OPINION PAGE 2
Last Updated 4/17/00

By my own choice, I am an observant Jew.  The topic of my conversion resource page is to help people interested in conversion and to provide Orthodox resources for such - as it tends to be more difficult to find a support system for Orthodox conversions that for non-Orthodox. 

Religion provides a moral base by which to live.  Any religion which advocates ethical behavior has the potential to be a positive thing in the world.  Being Jewish means that we're obligated to live up to the full potential of our humanness as distinct from animals.  That said, Torah was revealed to us in the wilderness, not settled by any one nation, so that no one single nation could stake claim on it... it belongs to the world as a guide to manifesting that potential in all humanity.  It is Jews who chose to accept the Torah and obligate themselves to live by it.  It's we Jews who are to be the light to the world by living according to that law.  Our sages, men of exceptional education and intellect, decreed safeguards around these laws to ensure compliance.  Many Orthodox folks believe that once you take on an obligation or level of observance, you should not go backwards and be less observant.  To think the rabbinical decrees (such as the 39 melakha of Shabbat) are outdated or inconvenient is to lower ourselves from our potential.  This is a point of tension between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews.

The Written Torah and Oral Torah were given simultaneously by Hashem to Moshe Rabeinu at Har Sinai. They are thus equally binding as law.  Over the course of 40 years in the wilderness, or some say at the end of the 40 year period, Moshe Rabeinu wrote down the Written Torah which had been given to him by Hashem at Har Sinai.  The Oral Torah was transmitted through the generations by word-of-mouth.

Our sages are esteemed as great tzadikim. Some Orthodox Jews even tend to flock around  certain rabbis or a rebbe.  They hang on every word... they have pictures up of him, they wear the same close he did and emulate him.  Now, we can admire the Torah a rabbi knows and view him as a righteous MAN, but to blindly follow every one of that rabbis teachings appears to be close to deification.  Nowhere in our teachings is any man equal to Hashem.  To have respect for the opinions of a rabbi is one thing, it's another to say what he wrote is absolute fact without question when science and modern common sense differs from the rabbi's opinion. For example, Maimonides wrote about the orbits of the planets as glass spheres... physical substance. It is also written that the Earth is the center of the universe. We know these things are not true based on scientific discovery.  Shouldn't a scholar have the sense to reason that the RaMBaM was not writing based on Torah in that case? He was using the recent theory of the times he lived in regarding the structure of the planetary bodies! To blindly say something is true because the RaMBaM wrote it is simply illogical.  Our sages were NOT mediators between individuals and Hashem, they were TRANSMITTERS of the Oral Law.  Scholars memorized the laws of Oral Torah. There developed so much commentary and opinion regarding its laws that after several thousand years, the Oral Torah was finally written down.  What the Oral Torah does is fill in the details of the mitzvot of the Written Torah. For example, men are commanded to bind "them" upon their hand, and let "them" be "totafot" between their eyes... what does this mean? The Oral Torah explains that the physical manifestation of this commandment is arm and head tefillin.  In (overly) simplified terms, the Written Torah is like a frame and the Oral Torah is the picture. They are both equally binding. 

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Before you decide to "convert" the easy way (non-Orthodox), consider the following things... Do you want to be considered a Jew just by a certain group of people or by everyone?  Why are you converting? Are you converting for someone else?  Do you believe with perfect faith all of the 13 principles listed by the RaMBaM? Are your children going to be rich in Jewish culture and the religion as well? Are your grandchildren?  Once you convert, you will be a Jew, and are obligated to follow the beautiful and intricate Torah Law.  Regardless of whether you understand them or not, you are obligated to keep ALL the mitzvot.  If you're female, though not obligated to several time-oriented mitzvot such as davening three times a day by a certain time, you are obligated to keep all mitzvot binding to Jewish women. That includes Shabbat, kashrut, taharat hamishpachah (if married).