Questions about Judaism answered by a Jew!

[Andaraawus]

Intresting answer, and yes please inform me about :

If you wish for a more in depth response into the conversion process, or an example of conversions in the time of the patriarchs I can provide you with the evidence.

 

[IzakHalevas]

Intresting answer, and yes please inform me about :

A first example must come from the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 10 verse 19. The verse says:

"Love ye therefore the stranger(convert); for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."​

וַאֲהַבְתֶּם, אֶת-הַגֵּר: כִּי-גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם​

In Judaism, a convert is called a “stranger” for two reasons: because he comes from a foreign culture and foreign beliefs. Judaism also holds a culture and sense of family between fellow Jews as well as different beliefs.

The Torah refers to a "stranger", in Exodus 12:49 where G-d states:

"One law shall be for the native and the stranger(convert) who lives among you."​

תּוֹרָה אַחַת, יִהְיֶה לָאֶזְרָח, וְלַגֵּר, הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם​

The "stranger" is one who has accepted the Torah and become part of the Jewish people. G-d tells the Jewish people that the convert shall not be treated any different, and the convert must follow the exact same laws as a Jew by birth must because once you become a Jew, you become a Jew, and you are no different than any Jew by birth when it comes to accepting G-d's law. You have become part of the covenant.

Throughout history there have been men and women who joined the Jewish people through conversion. In Genesis, after Abram has been called by G-d to journey to the land of Canaan, we read: "Abram went forth as the L-rd had commanded him. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot ... and the persons that they had acquired in Haran". According to rabbinic interpretation, the "persons they had acquired" represented the first converts to Judaism and all converts, when they acquire their Hebrew name, are known as ben (son of) or bat (daughter of) Abraham.

The most famous example of a biblical convert is Ruth who, we are told, was the great-grandmother of King David. Since tradition says that the Moshiach will come from the line of David, then the Moshiach too will be descended from a convert to Judaism.


Another example of mention of the converts in some of the scriptures is in

"Dearer to G-d than all of the Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai is the convert. Had the Israelites not witnessed the lightning, thunder, and quaking mountain, and had they not heard the sounds of the shofar, they would not have accepted the Torah. But the convert, who did not see or hear any of these things, surrendered to G-d and accepted the yoke of heaven. Can anyone be dearer to G-d than such a person?" ​

Tanhuma (ed. Buber), Lekh Lekha 6:32​

Therefore it is obviously very clear that converts are welcome and admired by G-d more than people born Jewish, because the convert did not accept the Torah because of the miracles of Mt. Sinai, but because of their faith in Hashem, and his word the Torah.

Peace!

 

[Andaraawus]

That was a good answer and certainly cleared up a misconception i had about Judaism ,

 

[north_malaysian]

A first example must come from the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 10 verse 19. The verse says:

"Love ye therefore the stranger(convert); for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."​

וַאֲהַבְתֶּם, אֶת-הַגֵּר: כִּי-גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם​

In Judaism, a convert is called a “stranger” for two reasons: because he comes from a foreign culture and foreign beliefs. Judaism also holds a culture and sense of family between fellow Jews as well as different beliefs.

The Torah refers to a "stranger", in Exodus 12:49 where G-d states:

"One law shall be for the native and the stranger(convert) who lives among you."​

תּוֹרָה אַחַת, יִהְיֶה לָאֶזְרָח, וְלַגֵּר, הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם​

The "stranger" is one who has accepted the Torah and become part of the Jewish people. G-d tells the Jewish people that the convert shall not be treated any different, and the convert must follow the exact same laws as a Jew by birth must because once you become a Jew, you become a Jew, and you are no different than any Jew by birth when it comes to accepting G-d's law. You have become part of the covenant.

Throughout history there have been men and women who joined the Jewish people through conversion. In Genesis, after Abram has been called by G-d to journey to the land of Canaan, we read: "Abram went forth as the L-rd had commanded him. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot ... and the persons that they had acquired in Haran". According to rabbinic interpretation, the "persons they had acquired" represented the first converts to Judaism and all converts, when they acquire their Hebrew name, are known as ben (son of) or bat (daughter of) Abraham.

The most famous example of a biblical convert is Ruth who, we are told, was the great-grandmother of King David. Since tradition says that the Moshiach will come from the line of David, then the Moshiach too will be descended from a convert to Judaism.


