Posted on 12/29/2016 8:19:15 AM PST by Read Write Repeat
Rabbi Tovia Singer responds to a former Arab Muslim woman regarding her conversion to Conservative Judaism.
With all due respect, you as a Gentile have seven laws you must adhere to (you added three more) plus civil law and codes of your country and state.
Jews have 613 commandments plus everything we must do without temple sacrifices available, and civil laws and codes of our country and state.
Dietary laws are 0.0000001% of that, and probably the easiest to follow. :)
Agree with almost everything you’ve written about how righteous non-Jews including Moslems have access to the next world or heaven . Thanks. (Just the one difference - if you ever find any authority for a rabbi refusing — not just dissuading or “testing” but refusing —to consider a sincere conversion inquiry — please send it along to me. I’ve never heard of it and there’s so much authority to the contrary. I am not a scholar so must acknowledge I’ve yet a lot to learn, thanks!!!). Ps: rabbi akiva’s father was a convert
What you’re asking me to do is to violate halacha and commit lashon hara against another Jew.
I personally consider anyone who converts on the same level — and higher — than a born Jew because they actually get an education on halacha and much more. Many Jews who were raised in non-practicing homes actually go through a similar process if they BT.
There are a lot of people who recently discovered they have a Jewish heritage and possibly halacha Jew, or want to become one. “Feelings” aren’t enough for an Orthodox rabbi because there aren’t that many of them and their time is limited. In many cases, going through such an abrupt change is too much for someone who was raised in either another religion or faithless. No rabbi wants to stake their reputation on a flake and then get all their conversions called into question — that goes for after someone converts too.
Rejection is something every single Jew has to learn how to deal with. We are literally the most hated people on the planet. Your family members may not support you at all, and quite possibly sever ties with you. You may lose your job because your boss wants you to work on Shabbat. And let’s not even get into how a significant portion of this population believes your death or conversion leads to some fulfillment of their religion’s prophecy. There are organizations funded with billions of dollars specifically to mission to you. You’re not safe in Israel either because they manage using very underhanded methods to get in so they can harass you. The “convert or kill” mentality never disappears in this world, and leads to cooperation (either knowingly or unknowingly) with terrorists.
And halacha rules your life because it’s the only way you get close to Hashem. If you have kids, you can’t have your mobile phone on during Shabbat. If one of them has a football game across town on Shabbat, forget it — they either have to walk or not play. You have to prepare all your meals the day before and use a warming plate or eat cold foods. You have to put all your lights and on-demand appliances on timers. No internet or electronic devices where you have to push a button or some other action. No sewing, no tearing, etc. No work. No cleaning.
Try it for sundown to sundown. See if you can hack it one time. I will say 99.9% of people in this world will break Shabbat within the first two hours.
Persecution doesn’t come from just Gentiles either. Jews are pretty hard on one another. Get used to being called a heretic or apostate because you daven with such and such group. I personally look for the best aspects of every movement so I always have something good to point out, but the majority of Jews don’t agree with that outlook. It’s always something: how you dress, how you talk, how many kids you have, etc.
Being a Jew is like having a megawatt spotlight on yourself. Everything you do, eat, say, etc. is observed by Hashem. Not only that, if you screw up in public, you just embarrassed all of Israel and brought shame on your people. You’re also automatically labeled a socialist or communist even though such a system goes against Torah.
The hardest thing above all is avoiding idolatry, believe it or not. It’s this constant trap set for you that can spring any time, any place. It can happen with a political figure, a rabbi, a co-worker, etc. All of a sudden, you think someone is absolutely perfect and can do no wrong — and therefore you put a human above Hashem.
Yeah, it’s not all bagels and comedy. There’s punishment and repentance. The majority of people are better off being Gentile aiming for supreme levels of righteousness like an Oscar Schindler kind of person. Most won’t choose that either because it’s so much more important to have a correct opinion or material things instead of compassion and true charity.
Now if you’re still reading and still want to do this to yourself instead of remaining a Gentile, I will tell you it’s the best thing in the world to have that unbreakable contract with Hashem. That direct relationship with Hashem and redemption is worth all of that and much more. Wouldn’t change it for anything.
Have a wonderful Shabbat & Happy Chanukah ping.
