Welcome to Gaia! ::

I'll try to answer some of your questions to the best of my abilities.

1. I wouldn't be too worried about being accepted. You should never be ashamed of being Jewish, or of wanting to convert. It's something to be proud of, and if they can't accept it, you'll still have the Jewish community to accept you.

2. I barely speak Hebrew, and I'm a Jew. It's good to learn, but by no means so important that you can't be a Jew if you don't speak it.

3. Take classes for Hebrew? You can, although it is probably better to find a Rabbi who speaks it and is willing to help you learn.

4. You can go to services without being Jewish. I don't see why anyone would stop you.

5. Yes, you can be Jewish without being from Israel or Jerusalem. My family is from Germany and Puerto Rico, and we're Jews.

Yes, it counts as conversion. You're not converting away from anything, but you're converting towards something, and you deserve the honor of recognizing that transition. It's a big deal, after all. smile

You don't have to speak Hebrew when you start out. It helps to learn a little bit, but you don't have to be fluent. Jewish prayer is traditionally done in Hebrew (and occasionally Aramaic), but really, the Talmud as well as common practice insist that you pray in the language you understand, so that you know what you're praying. People do pepper their words with Hebrew or Yiddish or Ladino often, but that won't be a huge impediment. People are almost always willing to help and to share what they know if someone asks or seems a bit lost.

You don't have to be from Israel, or any other place, to be or become a Jew. My family are Arab, Turkish, Black (African, uncertain nationality/tribe), Native American, Dutch, Norwegian, Hungarian, Russian, Lithuania, Swedish, German, and probably a bit more. There have been converts from all races, in all nations. I personally know a handful of Asian Jews, Black Jews, South American Jews, Irish Jews, Australian Jews... there is no place where we haven't been, and there is no place where we've not found others who want to join us and be adopted into mishpachat Yisrael (the family of Israel). And while we don't ever ask or push people to convert, we do welcome sincere converts with open arms, once we see their sincerity.

There are Jewish communities in which it's hard to be a new person. At first you might find people are just so wrapped up in their own prayers or concerns or social activities that they don't realize there's anyone new among them at all, so they don't realize they should come say hello or ask if you need help with the prayers. In one congregation I know, they're wary of converts because one convert completed his conversion, then made a public speech about how he was now a "completed Jew" for Jesus -- which meant that he should never have converted, because now he was a Jew who was actively practicing a faith antithetical to Judaism, and had to be shunned, and that's painful for the community. But in most communities, you'll find that people are delighted, once they realize that you really are serious about wanting to be one of them. It makes them feel that what they've spent all their lives doing is somehow validated by the fact that someone would voluntarily take on the obligations that they were handed at birth. The Talmud actually says, "One convert is worth seventy born Jews," because a sincere convert's joy in coming to Judaism is so profound that it can often reawaken the Jewish spirits of those around her and make them realize how great a treasure they can claim as their heritage.

Speaking of heritage, a convert is fully Jewish once they've completed conversion. Once the conversion is complete, it's forbidden to speak of the person as a convert, or remind them of their past, unless they themselves bring it up for discussion. This isn't because a convert should ever be ashamed, G*D forbid, but because we don't want to ever make them feel like an outsider. Conversion is only partially about belief and practice, you see: it's also about adoption. Just as an adopted child can say, "These are my parents," when they didn't give birth to the child, a convert to Judaism can say, "I am the descendant of Avraham and Sarah." In fact, a convert's new name is ", son/daughter of Avraham Our Father and Sarah Our Mother." Israel isn't just a modern country, but a very old and proud family. We do adopt new members from time to time, and we love them as if we'd birthed them ourselves.

Going to synagogue: Yes, go for it! After all, the book of Isaiah proclaims the Holy Temple "a house of prayer for all peoples," and if even the holiest place on earth is open to everyone, then surely a synagogue is also open. Make sure to ask a friendly-looking person to sit near you and help you out; just explain that you've never been, and don't want to stand out. They'll surely feel compassionate; after all, a LOT of folks never started going to synagogue until they were adults, too, so they remember what it's like to be new and uncertain. People are good at heart, and most of them want to help.

There are Introduction To Judaism classes at most synagogues, as well as beginning Hebrew lessons. Call around to nearby synagogues and find out which ones teach the classes and whether they charge for them.

Finally: There's an old midrash that says that a convert already possesses a Jewish neshamah (soul). You see, the book of Deuteronomy has Hashem (God) saying, "I do not make this covenant only with you who are here today, but also with those who are not here." This is interpreted to mean that every Jew who was ever born or converted after the revelation at Sinai was also present, a piece of their soul was there, and therefore took part in ratifying the covenant. So you're already a Jew. You just need conversion in order to wake up that one dormant part of your soul, and then you will have come home to your own family.

Welcome home!

Well it finally happened! I was able to get in contact with a rabbi from the Reform Temple here in town and I'm setting up an appointment to meet with her about everything. When I saw she responded to my Email I think I actually went "EEEEEEEE!" LOL. So hopefully this week or next we can set something up to meet. I'm so excited! 4laugh

About feeling uncomfortable about being a convert. Ruth, a convert to Judaism, is the Great-grandmother of king David who will be the descendant to the Messiah.

Because you are looking to convert through a reform rabbi you might want to make sure to request to be immersed in the mikvah because it is not required. I agree with you that it is a very attractive tradition and my immersion is something I am really looking forward when I am done with the process of converting.
As far as classes, you don't have to learn hebrew, though learning to read might be nice I know it has helped me a lot with understanding during prayer and if you do get the chance to sing in hebrew with the congregation it feels wonderful, or at least it does for me. You might also be required to take a Judaism 101 course with the temple.

Some books I would recommend are
Any book by Rabbi Joseph Telushikin
Embracing Judaism by Simcha Kling

I will put more up as a find them, or as I am assigned them by my rabbi. Also, you could get a Judaism for dummies book. It sounds really lame, but it does cover the basics really well. heart

Dancing, different Reform rabbis handle mikvah and circumcision differently. Some will say that by them, it's optional. Some will say that by them, it's mandatory.

The other branches of Judaism go with the Biblical and Talmudic law: milah (circumcision) is mandatory for men, and mikvah (immersion) and mitzvah (acceptance of all the commandments, and of the structure of rabbinic law and decision-making) are mandatory for all. There is one final component of conversion, the convert's sacrifice, which must be brought to the Holy Temple at Jerusalem. Since the Holy Temple is not standing, a convert in these times must vow to bring the sacrifice when the mashiach comes to us and the Temple is rebuilt; until then, the sacrificial offering is in abeyance.