#rabbi convert to Christianity

[dramoor]

“Your true self, which you must study to know, is in Him.  He gives Himself to you within yourself.”

~Dr. Eugenio Zolli

(Art: Jesus Christ in Prayer - artist unknown)

[dolokhoded]

there's something incredibly funny about the dynamic between me, fandomed your bible made them queers but has no actual extreme opinions about christianity because i think it's all made up and you can believe in whatever pleases you, and my best friend, somewhat orthodox (with a natural hatred for the church any actual christian should have), very lowkey and respectful towards everything, frowns at me when i slander the apostle john, but straight up believes with his whole chest paul was the antichrist and will argue with your 80 year old christian grandmother about it

[shoutsindwarvish]

i just signed up for my shul’s adult b’mitzvah program, i’m so excited!!!

[badjokesbyjeff]

A man visits his Rabbi 

One day, a Jewish man visits his rabbi, with a worried look on his face.

"Rabbi Moishe, I've got quite a problem. It's my son, see. He went to Jerusalem to make pilgramage to the Wailing Wall, but when he came back, he'd become a Christian! I tried to ask him why he converted, but he didn't give me a straight answer. How on earth do you think that happened?"

The other Rabbi clicks his tongue in disbelief. "I wish I could give you a good answer, but to tell you the truth, the exact same thing happened to me! My son wanted to follow in my footsteps, went to Jerusalem for a theological study trip, and came back a Christian. I just don't know how it happened!"

Since they were at an impasse, the two men decided to pray to God and seek his aid with their problem.

"Oh graceful Elohim, we seek your counsel! We both sent our sons out to Jerusalem, but one way or another, they ended up Christian! How did this happen, oh Lord?"

There's a few seconds of silence, before a great sigh comes from above, and a divine voice booms back to them.

"Guys, you won't believe what happened to my son..."

[foxxsong]

.

[jessicalprice]

how can you be so controversial and yet so brave

(reposted from Twitter)

Hey so, have I ever told you about the time I was at an interfaith event (my rabbi, who was on the panel, didn't want to be the only Jew there), and there was a panel with representatives of 7 different traditions, from Baha'i to Zoroastrian?

The setup was each panelist got asked the same question by the moderator, had 3 minutes to respond, and then they moved on to the next panelist.

The Christian dude talked for 8 minutes and kept waving off the poor, flustered, terminally polite Unitarian moderator.

The next panelist was a Hindu lady, who just said drily, "I'll try to keep my answer to under a minute so everyone else still has a chance to answer." (I, incidentally, am at a table with I think the only other non-Christian audience members, a handful of Muslims and a Zorastrian.)

So then we get to the audience questions part. No one's asking any questions, so finally I decide to get things rolling, and raise my hand and the very polite moderator comes over and gives me the mic.

I briefly explain Stendahl's concept of "holy envy" and ask what each of theirs is.

(If you're not familiar, Stendahl had 3 tenets for learning about other traditions, and one was leave room for "holy envy," being able to say, I am happy in my tradition and don't desire to convert, but this is something about another tradition that I admire and wish we had.)

The answers were lovely. My rabbi said she admired the Buddhist comfort with silence and wished we could learn to have that spaciousness in our practice. The Hindu said she admired the Jewish and Muslim commitment to social justice & changing, rather than accepting, the status quo.

The Christian dude said he envied that everyone else on the panel had the opportunity to newly accept Jesus.

I shit you not.

Dead silence. The Buddhist and Baha'i panelists are resolutely holding poker faces. The Hindu lady has placed her hands on the table and folded them and seems to be holding them very tightly. Over on the middle eastern end of the table, the rabbi, the imam, and the Zoroastrian lady are all leaning away from the Christian at identical angles with identical expressions of disgust. The terminally polite Unitarian moderator is literally wringing his hands in distress.

A Christian lady at the table next to me, somehow unable to pick up on the emotional currents in the room, sighs happily and says to her fellow church lady, "What a beautiful answer."

anyway I love my rabbi to death and would do anything for her

except attend another interfaith event

[sheydandcherub]

I’d like to add that Christianity also directly contradicts the Jewish concept of G-d. Within Judaism, G-d is a singular being that can not be split into distinct parts nor is more than one. A prayer that is incredibly important to Jewish life and culture, the (first verse of the) Shema, is an excerpt from Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is one.” This prayer is said during morning and evening prayers every day, and is customary to be said when one’s death is surely certain. The concept of the trinity (Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the L-rd) directly opposes the Shema, Rabbinical teachings, and Jewish theology.

