I'm worried that I'll convert to Judaism one day

Post Reply New Topic

If you could show, through assiduously study, that you intend on following the Jewish way, I think the rabbi (especially if the rabbi is a Reformed Jew) would accept your conversion.

I think that you should find out about it (Read up on the history, beliefs, customs, culture etc) and figure out whether or not it jives with you. If so, then consider converting. Otherwise, you'll find out that it was just a passing thing and then go on about your life. When I was in high school, I had a few years where I literally read about every religion that I could (to figure out my identity/ where I fit in etc) so, I don't think that anyone will think you are weird.

Rejecting you is actually part of the process. You have to show him that you it really matters to you. Apparently being pushy means you are more sincere. Go figure!
When I'm rejected in such situations it makes me give up on them and I do it by myself on my own instead.
those rituals aren't made for aspies, I think...


Anyway, if you ever do, don't expect your family to jump for joy, nor your friends or acquaintances. I was warned by two people to stay away from it when I was obsessed with it. If anything they only made me more determined. Until the passion went out on its own.
And some will definitely find it weird. People assume that if you follow a religion, it's the one you were born into. Anything else is seen as a bit weird or silly by a lot of people.
In one way I see their point, but in another way I don't think something will suit you just because you were born into it.

Why don't you just spend a while reading up on it, and gain a lot of insight on what Judaism demands of its followers. I don't know how many congregations there are where you live, but what type they are (orthodox, reformed, conservative or reconstructionist), will make a big difference on how it will influence your life.

I don't think that I am alone here in thinking that the fact your'e worried about converting to Judaism being "wierd" is itsself "wierd".

People change faiths, or change from faith to nonfaith, or nonfaith to faith. all of the time. And often defy their families in the process as well.

But...

Maybe you should sit down and figure out what it is about Judaism that fascinates you. If you figure out what that thing is it might turn out to be a bad reason to convert- and you may be able to get that thing some other way than by converting to another religion. If that makes any sense.

In the meantime why donchu pick up that accordion of your's and start a Klezmer band! Combine both special interests in one!

Do they use accordions in klezmer?

Okay- then start the world's first klezmer-polka band!

Judaism has always been fascinating to me. It has become more more and more so over the years and just last week my friend bought me a book on converting to Judaism! Not sure I will seek to convert, but I want to do the research anyway.

I think I'll probably research converting whether I plan to convert or not. I find converting religions quite interesting. I've seen quite a few YouTube videos about converting to Islam. They were interesting, but kind of surreal. I haven't seen any videos about converting to Judaism yet.

My mom and sister converted to the Baha'i faith a few years ago because of family friends, but I was never that interested. I just remained spiritual, but not religious. Later my mom got married to one of those friends. That makes us a blended family now. They recently went to pilgrimage and my mom, sister and step sister ended up feeling more distant from the faith afterwards.

One Baha'i girl recently told me a story about her friend. When they were growing up her friend was anti-religious. Recently her friend converted to Islam. I kind of want to find out why so many people are converting to Islam. Hopefully that won't make me want to convert.

You're over thinking and worrying too soon, DK. Relax, read all you can about Judaism. There are plenty of books. Use the library if you don't want to or can't spend too much. There are plenty of good online sites also. If you want to learn a little Hebrew (you can read transliterated Hebrew so you don't have to learn the aleph bet) go for it. At the very least, learning a new language is a good mental exercise. Listen to some Klezmer music. Some bands do use accordions, though it's a more recent addition. Here's a video of The Klezmatics singing a favorite of mine, Man in a Hat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRpYbMqPY2c

If you like reggae rap, try Matisyahu

If someday you decide to convert, fine. There's no hurry. As KraftieKortie said, you could convert with a Reform or Reconstructionist rabbi, though that means you wouldn't be recognized as a Jew by Conservative or Orthodox Jews.

And if you never convert, what you've learned is always a part of you. Knowledge is never wasted. You don't have to convert to find aspects of it that you can incorporate into your life and beliefs.

I got into Judaism about a year ago. It started because I was invited to a Bar Mitzvah and I wanted to know what to expect when I went to the synagogue. I read one book and one book led to online sites and led to other books and deeper explorations. I've been enjoying it, though I would caution you to keep it to yourself around people you know. Since this started with me, I've found antisemitism in a couple of unexpected places.

Last edited by OnPorpoise on 03 Nov 2014, 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Interesting, I've flirted with the same idea over many years.

I'm NT. I'm not obsessed with it. But I've always been fascinated by Judaism. I used to get mistaken forJewish all the time (weird! - but absolutely non-offensive to me). I wanted to send my son to a Jewish school, but it didn't work out. If I could convert to non-observant jew, I probably would. But I'm not the least bit religious or spiritual, so I'm quite sure no rabbi would have me and rightly so!

I'll just have to stick with lapsed protestant.

Your own understanding of everything is very personal and they should respect that. Whether or not they think you're "crazy" should have nothing to do with your own beliefs because if you don't personally think Judaism is crazy we should all respect that.

To be honest I'm a little surprised that converts aren't really welcomed. I would have thought they'd want to save as many people as they could to make sure they got to the holy land or heaven or wherever. If I believed in religion, I'd be a little worried knowing that not going to hell was like a special club you had to be born into (unless of course hell is only part of the new testament).

From what I know about they don't really "require" people to be Jewish in order to go to heaven. They have different rules for Jews and non-jews. They consider Jews the chosen ones. Being Jewish is also an ethnicity. There are a lot of non-religious Jews.

Last night I had another Jewish themed dream. I dreamt that I was visiting a Jewish school. It didn't look like a school, but my dreams are weird.