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HouseofBear -> RE: Converting to Another Religion (2/7/2006 7:12:45 PM)
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Candystripper,
As someone who converted to Judaism from Christianity almost 16 years ago, perhaps I can help. (Though now I define myself as a Jewish Pagan, grinz.) First, read up on it all you can. A few books are different, however the Jewish scriptures are similar to what Christians call the Old Testament. Another book you will want to take a good look at is the Talmud. There are also several groupings (denominations as a way of putting it). There are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Chassidic. I converted after studying with a Reform Rabbi. A year of serious study was required, and I had to convince him in order to study that I was serious about it. Yes, they do tend to disourage you at first. That is because there has been a long history of discrimination against those who are Jewish and active extermination of them in mass numbers as recently as the last century. So, they want to make sure you really want what you are asking for. As how to define the different "denominations" the best comparison I can make is that Orthodox is to Reform as a very strict fundamentalist Christian church would be to a Presbyterian church, though Reform still retains a lot of the traditional ritualism and its beauty within the service. Conservative falls between the two. Chassidic is a lot like Orthodox, except they have a few variations of their own. Actually, the book Judaism for Dummies does have a lot of the basic info. Probably the easier rabbi to convince to teach you would be a Reform or Conservative rabbi. Good luck in your search.
Lady Ursa
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