Sorry if this is dumb but I still don't understand why Christianity is incompatible with Judaism. Like what exactly about it? I don't mean to bother you too much since you already seem to get a lot of asks so you don't have to respond to this one lol

the biggest incompatibility theology wise is that the jewish messiah has not arrived yet. the christian messiah has. (the concept of a messiah is also very different in judaism vs christianity, which i can expand on more eventually.) the christian “new testament” according to christian theology essentially makes the jewish “old testament” obsolete (though the tanakh is not the same as the old testament, despite the fact some of the contents overlap). christianity since its inception has rejected judaism, so christian theology is often in direct opposition to jewish theology.

[spock-smokes-weed]

I’m trying to write a post about how the “Christmas is basically just yule” thing is really stupid but I kept getting too long and convoluted so this is my take two

When we’re talking about the roots of holidays a lot of them have pagan roots. Especially Christian holidays because most people were pagan in the places Christianity spread to. But just because it has pagan roots does not make it pagan. We’re talking 1000 years of separation between the original context of these holidays and modern day christmas. The first case of a winter celebration becoming one about christ occurred as early as the 4th century in Rome. And if we want to talk about Yule specifically, the shift started in the 10th century.

And Christianity didn’t “steal” pagan holidays like we would think of in today's context. There is a number of reasons why these shifts happened and it’s historical malpractice to say that “Christianity stole them”. That’s definitely a part of it, but when we’re talking about history there’s never one individual reason for mass cultural shifts like this.

All of this to say that there is a discussion to be had about Christmas’ roots in paganism and the long history of celebrations surrounding the birth of Christ, but if you’re going to engage with them you have to separate it from our modern understanding of Christianity.

I know a lot of former Christians still love Christmas and want to keep celebrating it because hey it’s really fun, and want an easy excuse with “it’s basically pagan anyway.” I need you to understand how tone deaf that sounds. Our modern day Christmas is still fundamentally about the celebration of the birth of Christ. There’s a lot more to the holiday, but that’s what’s at the core of it. And it’s a massive blind spot when you try to call it a secular holiday or a pagan one.

It’s only “secular” because we live in a predominantly Christian society. Sure a lot of people celebrate it in a non-religious way, and a lot of non-Christians celebrate it, but you cannot ignore that it is a Christian holiday.

There are just as many non-Christians who don’t celebrate, and who don’t get anything out of the festivities because it’s not what they believe in. There are people who’ve never had any connection to Christmas other than it being something that clogs up the whole month of December.

If you want to celebrate Christmas, go ahead, no one will judge you. If you want to celebrate it in a non-religious way then I think that’s also fine. But do not ignore its religious roots. Do not give non-Christians a hard time for being annoyed during christmas because it just makes you look like an asshole. If you want to celebrate a pagan holiday then celebrate Yule. Yule is still around. But don’t pretend like Christmas and Yule are one in the same.

[jewishbarbies]

why did nobody tell me that Marilyn Monroe was a Jewish woman and was denied a proper Jewish burial?????

“But despite continuing to consider herself Jewish until her death the following year, her funeral was conducted by a Lutheran (one of the most antisemitic Christian denominations, Martin Luther not King Jr was considered crazy to other antisemites in his time, that’s how bad it was) minister and Monroe was not buried in a Jewish cemetery. (As a side note, when Marilyn converted to Judaism, Egypt banned her movies (here comes the “it’s not antisemitism, it’s anti Israel” crowd to defend Egypt lol).

no one mentions she was jewish because that would ruin her beauty for them. that’s all she is to most people, a pretty face and a pair of boobs. despite saying things about how she feels about sex sounding like she could’ve been on the ace spectrum somewhere, people still obsessed over her supposed sexual relationship with JFK and treat her like a piece of meat. she had a very sad, hard life with a lot of trauma and pain, and she hasn’t been allowed to rest even dead. her husband, I believe, was the one who made her funeral christian. her rabbi was out of town so he purposely did it as fast as possible so that she could be buried where and how HE wanted. most if not all of her partners were incredibly abusive and cruel to her.

