Quote:
Originally Posted by Meditrina
This thread has clearly awakened my interest in learning about my Jewish heritage. There is a lot to read and I have not read through it all yet, but I will. My question is more on a personal level, I think. I was raised in a non-practicing Jewish home, I never went to Hebrew school and I know very little about the Jewish religion. I married a non-practicing Catholic, converted and had my children baptized. Looking back, I realize that was not the path I should have taken. I am feeling a pull back to my family and my Jewish heritage but I still know nothing. I'd like to learn and be able to teach my children. Where do I start? Is there a book you can recommend? Would I still be accepted into the Jewish faith now that I am legally separated from my husband, would I have to convert back?
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If your mother was Jewish, you are Jewish. Period, end of story. You can convert to whatever, and from the point of view of Jewish law, you remain a Jew, though a Jew in error. You absolutely don't have to convert back, presuming your mother was Jewish. All you have to do at most is publicly (i.e., in front of a group of three rabbis) renounce any other beliefs, and go to the mikveh (ritual bath).
As I mentioned above, I recommend classes. Most synagogues and many Jewish Community Centers have all sorts of fundamentals-of-Judaism classes. I also recommend classes in Hebrew from a local college. Nothing will serve you better than starting to learn Hebrew. And start reading. There are a lot of books. I have a reading list I use for instructing individuals in similar situations to yourself, and for use in teaching converts to Judaism, which I am attaching below. It's a serious list, not a crash course, and it's long. But they are good books, well worth the time. I include substantial chunks of source text also, which I recommend reading carefully to give yourself a leg up on a life of Jewish study. And to live as an observant Jew is, in large part, to be in constant dialogue with texts, to be in some measure constantly studying and learning.
There's a lot to learn. I can imagine it might look awfully dismaying and difficult. And it can be difficult, but don't be dismayed. It is learnable. It is comprehensible. It is doable. And you can do it. Please do PM me with any further questions; and if you like, PM me anyhow to let me know whereabouts you live, and I'll see if I know anyone around that I can hook you up with for some teaching.