why is judaism so hard to convert to?

Answer 1

Because the goal of the Jewish people isn't to turn the rest of the world into Jews. Some *other* religions don't have the luxury of believing this way - since, in their view, all "non-believers" are damned to Hell for all eternity (an awfully malevolent G-d if you ask me - and that's coming from someone who believes that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by a hailstorm of flaming sulfur), the weight of the world is on their shoulders, that they must "save" as many people as possible. Though many of the basic teachings of such religions are borrowed from Judaism, this isn't one of them.

So it's like this - Judaism teaches that Jews are held to uphold the entire Torah and it's 613 commandments (not to mention 2,000+ years of legally binding rabbinic decrees). Non-Jews are expected to follow the Seven Commandments that form the basis of G-d's covenant with Noah (as opposed to the later covenant with Abraham which was reaffirmed in the days of Moses). For more on the Seven Noachide Commandments, check out the following:

http://www.aish.com/literacy/judaism123/The_7_Noachide_Laws.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noachide

So yeah, one reason Judaism is hard to convert to is that it isn't necessary. Anybody can have a relationship with G-d, Jew or Gentile, and if you need, I can bring plenty of textual supports for this, but I'd think it should be self-evident. Another reason conversion is hard is that we want to weed out all but the most sincere converts. Technically, we're not supposed to accept anybody with ulterior motives (i.e. any motive other than wanting to join the Jewish people in their unique mission and share in their special relationship with the Creator). I'm not saying that it doesn't happen every so often that someone manages to convert to appease their future in-laws, but that's really not how it's supposed to be.

Another reason it is hard to convert to Judaism, and perhaps the most overlooked one, is that it is appropriate that converting to Judaism should be difficult, because FOLLOWING Judaism is difficult. So the conversion process is good practice to prepare one for being Jewish. We already have enough Jews-by-birth who are completely ignorant of the Torah - that last thing we need is to add new Jews like that from the outside!

Other religions simply require that one recite a declaration of faith, or, pray that such and such should enter your heart, and BAM! You're in. Becoming a Jew is not so simple, because being a Jew is not so simple. And it's not for everyone. Ironically, we Jews are often accused of "elitism" or bigotry for believing that we are "the chosen people" and not allowing/encouraging converts (a lot of people assume that because we don't encourage converts, we don't accept them - this is a lie). My response is that such people simply don't understand what "chosen" means in this context. And is such a claim really elitist or bigoted as condemning all outsiders to eternal agony in the firey bowels of Hell (as do the religious groups whose members most often level accusations against us)? I submit that it is not.

So, to re-cap, Judaism is hard to convert to because:

1) We don't believe the whole world needs to be Jewish to be "saved". For the Children of Noah (i.e. all of humanity as distinguished from the Children of Israel), keeping the Noachide Covenant (much easier than keeping the Abrahamic Covenant) is sufficient.

2) We need to weed out all but the most dedicated of prospective converts. You have to WANT it. Ulterior motives are unacceptable, and if you convert and subsequently don't follow the Torah, you're doing yourself a lot more spiritual harm than good - you'd be better off as a gentile.

3) Becoming Jewish should be hard because BEING Jewish is hard.

I hope you find this answer satisfactory, and if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact me directly. For more information on questions pertaining to Judaism, converting to Judaism, and ecumenical issues, check out my profile, because I answer these kind of questions almost exclusively (lots of conversion questions).

Answer 2

Jews believe that their is Jews and gentiles (those who are not Jews). G-d made a special covenant with the Jews through their forefather Jacob (Israel) and because of it they have a lot of restrictions.

Now, G-d made an earlier covenant with Noah and his children (all of mankind) which is easier to follow and has less restrictions, some Jews believe that the gentiles should follow this easier path.

Judaism does not accept converts because they know it is difficult to be a Jew if you were not born and raised one. They do not want another non committed Jew to join their faith. So they make it hard to join Judaism but it is not impossible.

The sign of dedication in a potential convert is that he/she will keep coming back and ask to convert while he/she is getting rejected by the Rabbi (three times).

I hope that helped.

Arabian Former Muslim

Answer 3

Because Jews generally do not see it as an a la carte religion like we view so many other faiths. The religion is integrally linked to community and culture, and if you're not going to be a part of the whole thing it makes no sense to jews that you would want to just follow the religion. Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people.

Answer 4

Because Judaism is about Quality, not quantity. You must know all the basics of Judaism, Hebrew Script and understanding of thousands of Hebrews words, plus experience all the holidays. It is not an easy religion to follow.

Answer 5

Part of it is because of the constant persecution the Jews have faced ever since before the alleged birth of Christ right up until the current attacks by Palestinian terrorists and if one is suffering minor persecution (such as what the Romans were doing) then simply not annoying the persecutors is often the best course of action and so not growing any bigger through conversions would have become a valuable survival strategy for the religion.

Answer 6

1. Judaism is capitalized.
2. Jewish people do not go out as missionaries and try to convert the world to our religion.
3. It can take from one to two years to be fully converted to Judaism. This is because there is a lot of things to learn. Then of course you have to prove yourself to believe in what the Torah, the Bible, and the Talmud. You have to basically become more Jewish then the average Jew.
4. We do not want it to be easy. We want you to really want to be Jewish. We see many different Christian Churches all teaching the same thing in different ways. Then we see people who go from Church to Church as the mood strikes them.
5. Once Jewish, always Jewish.

Shalom

Answer 7

Most people find apostacy hard to accept.

Answer 8

I applaud them for it. It should not be a whim to follow a religion.

Answer 9

try messianic judaism...They'll accept you in Yeshua's name!

Answer 10

because you'd be a jew