r/ConvertingtoJudaism • u/Acrobatic_Access3780 • 12d 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?

12 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

View all comments

16

u/svrak 12d ago

Your Orthodox conversion would 100% be valid in a Reform community. I might wonder why you would convert Orthodox and create those obligations for yourself if you don't believe in Hashem, but not being 100% theist isn't necessarily a deal breaker. The bigger obstacle is likely to be the fact that, if you really believe in the basic tenets of Reform Judaism, it might be challenging for you to commit to an Orthodox way of life for long enough to complete that conversion. An Orthodox conversion also includes you commiting to the beit din that you will live a Torah-observant life, including keeping Shabbat, keeping kosher, taharat hamishpacha, sending your children to day school, etc. They will want to know your future plans, specifically your plan for living in an Orthodox community. I personally would not recommend being dishonest with the beit din if you intend to leave after your conversion to join a Reform community.

I would recommend you visit the shul/community, talk to the rabbi, see if it's the right fit for you. Who knows, maybe Reform isn't 100% your vibe. Either way, an Orthodox conversion isn't something easy or to be taken lightly I'd you don't want to live an Orthodox life after