So you want to become Jewish?
Well, you're not alone. While there are about 5.6 million Jews in America (representing roughly 1.5% of the population), over 200,000 of them are converts. But before you choose to join the party, consider this: converting from one religion to another is always a big step, but converting to Judaism is different; you're not joining a religion, you're joining a culture. Because of the history of anti-Semitism, the Jewish community is a tight-knit group, connected on many levels above and beyond the technicalities of religious beliefs and practices. So read below, and learn all there is to becoming a FOWA (Friend of Woody Allen). One last thing: conversion is a serious thing, and even though we've woven in some witty asides in this article, you should approach this matter with the level of seriousness befitting a spiritual conversion.
1. MAKE SURE YOU REALLY WANT TO CONVERT TO JUDAISM
Sound like a stupid piece of advice? Well it's not. There are many good reasons to become Jewish, but those reasons do NOT include:- To spite your parents.
- Because you're bored.
- Why not?
The most common reasons people give for converting include:
- "I am converting because I am marrying a Jew."
- "I find the spiritual beliefs and cultural characteristics of Judaism profoundly appealing."
- "I wish to give my children a clear religious identity."
So how can you be sure that you want to convert? One word: research. Read as many books about the Jewish faith as possible, and try to get a sense of whether Jewish values and beliefs resonate with your own. You can find a comprehensive list of books about the Jewish faith at www.jewishnet.net/subjects/lib.html. Some of the most basic foundations of the Jewish religion are the belief in one God who is kind and loving, that people always have free will, and (this one is a biggie) that Jesus Christ was not the messiah. Instead, Jews believe that the messiah has not yet come (with the possible exception of Barbra Streisand). These are some of the religious foundations, but there are also many cultural foundations to Judaism, most prominently a huge importance placed on the values of family and education. As you are probably aware, Judaism is more than a religion, it's a culture.
Of course, Judaism is a religion, and we think now is a good time to explain some basic religious terms:
Service
"Service" is the generic term used to refer to a prayer ceremony held in a synagogue. A religious Jew attends a service every Friday night (or Saturday morning). It's analogous to going to church on Sunday; Friday night services occur every week, no matter what. The period of sundown to sundown from Friday night to Saturday night is called the "Sabbath." All services (indeed, all Jewish holidays) officially begin at sundown. Why? Because according to the Torah (see below), God first created the dark, and then the light. Evening came before morning, so the first "day" actually occurs at night. Cool, eh?
Sabbath
Now, the Sabbath is the Jewish day of rest, celebrating the day God rested after creating the world. If you are very religious, you too will rest during this period. This means not doing any work (no matter what your deadlines at your job are) and not using any electricity (you have to walk everywhere, keep the lights off, etc). On Friday nights as the sun sets, Jews have a special dinner (fancy plates, home-cooked meal, the works). Candles are lit, special Sabbath bread (called "challah") is eaten, and wine is drunk (with each of these actions receiving a Hebrew prayer first). Then you eat.
Torah
See? We told you we'd get back to this one. In Judaism, the Torah contains the Holy Scriptures. This is all shorthand for "the first five books of the Bible," Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Every word from these five books is written in Hebrew on a scroll made out of lambskin. The Torah is always written by hand, and it takes one year to read it (a little bit is read every week). On the last day of the reading, there is a huge celebration (a Jewish holiday called "Simchat Torah"), and then the rabbi starts reading it all over again. No one is allowed to touch the Torah with his or her hand (to help read it, you use a pointer called a "yad"), and if it touches the ground, it must be buried just as a person would be. That's how holy the Torah is.
Holidays
There are also other services that Jews attend on holidays. Some of the most important holidays are:
Rosh Hashanah: Celebrating the first day of the Jewish New Year (usually occurs in late September or early October).
Yom Kippur: Repenting for your sins of the past year by fasting for 24 hours (usually occurs 9 days after Rosh Hashanah). This is the most important holiday in Judaism. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are collectively called the "High Holidays."
Pesach: Often referred to as Passover, the remembering of the time when Moses liberated the Hebrew slaves and led them out of Egypt to the area which would become Israel (usually occurs in early April).
