What does it mean, “to convert to Judaism”?

[00:00:01] When someone wants to convert to Judaism, so we tell him that first of all, he needs to learn all of the laws of Jewish life. He has to commit himself or herself to live according to them. He has to start living according to them. [00:00:18] And then it says there are three ritual parts which consummate his or her conversion. [00:00:28] Number one, if he is a male, he has to circumcise himself. [00:00:33] Then he has to go to mikvah in the tuv, she has to go to mikveh too. And then whether it's a man or a woman, they have to bring a sacrifice, a corban in the temple. [00:00:44] These three rituals are necessary in order to someone to be converted to Judaism. [00:00:51] Today we don't have the temple, so nobody brings sacrifices. [00:00:56] So you might ask one second. But I thought in order to be converted, you have to bring a sacrifice. So I guess maybe today's converts are not real converts because they didn't get a chance to bring a sacrifice. Is that the case? [00:01:09] So that's what we will try to figure out today. And first we need to figure out what conversion is all about. [00:01:16] When you talk to somebody about conversion and I end up doing it, quite often people call me, and most of the time when I get a call about a conversion, I tell them that you need to learn all the Jewish laws and then live according to them for some time, at least a year, most of the time, even more will be required, and only then you will be converted. [00:01:44] 99% of people don't call me back afterwards. And I'm fine with that. Because we in Judaism are not looking for converts. We're not running after people asking them to convert to Judaism. You know that in the last super bowl, there were ads against anti Semitism that were playing, and they were put up by different sponsors by different Jewish organizations. There were also ads put up by other religious groups. [00:02:10] So they say that the short rundown of all of the religious ads in super bowl are, baptists, come join us. [00:02:19] Saintologists, come join us. Adventists, come join us. Jews, leave us alone. [00:02:26] So we Jews, we just want you to leave us alone. That's it. We're not looking for converts. [00:02:31] But if somebody wants to convert, we. We, under certain circumstances and with certain guidelines, we do help them. [00:02:39] But then this person comes to me with a very fair complaint. What is a complaint? Look at this. I have a friend, Michael or Alex or Jenny or Jill, and they are Jewish, and they're eating pork on Yom Kippur. And I, in order to be Jewish, have to stop Working on Shabbos and have to start eating only kosher and I have to change my whole lifestyle. Why is it? It's not fair. [00:03:07] How come my neighbor is Jewish even if they're eating pork on Yom Kippur and I need to adhere to every last detail of the law in order to be converted to Judaism? It's not fair. And I understand their complaints. Their complaint is very reasonable. [00:03:21] So what is the answer? The answer is that in order to convert to Judaism, they have to do the same thing what the first Jews did in order to become Jewish. [00:03:31] When the Jewish nation was just born, how did it happen? What made Jewish nation into a Jewish nation? We all know that before the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, Jews were not a nation. We were just a family. We were a tribe. When we left Egypt and we came to Mount Sinai, this is when we were made into a nation. [00:03:53] By virtue of what? Of doing exactly what we have described. [00:03:59] First Jews had to learn the laws. [00:04:02] They had to make a firm commitment to live according to laws that they just learned. [00:04:07] They had to start living this life they have already circumcised even before they left Egypt. [00:04:14] And they had to go to mikvah before the Torah was given. And the first chance they had, they brought a sacrifice. So all of these things were done by the first Jews in order to become Jewish. [00:04:26] So what we are telling people who want to join the Jewish nation today, we're telling them, hey, our ancestors had to go through this in order to become Jewish. You have to do it too. And now this bond is so strong that lasts through all the generations, even if later on people stray away. So if there's a Jew today who is, I hope not, but I heard it does happen, is eating pork chazir on Yom Kippur. I met once an elderly Israeli lady and she told me that she does not like pork. She doesn't enjoy it, but she makes sure to eat it once a year on Yom Kippur. [00:05:07] This was this elderly Israeli lady from like the first Israeli socialist that built the kibbutzim. She was a staunch anti religious fighter. That's what she told me. [00:05:20] So once somebody converts to Judaism, this bond is so strong that even if his ancestors going to be eating pork on Yom Kippur, they're still, it's not okay, but they're still remaining to be Jewish. [00:05:32] So I tell people who are converting that once you'll convert, I hope none of your ancestors going to be eating pork on Yom Kippur. But Even if they do, they'll be still Jewish because of your bond. And obviously it goes only through matrilinean side. It goes by the mother. [00:05:50] So now here's a question. [00:05:52] So everything is understood, but what about the sacrifice? [00:05:57] If we cannot bring a sacrifice today, it doesn't mean that today's converts are not real converts, because they did not do everything that is required in order to be converted. [00:06:06] So