I'm worried that I'll convert to Judaism one day

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I'm not planning to convert right now, but I'm worried that I will in a few years. Mainly because I find the idea interesting and I'm spiritual, but not religious. I scared that people will think I'm stupid and crazy. I'm also worried that I won't be accepted. I don't know a lot about Judaism, but I do know that it's very hard to convert. Judaism isn't even a full blown special interest yet, but it seems like it will become one. Maybe I should just learn some Hebrew, get extremely frustrated and watch this special interest go away.

What is there to be worried about? As long as you cause no harm to others, I don't see why you worry.

I'm a Catholic and a pacifist one at that.

This reminded me of a certain magic academy from the anime Kingdom of Magic. It was based partially on Israel but it gave some Asperger vibes too.

http://postimg.org/image/89vqoqd27/

Why does it worry you that you may convert?

If you want to, maybe you will. No harm in that.
If you don't want to it's highly unlikely you ever will. No harm in that either.

I'm worried about people thinking it's weird especially my dad. He's an atheist and he likes to think I'm an atheist as well. I think he's starting to realize that I'm spiritual, but at least he knows that I'm not religious.

I'm also worried about my mom and sister thinking I'm crazy. When we were visiting LA we had a pass to do activities. One of the activities was a Jewish museum. They obviously did Hollywoodish stuff instead of the Jewish museum. I told them that the Jewish museum would have been kind of interesting. They thought I was crazy.

I'm also worried about my Jewish ex-boyfriend finding out. He'll probably think I'm crazy(he always thinks I'm crazy anyways) and he'll probably accuse me of appropriating his culture.

Because I always do unpredictable things related to my special interests. Also because the main reason I don't want to convert is because of society and I think it will be "too hard". Those were the same exact reasons I didn't want to play accordion. I ended up playing accordion anyways.

If you desire convert and make it work you will.
If not, or if you lose the desire you won't.

Besides, if you convert and later lose interest you've lost nothing but some time... and maybe a foreskin.

I'm a girl, so I don't have to worry about getting circumcised.

So even if you were to convert in the future there's nothing to be lost except possibly a bit of your time.

I would try to not stress over the possibility that you may convert in the future unless you find yourself going to synagogue and actively starting to work towards that goal. Until you actually take concrete steps towards converting it's just a hypothetical.

You have nothing to worry about. It is sufficiently difficult to do that it is pretty much impossible to do just out of interest.

http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-to-Judaism

Unlike some other religions, Judaism does not actively seek converts and actually puts up barriers to all but the most determined in order to weed out people who are merely interested. If the rabbi you consult (if it even gets that far) figures out this is because of a special interest, you won't be able to join. It is quite possibly one of the hardest religions to join.



Mere interest will not get you there.

I know it's still hypothetical. That's what happened with playing accordion. When I first got that special interest I just listened to some random accordion song on YouTube over and over again because it was catchy.

I didn't want to play accordion back then because I thought it would be too hard and I was scared that people would think I'm weird and crazy. I eventually started listening to more music by that artist and eventually downloaded her album. I got obsessed with finding the rest of her albums.

I also listened to other similar artists. Eventually I suddenly wanted to play very badly. It was a hard time because I was scared people would think I'm nerdy, crazy or weird. There was also practical problems like finding a teacher and paying for an accordion. Playing accordion made the special interest turn into a regular interest.

I'm hoping to do the same with Judaism by learning Hebrew and reading the Torah and Hebrew Bible and whatever else Jews read in Hebrew. This will probably be very challenging frustrating and it will end this special interest.

Read about the Talmud and it's teachings.

Last edited by sharkattack on 02 Nov 2014, 6:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That's nice to know. Right now I'm just slightly interested. I don't even know that much about Judaism. I just don't know how my future self will behave. I'll probably never tell them about my diagnosis or about my special interests. I will probably also study like crazy to find loopholes or easier ways to convert. If this turns into a fullblown special interest doing "Jewish studies" will probably be the easy part. I'm not sure I'll be able to live a "Jewish life", but I never know how my future self will behave.

I'm Jewish. Most Jewish people live "normal" lives; they don't live a "Jewish life" per se. They just live their lives.

To convert to Judaism is quite hard. You'd have to study it intensely for a while. Rabbis are very skeptical of new converts; they want to make sure you really know what Judaism entails.

Do read up on Jewish history!

Just out of curiosity, would a rabbi actually reject me if he finds out I have a special interest?

NOTE: I'm not actually planning on converting any time soon. I might plan to in a few years, but there's a high chance I won't. I might just learn some Hebrew and Jewish history. No need to send me panicky PMs to convince me not to convert.

EDIT: I just realized that the person who tried to convince me not to convert joined just to send me that PM. She has 0 posts and just joined today.

Last edited by DevilKisses on 02 Nov 2014, 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I feel like the rational and irrational parts of me are kind of fighting right now. Or they will in a few years. The rational part of me knows I don't know much Judaism, it's hard to convert, converts aren't really welcomed and my family will think I'm crazy.

The irrational part of me just wants to learn about and be involved with Judaism. The irrational part of me also loves things that are "forbidden". If people try to convince me in a panicky way not to convert, that side of me will want to convert even more badly. Eventually that side of me will probably win. It usually wins. Especially when I try to kill "forbidden special interests".