I wanna convert to Judaism but have a few questions?

Question

Okay I have always had a calling to Modern Orthodox Judaism for a few years and I love absolutely everything about the religion but I wanna be Ashkenazic bc. I am white so yeah that is sort of why but I am not racist at all I am bæs with blacks and mexicans and Arabs so yes I am NOT racist whatsoever Oh my goodness no! These are my concerns and there not even big about Ashkenazic Judaism

Prostration and Prayer: I do NOT have anything against obligatory prayers at all in fact before I discovered Judaism a few years back i warned to convert to islam for a brief period but didn't and they pray a little longer/5x so yeah but Islam didn't make alot of sense to me. but I watched Yemeni Jews pray and they kneel and prostate and I LOVE that so much I love prostrating to HaShem even though I have not converted but I love Gd so much I cant even 💗 But there are no Yemeni jews in America plus I wanna be Ashkenazim so ... Yeah.

And Homosexuality: it's not really a Jewish problem more like an Abrahamic problem and it's not much of a problem really but is there any way I can get over being gay? I've considered celibacy but that's not really encouraged and the mitzvah to be FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY! So yeah I wanna fulfill this commandment and all and wanna be torah observant yet modern orthodox.

P.s. I haven't converted yet and don't plan to do so for a few years and I'm a guy if that helps 💘

Answer 1

1) prostration and prayer- be careful what you find on the internet! it is only a very few fringe communities that prostrate themselves during prayer. There are a few Temeni communities that do- but they are a minute percentage (less than 1%) of the Jews worldwide. The rest of the Jewish world only prostrates during prayer on Yom Kippur, at other times it is forbidden.

2) If you are homosexual you cannot convert to Orthodox Judaism! It is absolutely forbidden and you cannot convert someone who is not prepared to do ALL the commandments. there is no way around the prohibition against homosexuality for Jews and thus we cannot convert someone who is going to live in a manner forbidden by Jewish law.



In short you need to decide if you want co convert to Judaism because of what Judaism teaches or because of what you think it is and have no intention of following what Judaism teaches. there is nothing wrong in being non-Jewish, but if you want to convert to Judaism, you have to conform to it, not the other way around!

Answer 2

> I wanna be Ashkenazic bc. I am white



Um ...if you are so focused on race, you are probably not ready to convert.

BTW - I know Ashkenazi Jews who are black



While most Jews (in almost every Jewish community) happen to be white -- none of the Jewish communities distinguish according to phenotype (physical appearance).



> Prostration and Prayer and Yemeni Jews.



Yes - there are Yemeni Jews in America. There is a large Yemeni synagogue in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Prostration in Judaism is only done on Yom Kippur.

And the Yemeni Jew I was friends with prayed no different from any Ashkenazi -- only his pronunciation was different and the order of some Psalms.



> Homosexuality / celibacy / commandment to "be fruitful..."



I don't believe that you can get over having same-gender desires.

But as with any desires, you can certainly control them.



My understanding of the studies on human sexuality is that it is at the very least an oversimplification to call people "gay" "straight" and "bi"

Rather, there is a great range of human desire, with most people inherently neither on one end of the range or the other (neither "truely gay" or "truely straight") and the expressed "gayness" and "straightness" is more a factor of the combination of the entirety of the person's experiences in life.



So -- depending on where you are on that "range of human sexuality", it may well be that ... you are not incapable of developing a loving relationship with a woman.



But

If you have no interest in women, it is certainly acceptible for a Jew to be celibate ...there is some passage that righteous people who do not have the blessing of children , God may give them an even more lasting memorial.

A celibate Jew or otherwise childless Jew can, for example, be a teacher -- generating great numbers of "spiritual children"

Answer 3

talk to a chabad rabbi (chabad.org would be good for that!). You should rememeber what modern means that they can do whatever they want pretty much as long as they keep shabbos and kosher. so your wife can still wear pants, your children can have boy and girl friends, etc.... unlike the more religious jews. im a religous jewish girl

Answer 4

Jesus is the truth. No one goes to the Father except thru Jesus.



receive Jesus as your Lord.