Convert from Catholicism to Judaism?

Question

If I leave any holes let me know ok?

I would like to convert from Catholicism to Judaism. I will copy and paste my story from experienceproject.com here

My mom and dad were Presbyterian. They converted to Catholicism and my dad died sometime after. I had been raised in a strong Catholic family. We prayed rosaries and chaplets and went to church more than Ned Flanders and my mom was constantly preaching about how her conversion was miraculous etc. But I never got it. My brothers believed it but they're rather lax and my sister is in there. She even gets into fights with her atheist teacher. Everytime I've gone to church I felt alienated and awkward. I still was read stories of saints instead of fairy tales and prayed to the crucifix every night before bed and Sunday School wasnt a choice. I had first learned of Judaism in 4th or 5th grade CCE. They mentioned how Jesus was Jewish and how he founded the Catholic Church. Next week we learned how Martin Luther and others had left to form flawed churches. I wanted to learn more about Jesus's religion but my teacher said this was a Catholic Church not a Jewish Synagogue. In 7th grade i saw a Mexican friend wearing the Star of David and asked if she was Jewish. She said yes a Mexican Jew (later I realized she said Messianic) the kind who believe in Jesus. I thought everyone believed in Jesus except me so I decided to learn more about them since I was agnostic at the time (my mother never knew of such things or I would've been shipped to a Catholic boarding school and sprinkled with holy water every hour.). And I realized how much more they had correct. I learned more of their beliefs and realized Jesus was a sham and why the Trinity was never really understood. In 8th grade she appeared again and explained Hanukkah and the Maccabees after someone joked about Hanukkah and I found it much more beautiful and meaningful than Christmas. Afterwards I became obsessed. I read whatever Torah I could find in my Bible and realized that since the Jews were founded by G-d they should be able to spot the Messiah sent from Him. I'm now a sophomore and have studied as much as I can about Orthodox and Conservative/Masorti Judaism since 8th grade. I have a sense of belonging there I'd never felt anywhere else let alone my Catholic Church. I had been to a temple once and just spoken to the people for no more than 5 minutes.

I have studied Judaism for roughly 3 years now but I feel instruction from a rabbi would help me so much more.

I plan to convert to the Conservative branch so any stories or advice is very much appreciated. Also how to tell my family?

Please no flames about how religion is bad. Its clearly not gonna help.

Answer 1

Wow, so many answers from Christians about Judaism. I'm glad you know they don't know what they're talking about.



Unfortunately, you won't find a rabbi that will work with you on your conversion unless you're of majority age (18) or you have your parents' consent. So, if you don't want to wait a few more years, you'll have to talk to your parents, explain Judaism (this may take a long time; Christians usually have a ton of misconceptions about Judaism, and they are very, very hard to dispel). Maybe they will understand.



Otherwise, just keep on reading and wait. There's no rush, and if you are truly meant to be Jewish, your interest will not wane over the next few years (and if it does, no worries - you don't have to be Jewish to be a good person). Attend services, read, and talk to some fellow (non-Messianic) Jews to keep on learning.

Answer 2

You can always study Judaism by simply reading the Old Testament. The first 5 books of the Old Testament are the Torah. The Hebrew Bible is organized a little differently than our Old Testament, but I think most if not all of the Jewish Tanakh is in the OT. It has the songs, the narratives, the books of wisdom, as well as the Torah. Your mother would not object to you reading the OT.



One thing you might consider is that there are a lot of Old Testament laws that Christians don't have to follow. Those are the laws in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Jesus brought us the New Covenant and Christians haven't had to follow those laws.

Answer 3

Jesus was indeed an observant Jew (in a way we would have to see as Orthodox, not Conservative or Reform, since the temple sacrifices were very much still in use, as were all the laws of Moses. Just trade out the black hats and long sideburns for middle-eastern desert clothing.). But Judaism as an ongoing religion rejected Jesus as the Messiah -- although many of the Jewish priests became Christians.



"And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." (Acts 6:7)



There are some things you do not understand about Christianity. Rather than bailing on your faith, begin to attend an RCIA class or other Catholic religious instruction for some teaching that seems to have been lacking. You have spent more energy learning actively about Judaism; spend the same time on your own faith.



Forgive me.

/Orthodox

Answer 4

You clearly know nothing about Judaism as shown for wanting to be a Conservative "jew" which is a total joke and insult to Judaism with there atheist, lesbian and post op tranny "rabbis" and gay marriages.



The Trinity would make no sense to a Jew because we were never taught the trinity or Christianity. We only learned Judaism. Like Muslims, Jews are completely ignorant about Christianity and use rabbinal opinions from the Gemara(commentary portion of the Talmud) that came AFTER Jesus to counter Jesus being the messiah. How convienent to change what makes someone Moshiach after He came.



