From the Jewish Daily Forward, The Seesaw
The Seesaw is a new kind of advice column in which a a broad range of columnists will address the real life issues faced by interfaith couples and families. Join the discussion by commenting on this post, sharing it on Facebook or following the Forward on Twitter. And keep the questions coming. You can email your quandaries, which will remain anonymous, to: seesaw@forward.com
Why Convert Anyway?
I am a non-Jewish young woman engaged to a Jewish man. I am truly excited about our Jewish wedding, and from there on out welcome any Judaism he wants to bring into our family life. It is with joy that I will join him at synagogue or observe the fasts for Passover and Yom Kippur, and anticipate that I will find meaning in these traditions and sharing them with our kids. With all this in mind, is there any reason I should convert? Right now I have no plans to and he doesn’t need me to. I would rather embrace Judaism on the terms my fiance and I feel comfortable with, and not the terms of the conversion process. — Ambivalent in Arizona
Converting is Like Becoming a Full Citizen
HAROLD BERMAN Your excitement about Judaism coupled with your ambivalence about converting reminds me of my wife when we met. She was a church leader, and wasn’t interested in conversion even as she enjoyed various Jewish practices. We remained intermarried for 16 years — today, she is a passionately observant Jew. At some point, doing Jewish without being Jewish didn’t make sense. She felt she was living a double life and sending mixed signals to our children.
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