Rambam writes an interesting thing. [00:06:11] He says that a sacrifice is needed to be converted to Judaism, but if it's not done, it doesn't keep someone from being converted. [00:06:21] In other words, it's a part of the conversion requirement, but it's not part of requirement to be Jewish. [00:06:29] What does it mean? And how could we even understand it? And this is what is explained in Kabbalah. [00:06:36] What is the difference between a Jew today and a Jew in the times of the Temple, when Jews were just created as a nation, they were given a mission to be light unto the nations. [00:06:49] They were supposed to influence the entire world to be better, to be godlier, to be more spiritual. [00:06:57] I want to ask you a question. [00:06:59] How were they able to do it? If they lived in this tiny, tiny speck of area, which is size similar to the state of New Jersey, how were they supposed to influence the entire world? [00:07:12] People by then already lived in most of places on the universe, on the globe. I meant most of the places on the globe. How were they supposed to reach everybody around the globe? [00:07:25] And the answer is that they were supposed to do it through their spiritual work in Israel. Their spiritual work in Israel was supposed to be so potent, so intense, that the spiritual light of their service in the temple would spread all over the world. This is why there's an interesting architectural detail of the Temple. Usually our houses are built with windows having a narrower part towards the outside and a wider part towards the inside. So the light would come and spread inside a house. That's how it's usually made. [00:08:02] Just like any lamp has a wider area towards the outside and narrower area towards the inside. [00:08:10] That's how buildings are usually built. Temple was built the other way around. [00:08:14] Windows in the Temple were built towards the outside, not with wider part being towards the inside, with the wider part being towards the outside. [00:08:24] And this is because the purpose of the Temple was to spread the light, not to take in the light. [00:08:29] And the Jewish service was supposed to rectify this world in its entirety. And that's what it was doing. And by the way, that's why in the times of King David, King Solomon, when Jews Were at the height of their both spiritual and economic and political life. [00:08:48] We know that Israel and Jerusalem were known all over the world as the center of spirituality and culture. [00:08:57] Everyone recognized it. [00:08:59] But what happened then? Then we had a spiritual downfall. [00:09:04] And this is why the temple was destroyed. And this is why the Jews were spread all over the world. Whenever we speak about Jewish history, we always connect the two. [00:09:14] We say that the temple was destroyed and Jews were spread all over the world. But why do these two have to be connected? The temple was destroyed. That's very sad. But Jews could still stay possibly on their land. [00:09:25] We know that technically Romans wanted to kick the Jews out of Israel. This is why they renamed land of Israel into Palestine. Because historically, from the Jewish books we know that Jews had no neighbors that were terrorizing the whole time. They're called Plishtim or Palestinians who lived in the modern day area of sector Gaza Gaza Strip. And they were not Arabic, they were not Semitic. They were an African nation. [00:09:54] And they were enemies with the Jews since the very beginning of the Jewish state. Back when Jews just came out of Egypt and came there through the desert for 40 years. [00:10:06] So this African nation of Plishtim were enemies of the Jews and Romans. Just to show to the Jews that their land is no more for them, they renamed on the maps this land to Palestina, Palestine that comes from Plishtim just to focus the eye to the Jews. But now we name it with the title of your enemies. [00:10:30] So this is. We know that after the temple was destroyed, this is when Jews were spread all over the world. But why did it have to be this way? [00:10:37] The answer is God made it this way purposely. Because when we had our temple, we were able to influence entire world from Jerusalem. [00:10:47] Once the temple was destroyed, we did not have that power anymore. So in order to make this world a better place, we had to be everywhere around the world in order to influence it. We did not have the power of remote effect. [00:11:03] And this is why there is literally no place on this planet where Jews are not living or haven't lived. [00:11:11] And by the way, I'll tell you an interesting thing about the history of this continent. [00:11:16] In the very beginning, when America was just discovered, many people were moving here. Even before the USA was established as a country, Even before it was officially as a country under the British, people were moving here. [00:11:32] And Jews were always looking a safe refuge. Because everywhere in Europe and Asia, Jews were prosecuted. [00:11:39] So Jews thought maybe this is a new continent and here we're finally going to have respite here we're going to have a calm life. [00:11:45] And many Jews were considering it, but most of rabbis were discouraging Jews from moving here because America was called Trefa Medina, a non kosher country, because here in America there was no kosher food, there was no synagogues, there was no yeshivas, where are your kids going to go to school. You have no rabbis to teach you, you don't have any Jewish establishment here, you don't have a mikveh to go to. So how