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I'll try to answer these questions in separate posts, by theme, according to what seems to go together.

First, Sects/Denominations, or as they're known in Judaism, Movements. In the beginning, as the phrase goes, there were no movements. There were only Jews. Some Jews were observant and some weren't, but all Jews that came together to pray, came to the same locations -- the holy Temple at Jerusalem, and various synagogues in other locations throughout the Jewish communities of the world. This worked for generation upon generation because Jews were too often attacked by outside threats. The more threatened a population is, and the less accepted they are by other groups, the more closely they tend to stick together. So if any Jew wanted to pray with a community, he or she simply found the other Jews and got together with them. If a Jew had no family or was traveling away from his family, he could always count upon fellow Jews to offer him a place to stay, a table at which to eat a Sabbath or holy day meal, and a group with whom to pray so that he didn't have to pray lonely.

Reform
Then came the Enlightenment, or so they called it, in France. The French were prepared to accept Jews as citizens, provided that they pledge to obey French laws as a group. This caught on in other countries as well. So eager were (some/many) Jews for acceptance that they also decided to make their distinctive dress and worship styles conform to the styles of the majority population as well. They stopped wearing kippot (singular: kippah, the skullcap, also known as yarmulkeh in Yiddish) except when entering a synagogue to pray, and sometimes they didn't put it on then, either. They stopped wearing the four-cornered garments as everyday-wear, or at least they tucked the fringes away inside their trousers so that they couldn't be seen, and they stopped wearing prayer shawls for morning prayers. They decided to hold worship services in the language of the majority population instead of in Hebrew.

Gradually, women in these groups stopped covering their hair except when married; then they only covered in synagogue or in the home for Sabbath prayers; and then many stopped covering at all. Rather than having the speaker's/reader's lectern in the middle of the congregation, facing east towards Jerusalem, they moved the lectern up to the front of the congregation just like in Christian churches. They brought in organs, pianos, and other musical instruments to play, even on Sabbath, when musical instruments are forbidden to be carried, tuned, repaired if broken, or played. Other changes happened, other reforms. This became the Reform Movement, and it was born in Germany, where much anti-Semitism produced a lot of pressure to conform, to look like "real" Germans. In other countries it is known as Liberal Judaism, Progressive Judaism, or in Israel as Hiloni (non-religious) Judaism.

The movement is defined loosely -- by their own published platform, this is not my personal interpretation -- as those Jews who, because they believe that the Hebrew Bible was perhaps divinely inspired but in fact written by men and therefore fallible albeit "the best we've currently got, so we might as well keep it," did not necessarily feel themselves bound to the 613 commandments found within the Hebrew Bible. Led by them, yes; inspired by them; guided by them; but not bound by them. Not obligated to follow them in the ways that Jews had, until the Reform movement came along, always followed them. The stated opinion of the Reform Movement is, to put it the way they do on their websites and from their pulpits, "Halachah (Jewish law) gets a vote, not a veto" in the way they choose to live.

Orthodox
he Orthodox Movement was not so much born as defined. That is, this was always the way Jews lived, until Reform Judaism came to be. Once some Jews called themselves Reform Jews, the Jews that were still observant of the Biblical laws needed something to call themselves to differentiate from those who didn't observe the Biblical laws. They chose the word Orthodox, which is taken from the Greek meaning "right-thinking." In practical terms, though, it's not so much a definition of thought as of action. Practically speaking, Orthodox is defined as "Jews who obey the Biblical laws because they were given by Hashem." (Hashem: Ha Shem, The Name, that is, God, whose actual name we don't utter except in prayer, or when teaching someone such as a child or a convert how to pray.) It is sometimes referred to, in other countries, as Traditional Judaism, but in the US and much of Canada, Traditional Judaism is the name of a sub-set of Conservative Judaism.

