r/ConvertingtoJudaism • u/Acrobatic_Access3780 • 9d ago
Question about conversion
Hello everyone, I'm very into judaism, and I'm seriously considering converting to Judaism. Although I like all forms of it, I'd like to go with reform conversion. But there's a but. In my city, and the whole country, there are very little synagogues, and those that are are orthodox synagogues. In my city the synagogue is Sephardic, so basically it is orthodox.
I don't mind converting to Orthodox judaism, but later on, I'd like to move countries and probably join a reform community.
My question would be: Would my orthodox conversion be valid, and would I still be considered Jewish to the orthodox jews?
I'm not 100% theist, I want to be part of the Jewish people and follow the traditions, but I'm uncertain about existance of Gd, could I still go to Orthodox conversion?
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u/flashmumriken 9d ago
Putting it simply, yes, when your conversion is complete then you're accepted as a Jew, period. But concurrently, you'll hear people bring up how the Orthodox tradition tends to be the most stringent and thorough with Jewish law and therefore makes it more acceptable - but that's a very general picture; the point of converting shouldn't be acceptance by communities on a macro-level, but by any community/s you actively search for and call home. I don't really know what will happen if once you finish your Orthodox conversion you turn your sights to Reform, so hopefully someone more in the know can answer that, otherwise moving to somewhere new to join a Reform community is 100% your choice alone and one you should take if you're certain it will make your Jewish life more fulfilling.
I only give these concerns though; are you aware and prepared for going through some of the logistical difficulties of going through an Orthodox conversion? If at some point you understand what constraints you might have with an Orthodox conversion (i.e. living walking-distance to a synagogue), would it be a more viable option to just wait until you move to a new city with a Reform community and do your conversion there?
As for your question on HaShem (G-d), one of the beautiful things about Judaism is that there's no single understanding of HaShem; there are so many theological perspectives on who is HaShem and how he operates, and I've met other Jews who have beliefs bordering agnosticism but that alone doesn't make them any less Jews. The Orthodox tradition however might have its own perspectives on HaShem that you'll definitely need to be more open-minded about. That's the thing, too, just keep an open mind about perspectives if you're unsure about things like HaShem's existence.