Prospective Converts to Judaism (all sects)

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I just thought I'd create this topic out of pure interest, to find out if their were other people on WP that are planning to convert to Judaism...I know, it is a very random topic...

You forgot Kabbalah.

OK, maybe its not a sect exactly, but it is apparently very exportable.
Madonna is into it.
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Oh heck!
I shouldnt have said that! Because....

Someone else is going to pipe in with "you forgot the MOST exportable sect of Judaism of all: Christianity!"

So ill just beat them to the punchline. So I said it!

Then two other people will pipe in: one will say "how dare you call christianity a form of Judaism- christianity is a blasphemy!".

The other will say that "by that logic [ that christianity is form of judaism] Islam could also be considered a form of Judaism, and so could Mormonism.
And further...that- Islam is actually closer to Judaism than either christianity or Mormonism. And since it has about the same number of adherents as christianity but has a closer family resemblence Islam really is the most popular form of Judaism!

Both of those posters will ignite seperate threads of raging debate that will go on for twenty pages each!

Oh well.

Haha thanks for the warning. - I'll be sure to add Kabbalah to the list, as well.

...well, apparently I cannot edit the poll. Ooops!

A Jewish lady-friend of mine once said to me that Christianity is Judaism for the masses. That is an interesting thought, which can be developed in more than one direction.

I tend towards reconstructionist because I like the cultural link that traditional practice and use of Hebrew have, but I eschew the inherent sexism and heterosexism that underlie Orthodoxy.

Don't you think that statement's a little bit of a generalization?

No.

I know of no Orthodox congregation in this country or the United States in which I would be welcomed, as an openly gay man, to full participation in the religious life of the congregation. And I would never seek to do so. The diversity of options available to me as a Jew means that I could fully participate in the religious life of a congregation that would welcome me with open arms. I don't seek to change Orthodox judaism or alter their views one bit.

Now I will certainly concede that diverse attitudes towards women and LGBT people exist among members of orthodox congregations, and that not all Orthodox congregations present identical views.

But the major institutions of orthodoxy, such as the Yeshiva University maintain a negative posture. Among leading orthodox scholars, the concession to modernism is to view some homosexuals as diseased, to be treated with compassion, rather than ostracized. Note the empasis, ostracism remains an accepted orthodox practice for those homosexuals who are not viewed as diseased. Now there are naysayers, not least Steven Greenberg. But his is the exceptional case that demonstrates the rather more monolithic view of other Orthodox rabbis.

As for women, change is equally slow. Modernists might divide the synagogue left and right, but divide it they do still. Women are not called to aliyot, women may not be ordained, and their capacity to act as witnesses before a bet din have only recently been modified in order to prevent the public scandal of a rabbi getting away with sexual harassment due to a lack of competent witnesses to his conduct.

Sorry, my mistake; I was supposed to quote "sexism", not "heterosexism."

Although, one could argue that observant women have separate/different, but equal roles. Also, women have a whole day/festival in the Jewish calendar Rosh Chodesh dedicated to them. Women also are generally the ones in charge of the Jewish household, along with "Jewishness" coming through the mother.

As do I. Putting down 52% of the human race is not a good idea.

And without women, where would we be?

ruveyn

For myself, I have always rejected, "separate but equal," as an approach to equality. It doesn't work for two different water fountains, it doesn't work for two different schools, and it doesn't work for two sides of the synagogue.

But I want to stress that this is only my view. I know that there are many Orthodox--and in particular many Orthodox women--who think otherwise, and I would never presume to question the good faith of that belief.

I'm glad that you were able to share your opinion, and it's good that you can also understand others views. I, too understand and acknowledge your opinion.

Wait, there has to be at least someone on this site that is or has explored the topic of conversion to Judaism; surely I'm not the only one...

I was raised in a mostly non-observant Jewish family (and in two Jewish neighborhoods) in New York City. Although I left Judaism in 1970, and converted to the Baha'i Faith, the Reconstructionist movement is most appealing to me.

IMO, Jewish Reconstructionism most accurately represents Judaism as an evolving civilization.

The Kabbalah (Qabbālāh) has never been a separate branch of Judaism. It is a social movement which has influenced some Jewish movements, especially Ḥasidus (Chasidism) and Jewish Renewal, and non-Jewish movements, as well.

I figured that too, but I was going to add it in as a 'study-form'.