[Cinnamon Girl]

Judaism is RABBINIC Judaism, monkeyshine, as you know. We are not karites. Any understanding of the laws today must be based on the Written AND Oral law. And the problem with someone who wants to convert to Judaism, but doesn't accept Rabbinic law, is that-- they are not then practicing Judaism, and they are not Jewish. Basically, if someone does not go to a mikvah and accept upon themselves the practice of Shabbos, Kashrus, and Taharas Hamishpacha, their conversion is not a conversion.

[monkeyshine]

Thanks for putting up with my stubborness. You know I mean no offense in challenging these concepts.

And the problem with someone who wants to convert to Judaism, but doesn't accept Rabbinic law, is that-- they are not then practicing Judaism, and they are not Jewish

I don't dispute that, although the acceptance of Mishnah is unquestionably an act of faith - we believe it to have been written and passed down orally accurately.

I dispute the degree in which this is enforced, and the apparant double standard applied to prospective converts vs secular Jews. A person born of a Jewish mother is a Jew even if he cooks and eats lobster on Shabbat. Is defiance of Jewish law the same as rejection of Jewish law?

There really is a great arbitrary nature to all this. If you find a beit din of Sabbath observant Jews, 2 witnesses and a rabbi, to convert you, you are a Jew. Certainly they have an obligation to ensure your sincerity, but no 2 beit din's will maintain the same requirements, and there is essentially no way to ensure observance thereafter.