Conservative
This movement was born in America. In other places it is called the Masorti (Traditional) Movement. It is actually an outgrowth of Reform Judaism rather than of Orthodox Judaism. That is, instead of being a group of Orthodox Jews who wanted to be a bit more liberal and therefore broke off from the Orthodox, it was actually a group of Reform Jews who felt they wanted to be a little more traditional, but not go all the way back to Orthodoxy. In the Conservative viewpoint, they feel they are following all of the Biblical laws, but that the laws must be reinterpreted in light of modern discoveries. For instance, while an Orthodox Jew will not turn an electric light on or off on Shabbat (Sabbath) because it is akin to lighting a fire, a Conservative Jew will turn a light on or off because it is not specifically a fire, which is forbidden to be lit or extinguished on Shabbat. Halachah gets a vote, sometimes a veto, but the Conservative Movement does pride itself on being very modern. In the US and parts of Canada, the Traditional Movement broke off from the Conservative Movement when the Conservative Movement decided to ordain women as rabbis and cantors. That's the only difference between Traditional and Conservative Judaism, however.

Messianic
The term "Messianic Judaism" is a misnomer. This is not a branch of Judaism, but a branch of Christianity. It's Christianity with Hebrew words, downplaying certain things that are objectionable to Jews, giving Hebrew names for Christian practices (calling it "brit mikvah," a covenant of immersion, rather than baptism, for instance), calling Jesus "Yeshua," his Hebrew name, in order to make it all more palatable to Jews, because the primary goal of the Hebrew-Christian organizations is to bring Jews to believe in and worship Jesus. See this link for more information.

There are other subsets: Modern Orthodox, Chassidic Orthodox, Jewish Humanism (atheist), Jewish Renewal (a break-off of Modern Orthodoxy), Reconstructionist, and so on. I don't know enough about those movements to give them a proper description. And, of course, I may be mistaken in the finer details of what I've presented above. I'm not a scholar or a rabbi, just someone who reads too much.

Jewish movements (denominations, sects) continued from above:

All of what I said applies only to the Ashkenazi Jewish community -- those who trace their ancestry back to Jewish communities in Germany, Poland, Russia, Galicia, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria, Scandinavia, the British Isles, some parts of France which adjoin Germany, and other (you should pardon the overgeneralization) "White Guy" countries. In these areas, the various movements each have their own synagogues, teach in their own rabbinic schools and also children's day schools, write their own prayer books, and engage in much passionate debate over how (and sometimes whether) to observe each of the 613 laws given to the children of Israel. There are Ashkenazim here in the Jewish Gaians Guild; I'm sure they'll happily raise their hands and be justifiably proud of their identity, so I won't need to name them.

The Sephardi Jewish community -- that is, Jews whose ancestry is from the Iberian peninsula, the Mediterranean, some parts of France, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and (primarily because of Spanish and Portuguese settlement) Central/South America and the Netherlands -- was never split in this way. Within the Sephardi community, there are Jews who are fully observant and Jews who are less observant and Jews who are fully unobservant, but they all attend the same synagogues together, all pray together from the same prayer books, train in the same Jewish day schools, train rabbis in the same rabbinic schools or by individual study with a rabbi, and more or less keep to the same general ways and cultural mindset. I'm Sephardi, and I think there's one or maybe even two other Sephardim in this guild.

Interestingly, while the majority of the world's Jews are Sephardim, the majority of North American Jews are Ashkenazim.

Leviticus 19:28 says: "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am HASHEM." Since tattooing is done with a needle or blade (depending on the technique), this would constitute a mark made in the flesh. Also prohibited: shaving the head or face as a sign of mourning (as do members of some other peoples and religious groups).



Technically the prohibition is against entering a space dedicated specifically to another deity. Entering a non-sectarian chapel, for instance the chapels in airports or hotels (which don't display overt symbols of other religions, such as crosses) is permitted. But no, even (and especially) for weddings, baptisms, christenings, and such, a Jew isn't permitted to attend. A Jew who entered a building devoted to worship of any deity other than Hashem would be considered to be condoning idolatry. Since Allah is simply another name for Hashem, a Jew is permitted to enter a mosque, and vice versa: both Islam and Judaism are staunchly, fervently monotheistic, so there is no problem for either a Jew or a Muslim to enter the other's prayer space and even to pray there.

However, I have a friend who's a rabbi, who has another friend who's a pastor. His friend had a baby and invited Rabbi L to the baptism. Rabbi L solved the problem by standing immediately outside the open doorway to the church and listening attentively through the man's cellphone, which was next to him and set on speaker, so that he could hear the entire proceedings and be supportive, but would be seen specifically not entering the building. He was able to honor his friendship as well as his Judaism, and all were pleased with the solution.