[scarecrowgolem]

Judaism doesn't proselytize, so bringing up out of nowhere why you aren't interested in converting is a bit odd and misses the point.

Honestly at this point, I'm really uninterested in hearing any gentile's "critique" of Judaism.

Whatever it is, whatever you're about to say, I am 1000% certain that at least one Jew has already raised this issue in ways that are thoughtful and centered in respect for other Jews. Probably lots of Jews; possibly whole theological movements. It's even possible that this particular topic has been under active discussion for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Someone has already said this better than you will. Someone has already raised whatever issue you have and grounded it in their own experiences of having lived a Jewish life.

So just leave it to us. Just stop. You're not helping. At best you're white-knighting, at worst you're actively contributing to an antisemitic majority culture.

"Well I've never seen Jews discussing [x] topic!" Your ignorance is not reality. These conversations are happening, possibly offline and at our Shabbos tables or shuls only, but they are happening.

"Well [x] topic impacts me personally!" Does it? Does it really? Because unless you live in Israel or Palestine, no Jewish group - no matter how seemingly numerous we may be in your city or neighborhood - is actually powerful enough to affect large-scale (or even typically small-scale) changes. Our fundamentalism is, for better or worse, directed at other Jews. The most intense thing I've heard of outside of Israel is a community getting together to petition the city to allow an eruv or a concentrated effort to make a few neighborhood blocks particularly Jewish because they're within walking distance of an orthodox shul. All other issues - no matter how ugly the opinions - are something that is part of much larger social trends that unfortunately some Jews happen to be engaging in. We'll deal with them; you focus on your people.

"I'm just listening to ex-fundamentalist Jews and white-knighting trying to help them be heard and not shouted down!" So first of all, if you knew anything about this topic, they typically call themselves OTD (which I'm sure you know what that stands for, because you've been listening) and secondly, great! You should listen to them. But their critiques are not your critiques. I can go on all day long about my family and their bullshit, and I can even (sometimes) appreciate you chiming in supportively. But it hits different when you go off chattering to other people about how my family is bullshit.

"Okay fine - I'm taking all that in and accept that my critiques aren't wanted, but what CAN I do, since I am literally vibrating in place about how Those People Over There Are Wrong and cannot simply ignore them?" Best thing you can do? Honestly? Learn about Judaism thoroughly from a variety of people, and learn how to be a good ally against antisemitism in all the spaces you want us in. Judaism not feminist enough for you? Learn how to make your feminist spaces safe and welcoming for Jews. Judaism not queer or trans enough for you? Learn how to make your queer and trans spaces safe and welcoming for Jews. Whatever movement you think we're not supporting enough or not showing up for enough, or whoever it is you think we're oppressing? Find the Jews who are doing that work (they exist, I promise) and listen to what they tell you about how to make your spaces be better.

[dramoor]

“When we love, we live Christ.”

~Dr. Eugenio Zolli

[bobemajses]

The building of one of the oldest synagogues in Bosnia, the Kal Nuevo or Novi Hram, is often associated with an amazing story from 19th century Sarajevo.

It happened that a Bosnian Jew, Moshe Havijo converted to Islam, joined the local dervishes and practised prophecy and miraculous healing. Then in 1820 he suddenly disappeared. The Bosnian governor, Ruždi-pasha supected the Sarajevo Jews of having killed him. He arrested the rabbi and ten superiors of the synagogue, and once they were at hand, also some wealthy Christians, and required a ransom of five hundred thousand silver groschens within two days. Otherwise they would be hanged. Since the community could collect only six thousand groschens in two days, the last night moneylender Ruben Levi, respected and prominent for his righteousness and honesty among the fellow citizens, turned to the Muslim superiors of Sarajevo to soften the heart of he pasha, but he didn't succeed. Next morning, however, in the twilight after the first prayer, three thousand Muslim men surrounded the pasha’s palace, Begluk. The guards were disarmed, the hostages freed, and Ruždi-pasha barely escaped with his head, fleeing to Travnik. The Jewish community decided to spend the collected money on the building of a second synagogue. Thus, the Kal Nuevo was erected in 1821. It is still owned by the Jewish community, which uses it for gallery of temporal exhibitions.

