One of the easiest Jewish “sects” (for lack of a better term) for a non-Jew to grasp, I think, is Humanistic Judaism. Although Secular Humanistic Judaism is looked down upon to varying degrees by other Jews (Orthodox Jews seem to not be particularly fond of it), they do raise some interesting points and do make non-Jews feel very welcome. I started out in a Humanistic group and converted after several years when I felt more comfortable with the religious aspect. I’d reccomend that anyone who is looking for more information about Judaism seek out Humanistic or Reconstructivist Judaism first, as they tend to be a bit easier to understand for the person who doesn’t know all that much about Judaism. Be warned, though, that you wont be considered a “real Jew” by 9/10 other Jews until you make an actual conversion of some kind.
One thing nonJews seem to have a hard time understanding about Judaism is that it is legalistic. It isn’t a coincidence that Abraham entered a binding contract with Gd --one that continues to bind Abraham’s sucessors-in-interest – or that one of the Seven Noahide Laws is to establish an organized court system. As other posters have noted, beliefs, faith, and emotions towards Gd matter relatively little to the practice of Judaism.
You can’t be Jewish just by feeling Jewish in your heart and going to shul any more than you can be a lawyer by feeling lawyerish in your heart and filing motions. To be a lawyer you have to pass the Bar Exam according to the requirements of your state, apply for membership to the Bar and be accepted after examination of your motives and merit. Similarly, to become a Jew you must undertake the correct formalities in accordance with the sect you wish to join. No formalities, no Jew.
I doubt there is even 1/10 of Jews who would consider a person not born of any Jewish parent, who has not converted, to be Jewish. They would be, at most, a person interested in Judaism (note: as such they should be welcomed at shul by Jews.)
Going from one mouse maze to another? Why not just get out the exit and live outside the maze? Ritual just wastes your time, shortens your life, and when you finally let go of ritual you will see that. Now is a good point. Let go of one ritual as planned, then wait, and maybe you won’t need a new one.
Ruth said “your people will be my people,” not “I hope I’m good enough to be one of your people after the identity police decide if I am or not.”
I don’t see what the problem is with people who genuninely love Judaism and feel its influence in their life calling themselves Jews even if they haven’t actually converted. We’ve been around for thousands of years and survived every attempt to wipe us out, slander us, smear us, and destroy us…a few “non-official Jews” aren’t going to hurt us. Unless you’re on a Beit Din you don’t get to decide if other Jews are “real Jews” or not. What if a someone hasn’t made a conversion but feels moved when saying the Shema? I would consider that “Jewish” at least.
Maybe it’s just my lingering sense of loyalty given how I came to Judaism (as explained above), but I try to keep an open mind when some people say they feel “Jewish in their heart” but haven’t made a conversion. Who am I to judge them?
kidneyfailure, speaking as someone who is not, according to Halacha, Jewish, I feel a visceral disagreement with your post. You can’t feel your way into Judaism. Let me tell you what, one of the most observant people I’ve known in my life was not technically Jewish. She had decided a couple years previously to when I knew her that she wanted to convert to Judaism and had spent the intervening time learning about it and had begun taking on the mitzvot. She was very serious about it. But was she a Jew? No. Would she have claimed to be a Jew? No. She wasn’t even in the process of conversion when I knew her. She went to shul and I can’t imagine that anyone would have turned her away or treated her any less because she wasn’t officially Jewish yet. Nevertheless, all of this stuff, about what’s in your heart and what you do, none of this all by itself can turn a non-Jew into a Jew. You still have to follow the rules that have been set down by the rabbis.
Since Ruth and Naomi lived before the Talmud was redacted, yeah, things were a little different for them. But Halacha changes (there is a feeling of movement inherent in the word “Halacha”, in fact) and that is how it is done now.
Would she have claimed to be a Jew? No.
Good for her. Other people don’t feel that way, though. Again, what right does anyone have to judge another person’s identity?
I’ve been through this debate more than a few times, now that I’ve added my two cents to this discussion I wont put myself through that debate again.
Live and let live, that’s all I’ll say. Who cares if someone says they’re “Jewish” even if they haven’t gone through a conversion? As a Jew I should know better than to ask that, but as a human I have better things to worry about.