No, unless you would be required to do something that does conflict with Jewish law. That would be: studying Christianity; attending church/chapel as a requirement of being a student; becoming Christian and/or renouncing Judaism; attending graduation ceremonies at which Christian prayers would be uttered (at most schools, attendance at the ceremony is not a condition of graduation, so you should be safe just by not attending the ceremony); or attending classes, lectures, or other scholastic events on Sabbath or Jewish holidays.



Yes, with one exception. A Jew is permitted to attend a mosque, and even to pray there, albeit not to pray the Muslim prayers. He should instead respect Islam by not "putting it on" like it was a quaint costume to be put on and taken off at whim. Going through the motions without understanding their meaning and without being fully invested in them could be seen as mocking Islam for amusement value, and this is neither permitted nor polite.



If you were to convert to Judaism, you would need to immerse as the final step in your conversion. However, don't move just yet. Consult with your local rabbi. There may be a private ("unlisted") mikvah, available only for members of a congregation, within or near a synagogue, or even within someone's home. Alternatively, for your conversion, you and your rabbi and the other members of the beit din may be able to travel to the nearest mikvah just for the occasion of your immersion.

There may also be a lake or river nearby that qualifies as a mikvah, though it would be uncomfortable in winter -- many women throughout Jewish history have been known to chip ice in a frozen lake in order to immerse in the winter.

Once you marry, if you're a woman, you would be required to immerse once each month, seven 'clean' days after the end of your menstrual cycle, in order that you should again be permitted to your husband. (See the thread on mikvah, in the Jewish Information subforum.) For this, some women travel while others use rivers and lakes; if you don't want to do that, moving to a town with a mikvah would definitely be the thing to do.



Jewish men have a commandment called kisui rosh, "covering the head," once they reach the age of three years (look up "kippah" on Wikipedia), but women only have to do it once they're married. Each Jewish community treats this differently in terms of women's requirement. Some require only that there be SOME kind of head covering -- a cap or wide headband that covers only a little bit of the hair, a full wig or scarf or hat that covers all the hair, and anywher in between.

Some communities allow a woman to uncover again once they are widowed or divorced (in order that she can be seen to be available again for another marriage), while others consider her hair to be 'nakedness' once it's been covered once on account of marriage, and require it to be covered lifelong. Personally, I cover all of my hair when I'm outside the home, but I'll just grab a bandana and cover the top of it if I'm at home and someone comes over.

Other commandments that involve married women: niddah ("separation," not touching one's husband or handing each other things during one's menstruation and the seven 'clean' days after menstruation ceases); mikvah (immersing in a mikvah to put an end to the time of niddah); lighting Shabbat and holiday candles; taking challah (look that up, it's a bit complicated). These laws are not incumbent upon non-Jewish women.

Commandments that change if a Jewish woman marries a non-Jewish man: None. Because it's not permitted. If you seek halachic conversion (that is, conversion which is in keeping with Jewish law), the rabbi will either say yes if both of you are converting, or no if only one of you is converting. A Jewish marriage involves a Jewish marriage contract, called a ketubah (from katuv, "writing"). The language of the ketubah involves the phrase, "according to the laws of Moses and Israel." Since a non-Jew is not bound by those laws, he cannot make an oath under those laws. It would be like a Nigerian saying, "I swear by the laws of Italy..." or a German saying, "As a subject of the King of England, I vow..." It just doesn't make any sense.

This isn't to say that love can't exist between a Jew and a non-Jew. It is only to say that a Jew and a non-Jew cannot enter into a contract and be bound by a law that does not apply equally to them both. As the old saying goes, a bird may love a fish, but where would they live?

Once again, a Jew is permitted to attend mosque, and anything that Islam permits outsiders to do is permitted to a Jew. A Jew can even pray within a mosque, during Muslim prayer time if the mosque permits it, but must pray Jewish prayers. Islam is staunchly monotheistic. Other religions, not so.

A Jew is also permitted to take classes about other religions for the purpose of general education, or for the purpose of understanding what various religions have in common with Judaism and where there are points of difference with Judaism. In fact, my first rabbi took classes on Christianity so that he would better be able to teach his congregants why Jews aren't, and can't be, Christians. My second rabbi, when I moved to a new area, did his thesis on the sibling-like relationship between Islam and Judaism, comparing the similarities in doctrine and ritual and the commonalities imposed by a closely intertwined history.