But knowledge of basic terms does not a Jew make: before you can convert, you're gonna have to prove to the rabbi that you know what you're doing, and that you really want to convert. Reading books, attending lectures, and speaking with Jewish friends is a nice way to start. Also try going to a service at a synagogue or participating in a Sabbath dinner, to watch some hard-core Jews in action.
2. FIND YOUR DREAM RABBI
Once you have firmly decided to become Jewish, the next step is to find a rabbi who will be your sponsor for conversion. This rabbi will take you through all the necessary steps, and will proclaim you ready for conversion only when he thinks that you're ready. So it's important to pick a rabbi you like and think you can get along with. When picking a rabbi, you have to consider many things, including location, whether you have to pay (and how much you have to pay) to be a member of the temple, and the temple's level of religiosity. There are four basic levels of religiousness:- Orthodox
- Conservative
- Reform
- Reconstructionist
Orthodox
This is the most traditional branch of Judaism. Orthodox Jews will go to temple every Saturday, and they tend to have a literal interpretation of the Bible. Just think of this as the most religious of the branches. Converting to Orthodox Judaism will take up A LOT of time, because you have to read and learn a lot of Jewish laws, and you will probably have to learn how to read Hebrew. Jewish men who wear yarmulkes (or skullcaps, or a keepot, or whatever you like to call 'em) are probably Orthodox. Non-Jewish men who wear yarmulkes are probably trying to hide their baldness.
Conservative
This is the group of Jews that most would call "pretty religious." Conservative temples conduct a lot of their services in Hebrew, and while their members won't necessarily go to every Friday night or Saturday morning service, they still tend to be pretty religious. Conservative Jews may keep kosher (not eating certain types of meat unless the animal was killed properly).
Reform
This branch has the largest number of members, and is considered to be the most religiously lenient of the four branches. Most converts choose Reform Judaism, because it is generally the most accepting to those who have converted, and it is generally seen to revolve around personal faith and belief, with less focus on the written words of the Torah. Most "High Holiday" Jews (Jews who only go to temple on the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) are Reform Jews. Reform temple services tend to be held mostly in English.
Reconstructionist
Reconstructionist Judaism is a fast growing branch, although it's the smallest (only about 3% of all Jews are Reconstructionist). It is probably the most liberal of the four branches, viewing Judaism as a constantly changing and evolving religion, and believing that these changes should be embraced. Reconstructionist faith especially differs from the other three branches in that it does not necessarily see Jews as "the chosen people."
Since you are a smart person and followed step 1 before step 2, you should now have an idea of where you fall on the scale. Now all you have to do is find a rabbi at a temple of appropriate religiosity. Many find their temples through the Yellow Pages, or by asking friends. But for a list of over 250 temples of all levels of religiousness with rabbis who are happy to help you in the conversion process, go to www.convert.org/informat.htm.
When you first meet with the rabbi, he (almost all rabbis are men, although women can be rabbis too) will grill you about your reasons for and dedication to converting. These questions may include:
- Why are you converting?
- What do you already know about Judaism?
- Do you know the differences between Judaism and your birth religion?
- Are you willing to put in the time necessary for studying?
- Are you planning to raise your children as Jewish?
In days of yore, if you were trying to convert to Orthodox Judaism, the rabbi might turn you away a couple of times as a test of your desire. But rabbis don't usually play these Jedi mind tricks anymore.
The final important component of picking a rabbi, though, is that you feel comfortable with him. You will be discussing some very personal issues with him, issues that begin with capital letters, like Life and Fate and God and Faith. You should feel completely at ease discussing these issues with him, as opposed to feeling intimidated. Remember, a rabbi is not your leader; he is your teacher who helps you.
3. LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT JUDAISM
What's the difference between this step and step 1? At this point, your course of study will be overseen by the rabbi. A typical course of study may last 6 months to a year, but it can take longer, especially for conversion to Orthodoxy. Most temples have special classes for those who are planning to convert. A typical course of study will include basic Jewish beliefs and religious practices, including prayer services, the history of the Jewish people, the Jewish home, the Jewish holidays and life cycle, the Holocaust, and Israeli history and politics. The study of Hebrew is also included, which means that you'll have to learn a whole new alphabet (it's not an easy language to learn, but that really doesn't matter. You just need to show a willingness to at least familiarize yourself with the language).
