Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiritsoar
I'm a little bit of a student of religions in general. One of the things I've been wondering, and part of the reason I took the opportunity to ask, was whether it would be offensive to ask a Jew, or even go to a synagogue, to make the attempt to learn Hebrew. I know I could probably find books on the topic, and probably will. But it seems like they would be the best teachers, especially for context, since I intend to study some of the Jewish texts. I just don't know if they would be willing to teach me considering my desire to study their books of worship and use what I found there out of the context they are comfortable with. On one hand, I can understand that they would think that I was using the material in a way that was not in line with their faith. On the other, I've always thought it appropriate to take wisdom where you could find it, and use different views to help me understand things. From the bit of Qabalah that I've seen, it seems to be a path that many different religions could use to better understand diety.
|
My guess would be that most Jewish professional scholars would not have a problem teaching you more about Judaism, or teaching you Hebrew, or teaching you some Jewish texts: Bible, Talmud, philosophy, commentary, liturgy.... In general, Jewish scholars are delighted to teach anyone who wishes to learn. However, as I mentioned, I do think you would find it difficult to find truly qualified teachers of Kabbalah who would be willing to teach you. To be frank, as a Liberal Jew, I find it difficult to find such qualified teachers myself, since they are mostly to be found in the Orthodox community, and thus tend to be disinclined to share their wisdom with one they do not trust to comprehend, guard, and use the knowledge properly. In any case, while it is hardly uncommon for non-Jews to come to Jewish scholars to learn more about Judaism, I might not, were I you, advertise your intent to mine the knowledge given you for resources useful to adopt into Wiccan practice. Some, like me, might have no problem with that; many others likely would be uncomfortable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiritsoar
As for one of the random questions I had (sorry it took this long to respond, I wanted to try to put it together in a coherant fashion, and I've been rather busy) I'm curious about the Jewish lineage. From what you've said, if your mother is a Jew, then you are part of the tribe without having to convert. But conversion is possible, if difficult. So my question is, if a woman converts to Judaism, and then has children, do they fall under the lineage, or is it different because she was a convert?
|
Xazy is, of course, quite right. To expand very slightly, identity, in traditional Jewish law is a fairly absolute quality. A Jew by birth is a Jew no matter what they do; if the Jew is a woman, all her children will always be Jewish no matter what she does, no matter what they do. A woman who converts to Judaism is Jewish for the rest of her life, no matter what she does; all her children will always be Jewish no matter what she does, no matter what they do. There is, according to Jewish law, only conversion
to Judaism. There is no converting
from Judaism-- no leaving the tribe once one is accepted, so to speak.