Another example of mention of the converts in some of the scriptures is in

"Dearer to G-d than all of the Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai is the convert. Had the Israelites not witnessed the lightning, thunder, and quaking mountain, and had they not heard the sounds of the shofar, they would not have accepted the Torah. But the convert, who did not see or hear any of these things, surrendered to G-d and accepted the yoke of heaven. Can anyone be dearer to G-d than such a person?" ​

Tanhuma (ed. Buber), Lekh Lekha 6:32​

Therefore it is obviously very clear that converts are welcome and admired by G-d more than people born Jewish, because the convert did not accept the Torah because of the miracles of Mt. Sinai, but because of their faith in Hashem, and his word the Torah.

Peace!

Are Jews in Turkey called as Mizrahis too like Lavikor?

 

[IzakHalevas]

Are Jews in Turkey called as Mizrahis too like Lavikor?

Mizrahi Jews are ones who have always lived in the Holy Land, or were expelled or left Arab countries like the Georgian Jews, Persian Jews, Bukharan Jews, Mountain Jews, Baghdadi Jews, Indian Jews and Kurdish Jews, many (A lot of Turkish Jews did not leave because of Turkey's goverment was secular and gave them freedoms) because of harsh policies of their goverments towards Jews.

Mizrahi Jews make up around 2.3, or 2.4 million of Israel 5 million Jews, and there are a million or more Jews from Africa(black jews), or Moraccan, Algerian ect. Making the notion that Israel is a bunch of white skin blue eyes compleltly false.

Arab and African Jews hold a sizable majority over Blue eyed european jews, the european jews however came to israel with much better educations, which explains many of the power positions they hold.

I however come from a Turkish dad and Kurdish mom, and I converted to Judaism my parents are not jews, so i am not sure if i can be called "mizrahi" because Jews in this region hold some differences then the kurd and turk population because there refusal to intermarry, but are a little similar because converts like me who marry jews born jewish.

 

[Abu Ibraheem]

Hi !

Do Jews fast and when and how? When does the fast begin? when does it end ? details please.

Do they fast monthly?

Like for example Muslims have Ramadan.

Why do Jews kiss a wall?

How do you do Animal Sacrifice and how is it distinguished from pagan rituals ( no hidden intent - just curious )

How do you give charity?

Do you make pilgrimage and is that a practice of any Prophets according to Judaism?

What do you believe about the devil?

Explain to me the calendar you go by and what scripture sanctions that ?

Also - this has been asked before - did the Jews go round and round the holy of holies in a clock wise or anti clockwise fashion like 7 times?

What is the significance of the number 7 in Judaism ?

I know its a lot of questions, but i seek knowledge ...

peace

 

[north_malaysian]

Mizrahi Jews are ones who have always lived in the Holy Land, or were expelled or left Arab countries like the Georgian Jews, Persian Jews, Bukharan Jews, Mountain Jews, Baghdadi Jews, Indian Jews and Kurdish Jews, many (A lot of Turkish Jews did not leave because of Turkey's goverment was secular and gave them freedoms) because of harsh policies of their goverments towards Jews.

Mizrahi Jews make up around 2.3, or 2.4 million of Israel 5 million Jews, and there are a million or more Jews from Africa(black jews), or Moraccan, Algerian ect. Making the notion that Israel is a bunch of white skin blue eyes compleltly false.

Arab and African Jews hold a sizable majority over Blue eyed european jews, the european jews however came to israel with much better educations, which explains many of the power positions they hold.

I however come from a Turkish dad and Kurdish mom, and I converted to Judaism my parents are not jews, so i am not sure if i can be called "mizrahi" because Jews in this region hold some differences then the kurd and turk population because there refusal to intermarry, but are a little similar because converts like me who marry jews born jewish.

Can u tell me the procedures you did when converting to Judaism in Turkey?

 

[snakelegs]

do you know if there are many converted jews in turkey? are they persecuted by non-jewish turks if it becomes known that they are converts?

 

[north_malaysian]

do you know if there are many converted jews in turkey? are they persecuted by non-jewish turks if it becomes known that they are converts?

I think Turks people dont really care about apostates... My pen-pal in Turkey said that her friend converted to Baptist Church and face no persecution from family, friends and community. I've heard that there are lots of Turks converted to Asiatic religions like Hinduism an Buddhism too.

 

[IzakHalevas]

Do Jews fast and when and how? When does the fast begin? when does it end ? details please.