4. INCORPORATE JUDAISM INTO YOUR DAILY LIFE
As you embark on your quest for Judaic knowledge, the rabbi will ask you to start implementing some of the Jewish practices in your home, such as keeping kosher, so be prepared to make a full-fledged commitment. Judaism is not interested in active recruitment or garnering "paper" members. Rather, it only embraces those who embrace Judaism with an open heart. And throughout this whole process, the rabbi will constantly talk to you about how you feel, assessing your commitment to and knowledge of Judaism. Now don't get freaked if you think this all sounds like a lot of effort. It IS a lot, but it's also partly a test of persistence to make sure that you really are interested in the religion, and if you really want to convert, you should find the stuff engrossingly interesting. If you find yourself falling asleep in every lecture, or dying of boredom reading every book, try hooking up with a different religion.
5. HAVE A CONVERSION CEREMONY
OK, it's one year later, and the rabbi thinks that you are ready to officially convert. There are four main parts of a conversion ceremony:- Facing a religious court
- Immersion
- Circumcision
- Picking a new name
All of the parts of the ceremony do not occur at the same time, or even necessarily in the same month. It depends on your time schedule, and what the rabbi wants. But all four steps are part of the official procedure of Jewish conversion.
Facing a religious court
It's time to face Judge Jew-dy. (Get it? Judy? Jew-dy? Shut up.) The first part of the conversion ceremony is to face the religious court (in Hebrew, it's called a Bet Din). The court consists of 3 people, of whom at least one must be a rabbi. (Often all three will be.) The court will ask you questions about Judaism, to make sure that you studied well. It's not a graded test, and the rabbis are not trying to trick you. This is not the SATs, where there are little traps for people who confuse easily. The rabbis are just making sure that you still want to convert, and that you're ready. Think of the whole thing like getting a really easy word in a spelling bee: everybody knows that you know the answer, but to win, you still have to stand up there and give the right answer. Sample questions might be about Jewish beliefs in one God, or the significance of the Sabbath, or the reasons that Jews celebrate Yom Kippur.
Immersion
You've passed the court! Now it?s time to immerse of the candidate into a mikveh, or the ritual bath. The mikveh is a special religious pool made specifically for converting to Judaism. You go into the pool, the rabbi says some prayers, and you come out Jewish. Yes, we know it sounds a little bit like a baptism, but it's not. It's a mikveh. You're Jewish now, so act it.
Circumcision
No more joking. Now we get really serious. Men who were not circumcised at birth now must play haircut and "get a little bit trimmed off the top." Furthermore, you can't get circumcised by just anyone, but only by a surgeon or doctor who has been deemed circumcision-worthy by a temple (this special kind of doctor is called a "mohel," pronounced "MOY-yell"). Don't get too panicky, though; Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis usually do not require a circumcision. If you were already circumcised and you want to convert to Orthodox or Conservative Judaism, then you still must give a drop of your blood as a symbolic circumcision. In case you weren't sure, let us be specific: circumcision only applies to MALE candidates. And here's one last important tip: don't get circumcised before facing the religious court. What if they don't pass you? Then you would've gotten snipped for nothing!
Picking a new name
Have you always hated your name? Thought that Millicent was too prudish sounding, or Percival was too prissy? Well, after getting past the Bet Din, you will get the chance to pick a new Hebrew name. Talk to the rabbi about picking a name that you like, but you probably passed by some nice names during your days of study. Many choose a name based on a biblical figure that they admired in their Judaic studies. Popular names include Abraham, Samuel, Sarah, and Ruth. This Hebrew name will not replace your old one, but will rather be added as a second middle name, referred to at important religious events, such as your wedding or your funeral (though some would argue that those are not mutually exclusive). Once you pick your name, a prayer will be said, and bam! A new identity.
And that's all there is to it! While the process differs, depending on the rabbi and religiousness of the sect that you'd like to enter, this is the bare bones guide of what to expect when converting to Judaism. And here's a last bit of good news: once you convert, you're just as Jewish as anyone who was born into the religion. There's no "half-citizenship" or anything, so revel in your newfound Jewish-ness.
We wish you the best in your spiritual decision-making.