However, a Jew should not go to the house of another religion (church, temple, shrine) and take classes there, because most of those classes are taught with conversion in mind, rather than simple sharing of information. To take those classes would be misleading to the teachers there: "I am here to learn about your faith and possibly to become a member" is the silent statement made simply by attending a class at a house of worship. That would be like lying through action. It would also be bringing others to see, "Look, this Jew wants to take on our faith! How faithless are the Jews to their holy heritage!" It makes Jews look bad, and by extension, it even makes Hashem look bad for choosing such a faithless people.

Maybe one does need to attend services in order to learn more completely, but if so, a therapist also needs to have a certain mental illness in order to treat a patient who has it. So maybe a person has to be standing in the bedroom when a couple are having marital relations in order to really believe that they're in love and should be together. So maybe a person has to starve to death before they can understand that there are hungry people in the world who need to be helped and fed. Maybe there can never be a really good veterinarian because they don't have fur or fleas, paws or claws, like their patients do. Maybe it's impossible to say, "Gee, I'm sorry for what I said, because I know it hurt you," because you've never been that other person and you don't actually know from your own experience what that person is feeling.

Silly, right? Of course. You can only see out of your own eyes, touch with your own hands, smell with your own nose -- yet you're sure that if you smell roses, or cake, or rotten eggs, someone else would smell it too. You're sure that when someone else cuts their finger, it hurts; you're sure that when someone is laughing, it's because they feel happiness or humor, just like you do. All of life is about taking what you experience, yourself, and extrapolating based upon it.

Do you need to experience another faith's worship service in order to really understand? Not really. The thing is, in order to have true understanding, you'd have to attend their worship services as a believer, not just as an observer. Being an observer, you'll always be missing part of the experience. Being a believer, well... if you were a believer in Religion X, you wouldn't be trying to convert to Religion J, would you?

Concerning Islam/Judaism parallels:
I'm not a scholar of Islam, but while you're out in the world, attending many religions' services and talking to believers and learning, make Islam a part of your studies. It's fascinating, too, what you can learn just by Googling for modest clothing. I'm now buying most of my skirts and about half my scarves from Islamic websites like http://www.shukronline.com, and reading their "about us" information is a real eye-opener. For instance, Judaism and Islam have extremely similar laws for slaughtering meat (the only difference is that zabiha/halal slaughterers don't drain quite as much blood out of the meat before selling it or using it).

We also have closely matched laws on modesty, for instance, women's head/hair coverings. Both religions were born in the same area of the world, right up next to each other like neighbors, and both saw the same thing: slaves went naked, while those with more status got a loincloth, and a little more status could earn you a skirt or robe. The higher in status a person was, the more clothing they were permitted to wear. So both Judaism and Islam clearly feel that women are royalty, and should not be open to display for any ol' pair of vulgarity-seeking eyes, but rather, that the beauty of each queen should be reserved solely for her husband-king.

Then, too, both our holy texts contain a telling of the story of Avraham being tested by being asked to sacrifice a son. Judaism tells that Avraham brought Yitzchak (Isaac) up to the mountain, and only disclosed what was to happen when they were up there. However, he did tell his men, "Wait for us here; the boy and I will go and worship, and we will return together." Such was his faith in Hashem, to know that Hashem loved life and would never truly demand his son of him! Islam, though, teaches that Ishmael (Ismail) was the son who went up the mountain with their father. In fact, the Quran states that Avraham (Ibrahim) discussed it with Ismail, who said "Of course, if this is what Allah demands, then it must be done. I am prepared. Let us go."

Concerning studying and experiencing other religions:
As I said, studying in a school, as a part of a class, shouldn't be a big problem, if there is no assumption that one will convert and become a believer and practitioner of that faith.

If freedom to go to other places, take part in their services, and so on is really important to you, I would suggest either doing a lot of that before approaching conversion to Judaism, or simply not converting to Judaism. If you do convert, it will become forbidden to you, and I can tell that would be a great difficulty for you. The thing about Judaism is that it doesn't ask anyone to become Jewish. Being Jewish is for those who are born to it, for the most part. Sincere converts are welcomed if they come to convert, but not actively sought, nor encouraged at all until they've already begun to demonstrate sincerity of purpose. Judaism is hardcore. There are 613 commandments, and they are hard to live by, even to those born to them. A non-Jew who observes the Seven Noachide Laws is just as righteous as a Jew who observes all 613 mitzvot! So why convert? One can be a Torah-believer as a Noachide. One can be close to Hashem as a Noachide. One can attain spiritual fulfillment as a Noachide. Why not be a Noachide?

