclub.com/ !!!

and yes, I just realised I was spelling it wrong....*sigh*

 

[ezzy85]

Originally posted by snapperhead


and yes, I just realised I was spelling it wrong....*sigh*

there there..youll be ok...i promise

 

[Igor]

ok, converting is a difficult thing to do if your over the age people generally haev their barmitzvah, simply because years of study has been lost.

I'm a very *very* secular Jew, (no speaky hebrew) but my grandparents felt it was their duty to give me a good long lecture about Judaism and ethics every time i visited them. my grandpa more than my nan, but the worst one was my uncle..... he went fully orthadox, and it was a long hard raod for him.

my dad's family is Jewish on his mum's side, and my grandpa's dad was Jewish, but he only 'came back' to the tradition when he married. so for my uncle, he grew up pretty secular but with a lot of the ethics and teachings of the religion being spoken about, but not necessarily followed. he decided he wanted to become a "proper Jew" (his words) and went abd found the straightest most orthodox synangogue in the country and spent about four years speaking to, learning from and proving himself a good Jew to the rabbi and all the other important men there before he was fully accepted into the synagogue.

it's my understanding that you don't really move from being a reformist Jew to an orthodox Jew by 'official' means, you must be accepted by the synagogue before you an be a part of it though, so if you want to join an orthodox synagogue you must be accpeted by it.

as for converting into orthado Judaism, it takes a lot of study, an a long time proving that you can be 'good Jew'. in the end the idea is that G-d will not exclude anyone from his community.

 

[snapperhead]

so that explains why it takes so long to convert....anything from one year to ten..... acceptance and proving understanding. Wonder why it is that you only hear of 'female' conversions? (eg Sophie Lee has been studying for about 3 years now and is no where near ready). Maybe good jewish girls dont mix with goyim!!! LOL

 

[ezzy85]

a firend of mine converted. it took him around a year and he even had to have a bar mitzvah.

 

[snapperhead]

how did he manage the blood covenant aspect ie the bris??
just curious as Ive heard of a couple of ways that dont involve circumcision but they were in liberal/reformed synagogues

 

[ezzy85]

i was also curious about that, but he never spoke about it. but this was a fairly strict synagogue.

 

[redslert]

reminds me of that episode of sienfield

 

[Tenille]

Originally posted by redslert
reminds me of that episode of sienfield

now that just pure spam