Sorry for the apparent misunderstanding. I did not wish you to speak evil of anybody. I also applaud your faith commitment and agree with most of your analyses. as for conversions, it is understandable that a rabbi may not wish to sully his reputation with insincere conversions. But I respectfully submit each person has to find his/her best path to the Divine and rabbis usually will not refuse a sincere inquiry. The usual required study learning and the time this takes give the rabbi opportunity to assess for proper motivations and commitment -and understanding of the disadvantages of joining a much- persecuted people. just as you find Jewish faith and life and connection to G-d to be a tremendous blessing in your life, there have always been some non-Jewish “seekers” who —after studying Judaism- do likewise The rabbis are usually cautious and yes. May require up to three requests from such a person before seriously discussing it with them - but while the entry door is heavy it is not, has never been, locked. That’s all I was meaning to write. Bless you and thanks thanks for your kindness in discussing. I usually shy away from religious topics as much as I can anyway - because there can be some quite hurtful words posted at times. Bless you.
It’s okay, I was just pointing that out. This is what every single Jew has to do before opening their mouth (or keyboard) and it’s really hard. We’re a huge nation, which means people like Soros and Bernie Madoff are part of that family.
Think about that. Think long and hard. Lashon hara is a sin just like murder is a sin.
Everything you ever learned about Hashem in any religion is a lie. Being a Jew isn’t religion.
I do insult Soros etc. that do extremely great harm to other people. This may indeed be a transgression, I consider this question seriously but right now at least I do insult the evil-doers.... I pray if they hear enough criticisms they just MIGHT pray about their evil conduct. Perhaps this is a thankless hope. It probably is a thankless hope. This may be wrong=thinking but FAILING to speak clearly about great evil... would also I believe be a mistake. We must speak up in whatever ways we can when we see one person doing great harm to many innocent victims. (And I know I am no “saint”...)
At any event, I did not wish to encouarge any harsh words from YOU, for anybody. My apologies if I typed anything to you that came across that way. (I will take the blame on myself, I do not mean to entice others into my course.)
Best regards,
Oh?
Just what might that be?
Sounds like a lot of Jews in this thread are rearranging the deck chairs; while the Capitan of the lifeboat is waiting to pull them over the gunwale if they’ll just reach out to Him.
“An unsettled debate.”
Settled at Mt. Sinai a long time ago. Any religion teaching against Torah and the Jews is a lie.
Show me from Torah being Jewish has no connection to religion. But first define the key terms so we know we are using a common dictionary. We can start with Jew and Religion. Otherwise, I’m not interested in an endless exchange of unfounded assertions. It is an abominable waste of the short little lives God gave us.
Peace,
SR
The issue I have with Wikipedia is that it’s written for a very broad audience, and therefore interpretation is extremely broad without accompanying study. It’s up to the individual to pursue the sources in depth.
Everyone has their facepalm moment when they learn something new. :)
Thankfully we have a framework for repentance after we read the writings of the sages. There’s some good stuff about lashon hara, and I recommend going direct to the writings of the sage who studied that area extensively. Something might jump out at you.
That’s the thing about repentance: you have to trust the contract is genuine, otherwise you’re going to beat yourself up over transgressions.
Watch the video a few times, then you’re more than welcome to message me to discuss any questions. :)
You made a specific assertion about Jewishness not being tied to religion. If you don’t want to defend it in public, that’s up to you.
BTW, I agree with the principle that the tongue is capable of great evil. Our own Apostle James taught exactly that. Jesus too. But speaking evil of others must logically include misrepresenting the content of their faith. A great deal of what observant Christians and Jews believe is identical. It is simply not logical that the same statement about God is true when said by a Jew and false when said by a Christian. That is an outrageous absurdity. All truth is God’s truth. Therefore, your sweeping generalization is false. And as it relates to real people, it is slander.
Peace,
SR
Torah isn’t religion.
The Law commands Jews to rebuke anyone who says otherwise. Either you believe Torah was given to Moishe at Sinai by Hashem, or you don’t. No gray area exists, only direct repentance to and forgiveness from Hashem.
Now, if you’re bringing up the fact some Jews hide for survival with an outward appearance of other religions and cultures, then anyone with a Jewish education knows those are known to Hashem as Jews because only Hashem knows Torah is written on their hearts and minds. Same goes for determining who the righteous Gentiles are.
Trust in your Creator, not man.
Also, I look forward to the day where labels are irrelevant.
Interesting you bring up truth, and I’m sure we both agree anything contradicting Torah isn’t truth. The sages examined the issue concerning what to do when encountering someone breaking the law, and it’s very enlightening.
Torah never changes because we’re forbidden to change it. All anyone has to do is compare anything they question the validity against the unchanged Torah, and truth jumps from the pages.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.