Especially since you've already found two commandments that would hurt you to obey. Avoiding entering another deity's sacred space is one; avoiding intermarriage (which yours would be, if you converted while your husband didn't) is another. Conversion depends on three things for a woman, and four for a man: (1) Circumcision, for men; (2) bringing a convert's sacrifice, in the time of a standing Temple -- and converts who don't live in the time of a standing Temple are simply under the compunction to bring the sacrifice if the Temple is rebuilt in their time; (3) immersion in a mikvah; and (4) first, foremost, and of primary importance, acceptance of all of the mitzvot, leaving out none for any reason. Since you've got two commandments that would be dealbreakers for you, maybe it's best if you continue as a faithful Noachide.

You don't strike me as being combative at all! It's a little scary, the first time you hear about what each commandment really entails. Sometime, read up on the Shabbat Primer; I've linked to it in the Jewish Information subforum, under the Shabbat Observance thread. I'm telling you, it's hardcore stuff, and it's amazing how heavy it can feel sometimes. Better you should be a non-Jew who's doing even more than is required of you, than become a Jew and not do what you vow upon your conversion that you will do.

Re: Modesty


Not to put too fine a point on it, but 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 states the case for head covering with clarity, particularly "But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has [something] on his head while praying or prophesying, disgraces his head. But every women who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, disgraces her head; for she is one and the same with her whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head." (I Corinthians 11:3-6—NASV) and also 1 Corinthians 11:10 in which Paul writes, διὰ τοῦτο ὀφείλει ἡ γυνὴ ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς διὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους. "For this reason the woman should have [a sign of the man's] authority on her head, because of the angels."

So you see, Christianity does have a tradition of head covering for women. This is not, however, for the same reasons as those for Judaism and Islam. For Christianity, as stated plainly in the text, a covered head is a symbol of a woman's submission to her husband's authority. Mind you, I'm not clear on exactly why angels would need to care, but it does state directly in the extended text (1 Corinthians 11:2-16, I'm sure you have a copy somewhere) that the head covering is an outward sign of submission to male authority -- and is not for the sake of modesty, though a covered body is still considered to be for the purpose of modesty.

(Disclaimer: I'm not saying that the Christian text is not valid, or that the Christian philosophy is not valid; I'm only pointing out the fact that even when two faiths require the same action to be taken, for example covering the head and/or hair of a woman, the reasoning and therefore the theology can be totally different and therefore unrelated.)

Being a faithful Noachide
Check out the websites that focus on the Seven Noachide Commandments. The sheva mitzvot (seven commandments) are very simple, yet when one decides to be more and more scrupulous, one can really get into layer after layer of meaning. But starting is very simple, and yes, that's truly all that's required of the extended human family. Focus on those seven, and you'll be doing all that Hashem requires of you. If you can get those going, and choose to add more, that'll be fine too as long as you don't do the ones that are reserved especially for the children of Israel (keeping a perfect Shabbat; eating Passover sacrifice during the time of a standing Temple or the afikomen during the Passover seder during the time of no standing Temple; wearing tallit, kippah, and tzitzit -- look 'em up on Wikipedia).

Islam
Some Muslims see Judaism the way some Jews see Islam, which means there's a spectrum. It goes from "We're practically the same, just like siblings!" to "No, those people mean well, but they're just plain wrong," to "Heathens and infidels!" But yes, there are Muslims who see Judaism the way I personally see Islam. There are also Muslims who see Christianity the way Christians see Islam (within the same general spectrum).

I'm certainly no scholar of Christian texts, but I'm sure that a pastor or priest could direct you to more texts. Then again, I'm sure the Christian Testament is chock-full of things that aren't addressed all that often in modern churches. If you read it, you'll doubtless find all sorts of things that will either turn you off completely, or renew your fire for the faith, depending on your personal bent.

And yes, this is a great place to keep on asking questions.