Posted on 09/21/2006 4:15:01 PM PDT by Nachum
NEW YORK - Christine Benvenuto embodies a Jewish ideal.
Her kitchen is kosher, she attends synagogue and has read rabbinic writings and Torah.
But for many American Jewish leaders, she has an even more compelling quality. The mother of three, whose husband was born Jewish, is a convert.
“A lot of things attracted me to Judaism,” said Benvenuto, whose book “Shiksa” chronicles her path to conversion and the choices of other non-Jewish spouses. “I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in New York and my friends were always Jewish.”
As intermarriage continues at a high rate, many community leaders believe the survival of Judaism lies with people like Benvenuto. Over the last year, top rabbis have urged Jews to overcome their fear of offending non-Jewish spouses and suggest outright that they convert.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, each called for a more assertive approach at national religious meetings of their movements in the last year. Together, their organizations represent about 75 percent of North American synagogue members.
The American Jewish Committee, a leading advocacy group based in New York, released the first major study in nearly two decades of why people decide to become Jewish. Among the central findings is that advocating for conversion works.
Even some Orthodox, who have traditionally discouraged conversion, have joined in.
Rabbi Leib Tropper, who runs a school in Monsey, N.Y., for Jews who lack basic religious education, started Eternal Jewish Family a year ago to train rabbinic courts on proper conversion for non-Jewish spouses. Tropper says hundreds of rabbis have attended the training sessions.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bostonherald.com ...
Maybe they have a lot of love.
But, do patent leather shoes reflect up? :)
When I took conversion classes, I was the only one there who had decided to convert to Judaism on my own, not because I was married to a Jew.
While it is better for both parents to be of the same faith, I guess I've always wondered if most people in mixed marriages convert because of a true change in their belief system or because of the spouse.
For the most part, Jews consider Judaism to be the religion tribe of the Israelites, who were called upon (chosen, if you will), by God to live to a higher standard. The rest of the world, is held to the standards of the Noahic law.
Judaism considers a righteous non-Jew, who follows the laws of Noah to be as worthy of reward in the afterlife as a righteous Jew, who follows the laws of Moses.
That said, the point of Judaism is more to live a good life and not worry about the afterlife, until you get to it.
Because of the spouse. Usually, if the marriage fails, the converted spouse decides to abandon Judaism. I have seen it a number of times. It is very hurtful to the kids.
Ah, the Jewish fatwah.
The scriptural fundamentalist mindset is the same world-over.
Just mothers-in-law.
There's no real hard-and-fast view of the afterlife, except that there is one, in Judaism. But Hell, is generally not part of it. There's a purgatory, in some versions. And in some versions, those who are completely and irredeemably evil are blotted out entirely.
But the most common attitude I've seen is that it's fun to speculate what the afterlife is, but the point of living is to live and good life. Not to worry about the other-worldly rewards and punishments.
The scriptural fundamentalist mindset is the same world-over.
Except that Jews don't go out to kill those who are in violation of the Torah. They're just very disappointed.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has long taken an extremly harsh view of the Catholic Church, teaching that it is the "apostate woman" described in the Book of Revelation. I understand it might be moderating its views somewhat today, but a few years ago they taught that the only way a Catholic could be saved without converting was to be too ignorant to know better, and God might cut him a break.
I'm not sure what the Mormon's views on other Christian branches is, but their belief system is distinctly different in many ways. I'd be surprised if they don't think it's important to convert to the LDS for your eternal well-being.
And I won't even get into the Jehovah's Witnesses.
When my wife converted, one of the rabbis on the Beit Din asked her whether she had any Jewish ancestry that she knew of. She did -- a family of Jews that were kicked out of Spain in 1492 and somehow ended up in Scotland.
The Rabbi noted that he asked this of all converts and 90% of them were aware of some Jewish ancestry. Which leads me to think that intermarriage does not reduce the Jewish population as much as thought. Although many intermarried Jews leave, it also creates a pool of children and grandchildren down the road who know of their Jewish ancestry and are pulled back into the religion.
For the record, my wife converted after we met, but before we married. However, she had been thinking about converting before we even met. Meeting me was just the final push she needed.
I was raised Catholic and went to Cathlic school for 12 years. Even thought about becoming a nun. As an adult, after reading and coming to an understanding of both Christianity and Judaism over several years and from an adult perspective and knowledge and not a child's faith, I converted to Judaism.
I don't know what to say to you other than I simply do not believe that anyone rose again. It's that simple. I also have a problem with the Trinity and a need for a father, son and holy spirit.
I can appreciate Christianity, but I can also look at the damage it has done. As a black woman in America, I listened for years to Christians who felt it was not only legal, but Christian to treat blacks poorly. Don't say that they weren't Christian. That is an easy way for people to escape responsibility. They considered themselves Christian.
When I had the opportunity to meet Jews (one doesn't meet too many in a Catholic school), I was taken by their commitment to learning and to social justice (ok, that's where a lot of them turn left, but my rabbi marched with MLK, which I found impressive at the time). Human nature being what it is, I'm sure there are racist Jews; it's just in my experience, I have run into less racism from Jews than from Christians.
Judaism is ancient, monotheistic, and requires some very real actions in terms of working to repair the world - what can I do here and now to change things? I admire it very much and never looked back after my conversion - no 'channuka bush' or all that other crap.
Besides, as a pre-Vatican II Catholic, I just couldn't see myself as a protestant. : )
I find this whole post very interesting. I was born a into the "Christian" faith. I met my husband who was a Jew, and decided to convert to Judiasm because it is easier to raise your children in one religon. Everything has worked out well....and as far as the mother-n-law...she is awesome!!!!! I am looking forward to the Rosh Hashannah spread :)
I find this whole post very interesting. I was born a into the "Christian" faith. I met my husband who was a Jew, and decided to convert to Judiasm because it is easier to raise your children in one religon. Everything has worked out well....and as far as the mother-n-law...she is awesome!!!!! I am looking forward to the Rosh Hashannah spread :)
Not sure but I don't think Jews believe in Hell.
I've learned that on this thread. I wasn't aware of that before.
Apparently, all references to hell are in the New Testament, something I wouldn't have guessed.
LOL! Try being a conservative black academic in a culture where people assume you are leftist because you're a black academic. Beaucoup exploding heads!
Don't forget that it was religious Christians who relentlessly pushed the abolition of slavery.
I too am a convert to Judaism. My children go to a Jewish Day School. About 1/3 of my son's class had a parent who was a convert- weird, but cool.
My name is Tina, and I know Jewish Christines, also Faith, Heidi and other names that one might not expect.
My soup is simmering on the stove now in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah.
I converted after 5 years of marriage, and my husband was unsure of his feelings on the matter. He was non-religious. He knew that if the mother went, so too would the family, and we did! Right this minute he is working on the the High Holiday services. He leads one of the services in our synagogue, keeps kosher, and studies. He is much more observant than he (probably) would have been had he married a Jew.
My son in law who is Jewish and I talk about this alot. I cannot shake his conviction that this life is it.
It is interesting,,all of my daughters married men who are Jewish,,one who is totally Jewish, one half Jewish but an observant jew and one who has a jewish Grandmother but who was raised as a methodist.
The only problem we ever have is when a pet dies,,my daughters all talk about the pet going to heaven and I think it irritates the sons in law. But as husbands, they are grade A, very good men, faithful, treat the daughters like Queens, respect me and their Father. I couldn't ask for more from sons in law. And the religion has not been an issue.
They have all handled it in different ways. And they all love each other.
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