Actually, now that I think more about it, wouldn’t you say that “feeling Jewish” is one of the most important aspects of one’s Jewish identity? I mean, think about it this way: if I convert to marry a Jewish spouse, do the mikvah, and get approved by the Beit Din and officially become a “Jew,” none of that would mean anything if I just did it so I could get married and if I didn’t feel it in my heart. If I didn’t feel Jewish in my heart and someone asked me if I was a Jew I’d just say no. I wouldn’t follow any of the holidays or even pay any attention to it. I would do the opposite, though, if my Judaism was something heartfelt. Seems like “feeling Jewish” in your heart is actually one of the most important aspects of being a Jew!
I certainly appreciate that point of view. However, I cannot altogether agree with it.
To my mind, Judaism is a sort of tribal identity. There is no central authority like a Pope who can tell people what it means - it comes, as it were, from the tribe itself; and that tribe is gloriously, irredemably fractious.
Hence the reliance in Judaism on legalism, on rules and rituals. These are things that do not require a central authority (absent in Judaism since the fall of the Temple) to administer. They are the product of centuries of debate and disagreement. Sometimes it seems that no two Jews follow the exact same set. They often make no sense, are inconvenient, and more than occasionally ignored. They are constantly being re-interpreted and re-defined - which is why a truly archaic sect like Judaism, some of whose adherenets seem positively medieval in outlook, can also in some cases appear most modern in ethos.
However, one thing that one cannot do and remain Jewish is to directly contradict the accumulated rules and rituals, to make of the religion something it is not - namely, an intuitive religion. Judaism is above all else a tribal identity, which is not something that one can “convert to” emotionally/intuitively (that is, by accepting the truth of it in one’s heart) as one can with, for example, Christianity. Judaism is a religion of community and this means that one must be accepted by the community - even though this often appears a silly formalism.
The paradigm example is that a congrigation (a minyan) needs 10 adult Jews - and it doesn’t matter if they are worthless examples. The saying goes something like “a minyan with 10 wastrels is valid; a minyan with 9 great rabbis is invalid”.
That this emphasis on formalism and ritual (often seemingly meaningless) can be silly and counterproductive has not gone unnoticed, and indeed forms a large part of early Christianity’s appeal as an alternative. Unfortunately, the alternative appears to be an inordinate focus on quality of belief, which has its own problems.
To get back to your example, to a Jew the notion that a person who “feels it in his or her heart” is a better Jew than one who submits to the formalism (but doesn’t care) goes a bit against the grain. After all, the latter Jew has accepted and been accepted into the community, whatever their motives. The former seems more of an enthusiast - the concern is that while s/he “feels it in (his) heart” today, they may feel differently tomorrow.
And that my friend is exactly it in a nutshell. I see people interpreted what I wrote about being a true way to G-d as meaning an afterlife. Not at all. I mean in BELIEVING in a high power. Now what will happen after death. Attending Jewish celebrations and holidays have always touched me spiritually more than the ones in which I was raised. It really is as simple as that for me. Now the process to be accepted in that community is a different story all together. Obviously I can choose to believe anything I want and already do, the question is can I participate and learn from people that believe the same.
But could they still get some of those latkes?
Exactly. Even if I am able to go through the process, my close friends that are non practicing Jews will always be considered more “Jewish” than I am simply because they do have that tribal identity which I can never achieve.
However, accepting that as fact, it doesn’t lesson the desire to be accepted enough to learn and grow through the religious aspect despite not really being able to achieve the past and cultural aspect.
But what excuse can you use then to refuse to do chores or errands one day out of seven? This weekend, I really should have done laundry. But Saturday was Shabbat, then Sunday was Simchat Torah. I had an excuse to not do the laundry, and one that most people consider a better excuse than “I don’t feel like it”. I got to put off doing the laundry for two more days and take a nice nap instead, and a good excuse to put off chores is always a thing of joy. I have a ready-made excuse to not do chores every Friday night and every Saturday. You atheists don’t have that.
Anyone who is converting to Judaism should try to fully observe at least one Shabbat. I don’t do the full Orthodox Shabbat (I do turn lights on and off, play video games, and watch TV, though I did try that once), but I don’t do chores or errands. I did not think I would end up observing Shabbat when I started converting, but I tried it and liked it.
After reading this thread . . . I want latkes AND pot roast. Can’t have latkes without pot roast.
If you really and truly want to be a Jew then go for it. I’ve mostly found the religion of my birth useful, pleasant and comforting. The food’s great, the jokes are nice and a good brocha in Hebrew makes me feel quite happy.
Actually, I prefer my latkes with sour cream, so that precludes having pot roast (unless we have apple sauce instead of sour cream, which also happens to be quite yummy!).