tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31699898.post5581360927145318351..comments2023-06-21T03:47:36.240-04:00Comments on The Fly Fishing Rabbi: Why Do People Convert to Judaism?Rabbi Eric Eisenkramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01459487661743499415noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31699898.post-26286545702361341282015-05-10T09:31:19.032-04:002015-05-10T09:31:19.032-04:00As a convert to Reform, I talked with many rabbis,...As a convert to Reform, I talked with many rabbis, and was never turned away or felt rejected. Thankfully - I felt so vulnerable and out of my depth, turning me away would have devastated me! My sponsor rabbi was supportive and still asked the hard questions. It was the perfect balance. <br /><br />I so appreciate the willingness of rabbis to take on oversight of conversion - we require a lot of extra work on top of normal job duties. Thank you!<br /><br />Regular Jews (non-rabbis) are another story. Some of them ask lots of questions (especially the kind forbidden by halakhah, asking about conversion), make implications and assumptions, and can be pains. Some are wonderful, supportive, open up their homes and families, and can be a life line. Some are painful to watch, coming to services weekly and involved in temple activities, and still utterly baffled why anyone would ever want to be Jewish, like it's an unpleasant burden. I feel like I won the lottery, and they are baffled why I would ever want millions of dollars! (metaphorically)<br /><br />Settings of Silver had an excellent summary of the historical reasons why Jewish communities stopped converting people (after being open/enthusiastic about conversion); in summary, lots of death. The Jewish aversion to conversion seems to be a learned and internalized trauma - from the Romans' point of view, the most effective kind of policy. Now, millennia later, we are still enforcing their ( and subsequent regimes') policies for them.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com