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Can a person become a Reform Jew without access to a local synagogue?
- Thread starter ZooGirl02
- Start date
I doubt it. Converting to Judaism requires a guided education in the religion, a somewhat formal process, and three rabbis.
Levite
Higher and Higher
I think becoming a Jew of any kind would be well-nigh impossible without access to a Jewish community. Aside from the fact that you need three rabbis to convert you (or at worst, three non-ordained scholars of Torah), where would you study? Who would teach you? How would you get the experience of leading a Jewish life, of attending services for Shabbat and holidays?
I suppose special circumstances can sometimes result in special arrangements that do work out. But if I were asked to sit on a bet din (rabbinical court) for a convert who had been taught online exclusively, in the absence of any Jewish community, I would have a lot of questions for that person, and would really need to be satisfied of their education and commitment, and I would want to know whether they planned to move to an area with a Jewish community, and if not, how did they plan to keep their lives Jewish, to keep kosher, to observe holidays, to raise their children Jewishly, with proper ritual experience and proper Jewish education? I'm not saying those questions couldn't be answered in such a way as to allay my concerns and make me happily convert the person. But I would want to see a lot of education, commitment, and forethought.
And to be perfectly honest, if, as a Conservative rabbi, someone came to me claiming to have been converted by a rabbi they found online, I would want to know a lot more about their background and process, because I would immediately suspect that the conversion had not been kosher, and had been done by someone who was not particularly concerned about halakhically correct conversion. I might be proven wrong, and would be happy to be so proven, but that would be my immediate thought.
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Levite
Higher and Higher
Mmm. Holding back from lashon hara now....
Now that's really the question, isn't it?!
Rakhel
Well-Known Member
The friend's name I remember. the rabbi he went to first I don't.
As to the question as to why one would do it via internet? I suppose it would really depend on location. If you truly believe you are Jewish yet don't have the funds to move, at the moment, and don't want to wait, I suppose it makes some kind of sense.
As to the question as to why one would do it via internet? I suppose it would really depend on location. If you truly believe you are Jewish yet don't have the funds to move, at the moment, and don't want to wait, I suppose it makes some kind of sense.
Nerthus
Wanderlust
I grew up with Judaism, and I remember meeting people who were converting. It's very difficult, takes about a year and you have to attend Synagogue regularly, and then attend a Bet Din, to see whether you are ready and genuine, before you can fully convert.
It's definitely not for people who aren't sure about the religion, or won't dedicate themselves to it for a long period.
It's definitely not for people who aren't sure about the religion, or won't dedicate themselves to it for a long period.
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Rakhel
Well-Known Member
A year? There are some here where the minimum is 3 yrs.
Nerthus
Wanderlust
I just checked on some websites and the programme takes a year to complete, before you can attend Bet Din.
I've never heard of one lasting three years? Is that Reform?
Rakhel
Well-Known Member
No that's not reform. Though to be fair I haven't attended a reform shul since I've been in New York. Just the conservative ones.
My conversion was a bit unorthodox even by reform standards so I really on have other's words on how long it takes for them.
I have heard some Conservative shuls go two years and some Orthodox go three years. But, in the end, I think it depends on the rabbi doing the converting.
Nerthus
Wanderlust
Quite possibly. I know that many Orthodox don't believe that Reform conversions are legal and wont accept them, so I would guess that they take a lot longer and make it more difficult for people to convert.
But, either way - it isn't easy!
I'm on a Reform Outreach board, and I can affirm there is no set time mandate.
All Proselytes are usually required to attend an 'Intro to Judaism' course which I believe runs for ten or twelve weeks (depends on the class length and instructor). However, what matters most is what knowledge the Proselyte already has, and often times they have quite a bit, with a large library. If they know their Alef-Bet, so much the better, they will pick up prayerbook Hebrew quickly. Participation in the community (as in Shabbat attendance, etc.) is important too.
All Proselytes are usually required to attend an 'Intro to Judaism' course which I believe runs for ten or twelve weeks (depends on the class length and instructor). However, what matters most is what knowledge the Proselyte already has, and often times they have quite a bit, with a large library. If they know their Alef-Bet, so much the better, they will pick up prayerbook Hebrew quickly. Participation in the community (as in Shabbat attendance, etc.) is important too.
Yes, transliteration is useful, when one is first learning the prayer as someone unused to Hebrew may not hear the words correctly, not being accustomed to them.
Once the prayer and it's meaning become memorized, then it's time to put away the transliterations and use what was learned to follow the text in the Hebrew, assuming that one knows the alphabet. Familiarity with one helps learn the other, and over time one can follow an unfamiliar prayer in the Hebrew, from what was learned following the familiar.
Rakhel
Well-Known Member
MY problem was is that I was familiar with the aleph-bet, it was the pronunciation and the vowels that drove me nuts(still do sometimes). So once I could figure out the pronunciation of the word, I was then able to match it word for word. I can still read Hebrew better than I can speak it, but hey it's a process.
I can understand that. I had the same problem with French in high school, and they use the same alphabet. After two years I could read and write in French, but speaking was out of the question.
I'll probably have the same problem with Hebrew. Learning the actual aleph-bet is going fine. But I think learning the sounds will be pretty hopeless for me, at least at first.