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Wait! The OP can convert Conservative. No need for Torah observance, and your fellow Jews will still tell you that you are Jewish. Problem solved. Just please don't come to my shul on a night when we only have 9 men.
Please be as kind as I know you are. There's no need for this.
Something my rabbi told me that I thought would be nice if we could keep in mind.
Clearly, somewhat paraphrased-
Religion should make us better, kinder, more accepting and open people. Unfortunately it often does the opposite. Every religion has those adherents who are universalists, those who believe in the universal potential of all humanity for good; and, the particularists, those who believe that only they are the good people and everyone else is evil.
The enlightened are truly pluralistic and realize that the path to the truth is different for each person. The misguided believe that only they know the truth and that people are evil if they refuse to accept this single truth.
What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah - Hillel
Please be as kind as I know you are. There's no need for this.
Thanks for speaking up. And I want to be crystal clear on what I mean here. There is a world if difference between somebody who sincerely converts Conservative but freely admits they are not yet at a place where they feel ready to observe all the mitzvos, and the OP who stated clearly that he disagrees with basics tenants of Torah. You either accept the whole, or you do not. That is separate from if you are on a madrega (level) to observe the mitzvos.
And the reason I didn't know if R and C use a beis din, is that I grew up in a Reform shul that taught me to hate Judaism and to mistrust the Torah. They were only interested in cultural Zionism. I "checked out" when I was very very young, much like an abuse victim who goes to their special place while being abused.
...I grew up in a Reform shul that taught me to hate Judaism and to mistrust the Torah. They were only interested in cultural Zionism. I "checked out" when I was very very young, much like an abuse victim who goes to their special place while being abused.
Answer a few questions before you were 18: Did you ever go to a Hebrew school (full time or evening or weekend)? Did you ever attend a Yeshiva?
Thanks for speaking up. And I want to be crystal clear on what I mean here. There is a world if difference between somebody who sincerely converts Conservative but freely admits they are not yet at a place where they feel ready to observe all the mitzvos, and the OP who stated clearly that he disagrees with basics tenants of Torah. You either accept the whole, or you do not. That is separate from if you are on a madrega (level) to observe the mitzvos.
And the reason I didn't know if R and C use a beis din, is that I grew up in a Reform shul that taught me to hate Judaism and to mistrust the Torah. They were only interested in cultural Zionism. I "checked out" when I was very very young, much like an abuse victim who goes to their special place while being abused.
Thank you, my brother.
FWIW, most Conservative converts (I say "most" because I can't vouch for everyone) go in front of the beit din. I did. They almost had to pull me out of the mikveh (the female attendant, not the beit din) because I was so happy. I wanted to stay forever, fully immersed. (There's a lesson right there for me in that last sentence, isn't there?)
Thanks for speaking up. And I want to be crystal clear on what I mean here. There is a world if difference between somebody who sincerely converts Conservative but freely admits they are not yet at a place where they feel ready to observe all the mitzvos, and the OP who stated clearly that he disagrees with basics tenants of Torah. You either accept the whole, or you do not. That is separate from if you are on a madrega (level) to observe the mitzvos.
Or do not what - Do not accept any of it? Be Jewish?
While it is a holy document, the Torah is rooted in the past, and we can even sometimes discern the circumstances under which certain sections were written down [...] We also recognize that Jews in various places developed varying customs and understandings, again proof to us that Judaism is not and never was monolithic.
FWIW, most Conservative converts (I say "most" because I can't vouch for everyone) go in front of the beit din. I did. They almost had to pull me out of the mikveh (the female attendant, not the beit din) because I was so happy. I wanted to stay forever, fully immersed. (There's a lesson right there for me in that last sentence, isn't there?)
Yes, I think that last sentence explains your hashkafo very well. Very nice.
Answer a few questions before you were 18: Did you ever go to a Hebrew school (full time or evening or weekend)? Did you ever attend a Yeshiva?
Although I went to Hebrew school before my Bar Mitzvah, I still had to place a transliterated workbook in front of me when I lained my Torah Portion. When I came back to Judaism in my late 20s, I had to start with my alef beis. I've been attending a daily Gamara shiur the last ten years, learning daf hayomi in the evenings, and I pray in a minyan three times a day (as best I can, as I also work full time and have five young children, a wife and an unruly dog to feed). G-d willing, my boys will go to a good yeshiva, be able to daven from the amud and still find good professions one day. Becoming rabbis is only one possibility. G-d willing, my girls will marry ben Torah's and will have solid professions as well.
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