One of the things that showed me Christianity to be true was the Trinity. The Torah speaks very little about Hashem. There is not even a definition of Hashem in Judaism. All we did was say "Hashem is ahad!" Yet our view of the Holy Spiritרוח הקודש is not much different than in Judaism. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Hashem that has some degree of independence from Hashem. But SHHH Jews don't like telling you that because it will ruin their debate.



Or how עלמה can mean virgin, but another big SHHHHHH Jews hide that one as well.



Judaism of today did not exist during Jesus time and it's not the Judaism of the Torah. Judaism you see if what was formed after the Temple was destroyed . Stupid new rules or "fences" were made that the Torah does not have as sages kept adding more and more rules and making up stories about people from the Bible(Like saying Job was an advisor to the Pharoah and God punished him for not speaking in defense of Israel) where the heck do they come up with that crap? They make it up! And they admit it right inside the Gemara! But these stories are to be accepted as true.



Seeing how little you know about Judaism, a rabbi will laugh you out of the beit knesset.

Answer 5

My friend - God does not want you to follow any religion (Catholicism, Judaism, etc...) He wants you to follow HIM and the Messiah who He has sent.



Have you ever actually read any Messianic Jewish authors - , they are very convincing because they teach from the scriptures. And they very first followers of Jesus (Yeshua) were ALL JEWS! So if anyone could recognize the Messiah - I think they could have. They leadership at that time rejected Yeshua - but God allowed the Jewish people to be dispersed 40 years later - so the leadership must have done something incorrect before God.



Of course MJ’s are not looked at as Jewish by the rest of the Jewish community, but thankfully they do **not** determine truth - God does - and Messianic Jews seek to please God RATHER THAN other Jewish people - most of whom do not know God, but rather know only Jewish traditions. (There is a difference).



You see my friend - The Jewish Bible clearly tells us that the Messiah would have TWO roles to fulfill (most completely miss this). In Judaism - there is Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David. A suffering Messiah and a Reigning Messiah. Ancient Rabbinical writings reference this concept many times (although they reconcile it as two different people).



However, you cannot reign over people who have sin - so the first thing was to be the suffering Messiah and take away our sin. Again - most completely miss this or else they would realize that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah. They only put HALF the prophecies down (Reigning Messiah) and then claim Yeshua did not fulfill them. (Ever fly on a plane with only one wing!?) But you ALSO need to look at the FULL picture (not half the picture) including the other half of the prophecies. The Tenach (Jewish Bible) talks many many times about a suffering servant Messiah....



Here is the OTHER HALF of the story that you do not get from them.

According to the Jewish Tenach (Bible) Messiah would be…



• Born in Bethlehem..... The Jewish prophet said so in Micah 5:2

• Born a descendant of David..... The Jewish prophet said so in 2 Samuel 7:12-13

• Live a sinless life..... The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:9

• Do miracles like Moses..... The Jewish prophet said so in Deuteronomy 18:18

• Enter Jerusalem on a donkey..... The Jewish prophet said so in Zechariah 9:9

• Arrive after King David died..... The Jewish prophet said so in 2 Samuel 7:12-13

• A rejected man....... The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:3

• Die as a substitute for others..... The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:5

• Be pierced..................... The Jewish prophet said so in Zechariah 12:10

• Rise from the dead...... The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:10



And even MORE important..............



• Messiah was to arrive BEFORE The Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E..... See -> Daniel 9:26

• Messiah was to have an impact on all nations..... The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 49:6



If this is not Jesus -- who else could it be?



And this is just the start…..!!



The list goes on and on,



There is not a shadow of doubt - Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) was/is the Messiah of Israel.



You see - True faith (the only one) that God accepts is to have repentance in ones heart for their sins..... 1 Samuel 16: 7 “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." AND to accept the atonement (forgiveness) that He provided only through the Messiah - Yeshua (Jesus) (see Isaiah chapter 53).....



Leviticus 17:11 tells us that it is blood that makes atonement. If this were not so - why would God even have had almost a whole book of the Torah (Leviticus) which deals with blood sacrifices and how they make atonement.



This is what I have done. Over 26 years ago I accepted the Messiah as my atonement and it was the BEST decision of my life. Not that every day is all roses (it’s not). But I have a peace that surpasses all the problems of this world. And when I die (as we all will), I know that I am ready for the next world (Olam Ha-Ba) because of what the Messiah has done for me. He has taken away all my guilt and given me forgiveness. Atonement. That’s what the Messiah came to do. (read Isaiah chapter 53).

*************************************************************

***Dr. Michael Brown has given definitive answers to virtually all of the arguments against Yeshua!



Read a great 5 VOLUME SET – ANSWERING JEWISH OBJECTIONS TO JESUS!

It will stop EVERY Jewish unbeliever’s misinterpretations and objections based upon the solid evidence of the Hebrew text. An amazing five volume set by Dr. Michael Brown (New York University, Ph.D., Near Eastern Languages)

Answer 6

My understanding is that Jews discourage gentiles from converting to Judaism; rather, they say you need only follow the Noahide laws. Just google it and go from there.