[is-the-thing-actually-jewish]

I don't think self-sacrifice and martyrdom are jewish values? especially the latter.

This guy was quoting Isaiah and something about rather sacrificing oneself rather than spilling blood

Answer: Not Jewish (except when it is, because we weren’t given much of a choice).

Without knowing what the quote from Isaiah was or what the guy’s actual point was, we cannot be certain, but in general, the Jewish attitude towards self-sacrifice and martyrdom is “we’d rather stay alive, please and thank you.” Unfortunately, because… gestures broadly at two millennia of violent antisemitism, enslavement, forced conversion, inquisition, pogroms, blood libels, genocide, etc. ... Jews have not been given that option.

Jewish law as far back as the Talmud has made it abundantly clear that the value of pikuach nefesh, the preserving of a human life, is so important that you are not merely allowed but actively required to break almost every other law if a life is at stake. The Talmud lists three exceptions to this rule:

You are not permitted to commit murder to save your own life. Note: This does NOT mean you cannot kill the person threatening you, which the Talmud would classify as killing but not murder. But if a sociopath says “I will kill you unless you kill that innocent dude over there,” Jewish law says you should let them kill you.

You are not permitted to commit sexual violence or otherwise break the laws of sexual morality (adultery, incest, bestiality, etc.)

You are not permitted to publicly renounce Judaism in such a way that it might a) encourage other Jews to convert and therefore b) encourage violent antisemites to continue threatening Jews to convert or die.

So, it is possible that the guy in question was referencing Point 1, but the particular phrasing does seem suspect. We do not valorize martyrdom, nor do we encourage self-sacrifice— overwhelmingly, throughout centuries where this was not remotely a theoretical question, Jews have come down on the side of “do what you must to live another day” (with some exceptions, such as at the Massacre of York). There have been far too many people eager to slaughter Jews that we do not feel any need to make it easier for them by not resisting. Given the prevalence of Christian missionaries misusing Isaiah in particular in their missionizing efforts combined with the stark contrast between Christian martyr-worship and Jewish life-preserving, it is reasonable to be highly suspicious of claims that guy was making about Jewish principles and values.

All that said, it doesn’t feel right to give an unqualified “martyrdom is not Jewish” answer because we do have martyrs (or, in the traditional Hebrew, those “murdered for the sake of the Holy Name,” those who chose death over renunciation as per point 3 above), and we would never dishonor their memories by disavowing them.

And so too do we have traditions about martyrs, since it has been a relevant topic throughout Jewish history as much as we would prefer things to be otherwise. Those traditions are about grief, anger, and memory, emphasizing the tragedy and horror of the events rather than presenting any kind of aspirational model. Arguably the clearest example of this is in the “Eleh Ezkerah” (“These I Remember”) section of the Yom Kippur liturgy, also known as “The Martyrology.” Traditionally, this text details the torture and death of ten rabbis at the hands of the Romans, interspersed with the refrain, “these I remember and my soul weeps in sorrow.” Over the centuries, this has also become a space on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, when the most Jews are gathered together in prayer, to memorialize and grieve for more recent events of Jews being murdered for being Jewish. Services I have attended have included references to or stories of the Inquisition, blood libel, pograms, and the Holocaust. The first Yom Kippur after the Tree of Life shooting, my synagogue read the names of all those murdered there with some information about their lives, which I found both devastating and powerful. Similarly, I am sure that as we approach the first Yom Kippur since October 7, many rabbis are preparing Eleh Ezkerah inserts in memory of the lives taken by Hamas. It is an intense part of an intense day.

