A couple of the reasons why Jews don’t proselytize have been mentioned already, but perhaps the most important one today (now that most countries no longer make it illegal) has only been alluded to (by Captain Amazing and – sort of – SuaSponte). In Jewish theology, salvation is not limited to Jews, but is available to anyone who lives a righteous life by fulfilling the Noachide Covenant – the seven commandments that make up the convenant between G-d and Noah after the flood. These basically are:
[ul]
[li]Don’t murder;[/li][li]Don’t steal;[/li][li]Don’t worship false gods;[/li][li]Don’t commit certain acts of sexual immorality;[/li][li]Don’t eat the limbs of an animal before it’s killed;[/li][li]Don’t blaspheme;[/li][li]Set up courts of law and bring offenders to justice.[/li][/ul]
You should also believe in a single God (see the third item in the list). But basically, if you can manage those seven, you’re already entitled to whatever Jews who fulfill all 613 mitzvot (or at least as many of them as are possible in this post-Temple age) get. So the problem, for most rabbis, is that by allowing/encouraging you to convert to Judaism, they’re actually making it much harder for you to attain salvation – you’ve got a lot more to do, and a lot more ways to mess it up. Who needs that kind of guilt on their conscience? ;j
Off the top of my head (and IANA religious Jew), I think this list isn’t quite right. It should be, IIRC, commandments 3 & 5-10, which are (not exactly in order):
[ul]
[li]Don’t blaspheme[/li][li]Honor your parents[/li][li]Don’t steal[/li][li]Don’t commit adultry[/li][li]Don’t murder[/li][li]Don’t covet[/li][li]Don’t bear false witness[/li][/ul]
(which is pretty close to your list - but how did the bit about the animals’ limbs come to replace honoring parents? :eek:)
Dani
No, this is the Seven Noachide Laws, which are different from the Ten Commandments. These are the laws that were given to Noah after the Flood, and since (according to the Torah) all people alive today are descended from Noah, these laws are binding on everyone. They have some of the same laws that later show up in the Ten Commandments, but are two different sets of laws given at different times.
It has always been possible for others to join the Israelite people. The bible records that a “mixed multitude” joined the Israelites in the Exodus. And Ruth, of course, is the most famous convert, the great-grandmother of David. (The clear lesson being that Jew-by-birth has no claim to superiority over Jew-by-choice.)
Also, traditionally, Orthodox rabbis are supposed to refuse a potential convert’s request three times. This is to make sure the potential convert is really sincere.
Why this discouragement? Some reasons have been mentioned. I’d like to state another reason explicitly (it was implied by the reference to pogroms). Throughout history, people have accused the Jews of recruiting “innocent” people to their religion. These accusations were false at the time they were made, but the impact remains to today. With a few exceptions, Jews did not go about to make converts. There were always the so-called “G-d-fearers,” those who were attracted to Judaism and even practiced a few mitzvot (Sabbath, prayer, diet, etc.) but who did not convert. There were, of course, converts, but these came from the G-d-fearers rather than from hearing Jews preach their religion in an attempt to get converts. Conversion in ancient Judaism was a passive affair, as far as Jews and Judaism is concerned: they let the converts come to them rather than otherwise. When they came, they were welcomed (for the most part). This is very much the opposite of what exists in Islam and more so in Christianity.
It’s a measure of self-defense to not be eager to convert others or accept converts. Jews did not want any more accusations of trying to “ensnare” “innocent” people. Non-Jews who are hostile to Jews would have considered and today still consider people converting to Judaism as being ensnared by some Jewish plot, when the facts are quite the opposite. (Members of the convert’s old religion will find someone to blame for brainwashing the convert. They cannot accept that a person would consciously make the choice of abandoning their religion and become a Jew: they had to be brainwashed, fooled, or trapped. Conversion to Judism is not the only case wherein this happens, though.) Of course, in today’s world it’s safer for a person to become a Jew, safer for the convert and the Jews, but the lively existence of anti-Semitism should not be ignored.
For what it’s worth, I told a Lubavitcher rabbi I was very much interested in Judaism and, at times, even thought I have a nefesh yehudi. He was a bit distanced with me - I could see he was not very comfortable. He said that G-d made me the way I am. Therefore, I should find fulfillment where G-d made me. It does not make sense going about converting to other religions. Besides, there is never any need to convert to Judaism since all humanity needs are the Noachide Laws. He told me that I could share what I learned from Torah with those of my religion. Nonetheless, I would be free to participate in whatever Jewish services I could attend. At the end, however, he did say that conversion to Judaism is only done as a last resort, if spiritual fulfillment simply cannot be found elsewhere. (I told this to a Jewish professor at my alma mater, and he informed me that the rabbi would give me a similar response two more times. The fourth time I approach the rabbi, he’ll accept my interest without hesitation.)
WRS
Only about as much as Roman Catholicism is about Italian culture.
Huh. I always had the impression that “Sheva Mizvoth Bnei Noah” referred to those commandments that were not specifically about the technicalities of worshipping Jehova Itself… :smack: (Well, I did say that I’m not religious, so this was anecdotal “so-called knowledge” all along). I stand corrected. Thanks for the link!
(And appologies to rackensack too, for “correcting” his correct posting)
Dani