Conversion to Judaism

1.

The matter of converting to Judaism is complicated. I could never do the subject justice in a post.

That said, there are good people in the world whom I would love to welcome into the Peoplehood of Israel.

2.

Conversion to Judaism these days is very problematic. Too many of the wrong people are converting, and for the wrong reasons.

In too many countries I have seen Jews sideline their own brothers and sisters while welcoming into their congregations people who “become jewish” for entire social reasons.

This state of affairs is a desecration of the name Jew and of the name of the God of the Jews.

3.

Rabbi Noach Weinberg, the creator of Aish HaTorah told me personally that he originally attempted to teach his understanding of Judaism to people who were born and raised Orthodox Jews only to discover that the historically stubborn Sons of Israel remained stubborn. So he went ahead and began appealing to Judaically-ignorant Jews and to non-Jews with Jewish ancestry or a yearning for his Judaism who had not yet been brainwashed into a version of Judaism wrought with superstition and the belief in the righteousness of suffering.

Sanctifying the name of the God of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob is a necessity, and converting anybody to a Judaism with fundamental problems is not that kind of sanctification.

However, informing the world entire about our Judaism, and allowing them to ask about it to their heart's content is the healthy human process which will allow them to:

A) Understand us and

B) Decide whether they would like to apply for conversion into our people or to accept the 7 Laws of Noah [or to go their own way]

is a Kiddush Hashem, a Sanctification of the name of My God, and something that should be done if it can be done right.

4.

There's no question that descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is valuable in some manner that I can't speak to.

It's also obvious by even a cursory glance at my skin tone, never mind my genetic code, that neither I nor anybody else is entirely descended from the ancient Jews.

Even King David had non-Jewish ancestry and there's an entire book of the Jewish Bible dedicated to expressing that point and to the point of the importance of bringing righteous converts into the fold and “under the wing of the divine presence”.

5.

There is a beautiful letter from Maimonides to a convert who asked him whether in his prayers he should refrain from saying expressions such as “God of Our Fathers”, and “who bequeathed to us” the land of Israel, and “who chose us”...