Aside from Eleh Ezkerah, there are other ways in which martyrs are recognized and remembered in our liturgy and tradition. There is a version of the prayer for the dead (“E-l Maleh Rachamim/God Overflowing with Mercy”) recited at various points in the year, including at festivals, funerals, and on the anniversary of a death, specifically for remembering martyrs. (It’s actually more historically accurate to say that the E-l Maleh Rachamim for martyrs is the original, as it was written for the victims of the Crusades and the Chmielnicki massacres, and the more recognizable version used in Ashkenazi communities is derivative of that one, with the specific language about murder removed.) There is a long tradition of remembering all victims of antisemitic violence on Tisha b’Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the first and second temples as well as a date associated with many other devastating moments in Jewish history, including the defeat of the Jewish rebels against the Romans at Betar, the expulsion from Spain, and the start of the killing at the Treblinka death camp. We also have Yom HaShoa specifically for remembering and grieving those killed in the Holocaust. In the Middle Ages, there was a tradition of establishing a public fast following news of a blood libel or pogrom nearby as a ritual of communal grief. When we mention someone who has died, it’s traditional to add “may their memory be for a blessing” after their name, but when we’re mentioning a martyr, instead we say “may God avenge their blood.” In all these ways, we hold the memory of our martyrs close— not as a model or an ideal, but as an anchor for our most fervent prayer: Never again.

[akiva-echo]

Edit: Tumblr ate some of my tags but whatever.

HaShem Yishmor, you may have experienced several of these. If you have and are comfortable sharing your experience, feel free to comment or send an anonymous ask. As always please rb for sample size :)

[vaspider]

Hi Spider, I hope you're well! I had a question about being Jewish and was wondering if you could give me some insight. All good if not!

Forgive me if I use the wrong terms here, I'm still learning and don't have any ill intent.

I'm a weird case, I think? I was raised Catholic, and I found out as an adult that my family past was hidden from me. Both my Babcia (great grandma, from Poland) and my Grandpa are descended from and were practicing Jews.

This information was withheld from me, so my knowledge of it is limited to what I've learned from my parents after they passed. And that's been like pulling teeth in and of itself.

How would I go about reconnecting with this part of my past? Are there resources available for the basics? I tried looking up various things online, but I think I'm looking in the wrong places- it's all super dense to me and I don't know where to start.

If you have any advice on this, or any thoughts of your own, I'd really appreciate it, no pressure. Thank you!!

My cat Princess says hello btw (:

Hello, Princess!

I would recommend finding a rabbi close to you geographically and starting there. Many places have a Judaism 101 class, which is required for conversion but doesn't necessarily lead to it.

Here's the list I gave @oldest-man-alive-blog off the top of my head when he asked for books to read to decide if he wants to convert

Essential Judaism by George Robinson Choosing a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant Here All Along by Sara Hurwitz The Jewish Approach to God, A Brief Introduction for Christians by Rabbi Neil Gillman To Life! A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking by Harold Kushner Becoming a Jew by Rabbi Maurice Lamm

And followed with this:

[fdelopera]

Hunter Schafer "protesting" with JVP is the same energy as celebrities shilling for Autism $peaks.

Just like the celebs that don't care that they're platforming a literal eugenics organization, Hunter doesn't care that she's supporting a Messianic organization that is an antisemitic hate-group.

She is supporting an organization run by goys that engages in blood libel, attacks Jews at our synagogues, and spreads dangerous antisemitic conspiracy theories.

She is supporting an organization that engages in cultural appropriation, dresses goys in kippot and encourages them to larp as Jews, and tells goys that they can "self-convert" to Judaism (which is a flat out lie -- converting to Judaism requires years of study under several rabbis, convening a Beit Din, and immersing in a mikvah).

She is supporting an organization that claims it is a "Jewish Voice for Peace" but whose members are mostly non-Jews. The few Jewish members have tokenized themselves for goyishe approval and social media clout. And they are not a voice for "peace" because all they do is attack the Jewish community.

She is supporting a fucking DEPRAVED organization that says that VIOLENT RAPE, TORTURE, AND MURDER is "resistance," so long as the people being raped, tortured, and murdered are Jews.

JVP is neither "Jewish" nor "peaceful."

Hunter is the daughter of a Presbyterian pastor. She is a Christian. And yet, she has just "pretended" to be Jewish for a day. Did she make it clear that she's not a Jew when she got her photo-op with "Jewish Voice for Peace"? No. She did not. She has culturally appropriated Judaism for a fucking publicity stunt.

Hunter Schafer has just shown that she doesn't give a SHIT about Jews.

Hunter, I hope selling your humanity was worth the social media clout.