Jews fast in two different ways. Some fasts are for 25 hours with no water or food. Other fasts are from sunrise until sunset. Most of the fasts are the 25 hour ones.

Do they fast monthly?

No, most are for one day, and there are days all around the year. here are fasts for many things.

Why do Jews kiss a wall?

The Western Wall is currently the holiest place accesable to us right now. Therefore, we kiss the western wall because it is so holy.

How do you do Animal Sacrifice and how is it distinguished from pagan rituals ( no hidden intent - just curious )

Animal sacrifice has very strict guidelines that are straight from the Torah, unlike any pagan ritual every existant on this earth. Animal sacrifice is only aloud when the Holy Temple is standing, therefore at this time animal sacrifices do not occur.

How do you give charity?

Calculate 10% of your salary.

Do you make pilgrimage and is that a practice of any Prophets according to Judaism?

No. The only pilgramiges ever were three times a year to the Holy Temple, but it was destroyed so currently we are waiting to begin that tradition again when it is built back up by the Moshiach(messiah).

What do you believe about the devil?

The "devil" is controlled by G-d, and trys to tempt us to do bad things, and if we stand up and reject the bad things in the name of good/G-d, then we pass G-d's test.

Explain to me the calendar you go by and what scripture sanctions that ?

Background and History


The Jewish calendar is based on three astronomical phenomena: the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year). These three phenomena are independent of each other, so there is no direct correlation between them. On average, the moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days, that is, about 12.4 lunar months.

The Gregorian calendar used by most of the world has abandoned any correlation between the moon cycles and the month, arbitrarily setting the length of months to 28, 30 or 31 days.

The Jewish calendar, however, coordinates all three of these astronomical phenomena. Months are either 29 or 30 days, corresponding to the 29½-day lunar cycle. Years are either 12 or 13 months, corresponding to the 12.4 month solar cycle.

The lunar month on the Jewish calendar begins when the first sliver of moon becomes visible after the dark of the moon. In ancient times, the new months used to be determined by observation. When people observed the new moon, they would notify the Sanhedrin. When the Sanhedrin heard testimony from two independent, reliable eyewitnesses that the new moon occurred on a certain date, they would declare the rosh chodesh (first of the month) and send out messengers to tell people when the month began.
The problem with strictly lunar calendars is that there are approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year, so a 12-month lunar calendar loses about 11 days every year and a 13-month lunar gains about 19 days every year. The months on such a calendar "drift" relative to the solar year. On a 12 lunar month calendar, the month of Nissan, which is supposed to occur in the Spring, would occur 11 days earlier each year, eventually occurring in the Winter, the Fall, the Summer, and then the Spring again. To compensate for this drift, an extra month was occasionally added. The month of Nissan would occur 11 days earlier for two or three years, and then would jump forward 29 or 30 days, balancing out the drift. In ancient times, this month was also added by observation: the Sanhedrin observed the conditions of the weather, the crops and the livestock, and if these were not sufficiently advanced to be considered "spring," then the Sanhedrin inserted an additional month into the calendar to make sure that Pesach (Passover) would occur in the spring (it is, after all, referred to in the Torah as Chag he-Aviv, the Festival of Spring!).

A year with 13 months is referred to in Hebrew as Shanah Me'uberet (pronounced shah-NAH meh-oo-BEH-reht), literally: a pregnant year. In English, we commonly call it a leap year. The additional month is known as Adar I, Adar Rishon or Adar Alef. It is inserted before the regular month of Adar (known in such years as Adar II, Adar Sheini or Adar Bet). Note that Adar II is the "real" Adar, the one in which Purim is celebrated, the one in which yahrzeits for Adar are observed, the one in which a 13-year-old born in Adar becomes a Bar Mitzvah. Adar I is the "extra" Adar.
In the fourth century, Hillel II established a fixed calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations. This calendar, still in use, standardized the length of months and the addition of months over the course of a 19 year cycle, so that the lunar calendar realigns with the solar years. Adar I is added in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle. The current cycle began in Jewish year 5758 (the year that began October 2, 1997). If you are musically inclined, you may find it helpful to remember this pattern of leap years by reference to the major scale: for each whole step there are two regular years and a leap year; for each half-step there is one regular year and a leap year. This is easier to understand when you examine the keyboard illustration below and see how it relates to the leap years above.

In addition, Yom Kippur should not fall adjacent to Shabbat, because this would cause difficulties in coordinating the fast with Shabbat, and Hoshanah Rabba should not fall on Saturday because it would interfere with the holiday's observances. A day is added to the month of Cheshvan or subtracted from the month of Kislev of the previous year to prevent these things from happening. This process is sometimes referred to as "fixing" Rosh Hashanah. Numbering of Jewish Years


The year number on the Jewish calendar represents the number of years since creation, calculated by adding up the ages of people in the Bible back to the time of creation. However, this does not necessarily mean that the universe has existed for only 5700 years as we understand years. Many Orthodox Jews will readily acknowledge that the first six "days" of creation are not necessarily 24-hour days (indeed, a 24-hour day would be meaningless until the creation of the sun on the fourth "day"). For a fascinating (albeit somewhat defensive) article by a nuclear physicist showing how Einstein's Theory of Relativity sheds light on the correspondence between the Torah's age of the universe and the age ascertained by science, see The Age of the Universe.
Jews do not generally use the words "A.D." and "B.C." to refer to the years on the Gregorian calendar. "A.D." means "the year of our L-rd," and we do not believe Jesus is the L-rd. Instead, we use the abbreviations C.E. (Common or Christian Era) and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), which are commonly used by scholars today. Months of the Jewish Year


The "first month" of the Jewish calendar is the month of Nissan, in the spring, when Passover occurs. However, the Jewish New Year is in Tishri, the seventh month, and that is when the year number is increased. This concept of different starting points for a year is not as strange as it might seem at first glance. The American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. Similarly, the Jewish calendar has different starting points for different purposes.

The names of the months of the Jewish calendar were adopted during the time of Ezra, after the return from the Babylonian exile. The names are actually Babylonian month names, brought back to Israel by the returning exiles. Note that most of the Bible refers to months by number, not by name.
The Jewish calendar has the following months:

Hebrew English Number Length Gregorian Equivalent

Nissan 1 30 days March-April

Iyar 2 29 days April-May

Sivan 3 30 days May-June

Tammuz 4 29 days June-July

Av 5 30 daysJuly-August

Elul 6 29 days August-September

Tishri 7 30 days September-October

Cheshvan 8 29 or 30 days October-November

Kislev 9 30 or 29 days November-December

Tevet 10 29 days December-January

Shevat 11 30 days January-February

Adar I (leap years only)1230 days February-March

Adar (called Adar II in leap years)12 (13 in leap years)29 days February-March
The length of Cheshvan and Kislev are determined by complex calculations involving the time of day of the full moon of the following year's Tishri and the day of the week that Tishri would occur in the following year. After many years of blissful ignorance, I finally sat down and worked out the mathematics involved, and I have added a page on The Jewish Calendar: A Closer Look, which may be of interest to those who want a deeper understanding or who want to write a Jewish calendar computer program. For the rest of us, there are plenty of easily accessible computer programs that will calculate the Jewish calendar for more than a millennium to come. I have provided some links below.
Note that the number of days between Nissan and Tishri is always the same. Because of this, the time from the first major festival (Passover in Nissan) to the last major festival (Sukkot in Tishri) is always the same. Links to Jewish Calendars


I maintain a current Jewish calendar on this website. Unlike most Jewish calendars you will see, my calendar shows the Hebrew months with the corresponding Gregorian dates.

Most printed Jewish calendars cover a 16-month period: from September of one year (to include Rosh Hashanah) to December of the following year. Be aware, however, that some show only the 12-month period from September to August, and some that claim to have the full 16-month period show only limited information about September to December of the latter year. They show the Gregorian months with Jewish holidays, Torah readings, candle-lighting times and so forth. I am particularly partial to the London Jewish Museum calendar, which has illustrations of Jewish artwork from the middle ages to the 1800s, but there are many Jewish calendars available on Amazon.com. Click here to check their catalog.

If you would like to download a Jewish calendar for your computer, I highly recommend Calendar Maven's Hebrew Calendar, a shareware program that is available for download at http://www.calendarmaven.com. With this program, you can see calendars for dates from the Gregorian year 1600 to the year 2200, including holidays, weekly Torah readings, candle lighting times and more.

If you would like to look up the date of a Jewish holiday, from the Gregorian year 1 to the Gregorian year 9999, try http://www.hebcal.com. I don't know how accurate this is (especially given that during the earlier dates, months were determined by observation), but I haven't caught any mistakes in it yet. Of course, the earlier Gregorian dates are artificial, since the Gregorian calendar did not exist until the 16th century and was not accepted in many parts of the world until much later.

Source: http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm

Also - this has been asked before - did the Jews go round and round the holy of holies in a clock wise or anti clockwise fashion like 7 times?

Not sure, I still have to check on that. I do not think so however because I have studied a lot and never heard anything even close to that before.

What is the significance of the number 7 in Judaism ?

I have never heard of any signifigance.(I recently found that there is actually signifigance)

Can u tell me the procedures you did when converting to Judaism in Turkey?

First I went up to a Rabbi when I decided that I had found the truth in Judaism, and asked him how I was to convert. The Rabbi after a 10 minute conversation with me, turned me away telling me that he did not believe that I was pure/100% sure in my descion to convert and to think about it a while longer.

I then came back, 100% sure I wanted to convert, and told me where I was to go for some classes ect to make sure I understood the great responsibility of being a Jew. After taking them and studying weekly with him for about a year. He told me that he believed I was 100% sure I wanted to be Jewish, and that he had no doubts that I wasn;t going through a "phase".

I was circumscised, I then had to go to a ritual bath called a "mikvah" and immerse my self in it, and then finally after all this the beth din issues a certificate of conversion, certifying that I was no longer a gentile ad now a Jew responsible to follow all 613 mitzvot instead of the seven I was responsible for before my conversion. I would be judged at a higher standard now because I had accepted the whole Torah as my law.

do you know if there are many converted jews in turkey? are they persecuted by non-jewish turks if it becomes known that they are converts?

Turkey is probably the easiest of all Middleeastern (other than israel) countries to be a converted Jew, but there will always be fanatics, and it is always wise to not advertise you convert so I have no idea how many there are.

 

[north_malaysian]

First I went up to a Rabbi when I decided that I had found the truth in Judaism, and asked him how I was to convert. The Rabbi after a 10 minute conversation with me, turned me away telling me that he did not believe that I was pure/100% sure in my descion to convert and to think about it a while longer.

I then came back, 100% sure I wanted to convert, and told me where I was to go for some classes ect to make sure I understood the great responsibility of being a Jew. After taking them and studying weekly with him for about a year. He told me that he believed I was 100% sure I wanted to be Jewish, and that he had no doubts that I wasn;t going through a "phase".

I was circumscised, I then had to go to a ritual bath called a "mikvah" and immerse my self in it, and then finally after all this the beth din issues a certificate of conversion, certifying that I was no longer a gentile ad now a Jew responsible to follow all 613 mitzvot instead of the seven I was responsible for before my conversion. I would be judged at a higher standard now because I had accepted the whole Torah as my law.

You dont circumcised before becoming a Jew?:rollseyes I thought Turks do circumcised...

 

[IzakHalevas]

You dont circumcised before becoming a Jew?

The circumscion I had did not complete all the requirements a Jewish circumscion needs to have, therefore they needed to "draw blood". I won't get into details... lol.

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

I dont want to sound mean or anything..jus curious but...what were u before u converted?

 

[IzakHalevas]

I dont want to sound mean or anything..jus curious but...what were u before u converted?

I'm really sorry, but I would really rather not say. It has nothing to do with you, it is just something personal, a conflict with my family, and sometime I would rather not reveal here.

I hope I have not offended you, I am just making a personal choice to not reveal that.

I hope you understand. imsad

Peace.

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Of course! thats your business No biggie lol. I hope i didnt offend u by asking...
tc

 

[IzakHalevas]

Of course! thats your business No biggie lol. I hope i didnt offend u by asking...
tc

Did not offend me at all.

 

[جوري]

To some of us it is fairly obvious what you were before... you clued us in with your "kurdish roots"-- but there is always room for error =)
peace!

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

yea thats why i asked, but there are different faiths everywhere. Which is the reason that led me to my question lol.

 

[جوري]

yea thats why i asked, but there are different faiths everywhere. Which is the reason that led me to my question lol.

Forgive me izak... since I am talking about you but we fully acknowledge you'll be reading this and don't meant to offend or write as if we were ignoring your presence...
There is a bit of psychology as to why a Jewish convert from Turkey would Join an Islamic forum-- And will leave it open-ended as such
Peace!

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

No hate, just respect for u Izak!