are you going to live a Jewish life here? So rabbis were discouraging it most of the time. Besides, for one rabbi, a very prominent Sephardic rabbi, Menashe Ben Israel, he was encouraging Jews to move here. Why? For the reason that I just told you. He was saying that in order for us Jews to fulfill our purpose in this world, we need to be on every continent and everywhere in this world where we can only be. And he was saying that in order for Mashiach to come, we need to spread ourselves to every place. And he believed that for Jews, moving to America is necessary because this will hasten the coming of Moshe. And this is why, by the way, all of the old original synagogues here on this continent in America are called Mikveh Yisra' El and they're called Mikveh Israel because this is the name of the book of Binash Ben Israel. [00:12:59] And people who moved here named their synagogues for his book where he argued that Jews should be moving here. [00:13:08] So now we understand why Jews were spread all over the world. [00:13:12] And now we understand that during the times of the temple and after the destruction of the temple, the type of work, the type of service that Jews were performing from the religious perspective has changed. [00:13:25] In the times of the temple, what Jews had to do, they had to work on themselves, to purify themselves, to rectify themselves, to become better people. And if they would do, and if they would live as Jews, the world outside automatically would be rectified. [00:13:40] After the destruction of a temple till coming of Moshe after the destruction of the temple, the work of the Jews has changed. Now we need to work with the physical world around us in order to make it better. Just working on ourselves is not good enough. [00:13:58] There are many Hasidic stories to this effect. For example, there's a story about two men who were traveling on foot to their teacher, the BAAL Shem Tov, who lived in modern day Western Ukraine. Back then it was Poland. [00:14:15] And as you know, transportation was expensive. Jews were not always able to afford A horse and a buggy. Airplanes weren't invented yet. So they were traveling on foot through villages, through forests, through fields, and they got lost. [00:14:30] And as they got lost, they were wondering. They really didn't know where to go. There was nobody to ask. They are wondering. They are wondering. They have no clue where they are till they find a well with water. It was hot summer day. They decided, at least they want to take a drink of water, sit down by the well, and as soon as they take this cup of water, make a blessing, make a bracha and drink this water. Suddenly they see a stranger, passerby. So they ask him how to get to the village that they need to go to to visit BAAL Shem Tov, which way is it? And he tells them, oh, you really went out of the way. He shows them where to go. And they finally find their way and they get to BAAL Shem Tov. Once they come to BAAL Shem Tov asks them, how was your trip? [00:15:11] They said, our trip was good, but we lost a lot of time. We would have been here much earlier if we had not for this crazy detour that we had to take for no reason. [00:15:18] Tov says, you think it was for no reason? [00:15:21] Do you know that since this world was created, this area and this well, we're sitting and waiting for somebody to do a mitzvah there? [00:15:30] And God didn't know, how could he make sure that the Jew will end up there to do a mitzvah, to say a blessing on a cup of water? [00:15:37] So God made you get lost, and God made you travel to this well thinking that you don't know where you are. [00:15:45] And once you made the blessing, once you performed this mitzvah, now God said, okay, now put you back on the right track. And that's why you came here. So don't think about Shem to have said that. You wasted your time. [00:15:56] There are many stories to this effect where it is stressed that this world is desperately looking for us to do mitzvah with it. [00:16:05] And this is our mission. In here. When I have an office and I do a mitzvah there, I have mezuzah on my door, I eat kosher food there, I put antfil in there. If I need to put it in the office, I talk words of Torah with other people there. This allows me to utilize this office and this space for a mitzvah. Same thing with my home. Same thing with everywhere I go. Same thing with my car and with every gadget I have. [00:16:29] The phones were created. Listen To Robbie Belinsky podcast, by the way. I'm just saying, that's what Samsung Corporation and Macintosh iPhone also told me. [00:16:38] So now we understand that after the destruction of a temple, the only way for us to make this world better is by dealing with it directly and not by working on ourselves and hoping that because of that, the world around us will become better. In the times of Temple, when we were higher spiritually, it worked. Today it doesn't. [00:17:00] So now we understand that in the times of temple, the mission of the Jews was different. And in order to be a Jew, you had to also bring a corban, bring a sacrifice, because that was part of your mission. What is a corban? What is sacrifice? [00:17:14] In the Torah, it is specifically said that we bring those sacrifices to become closer to God. In English language, word sacrifice means just taking something away from you for something or someone else. That's what sacrifice means. In Hebrew, Korban comes from the word karov, which means bringing close. [00:17:32] I bring myself close to God when I bring the sacrifice. Now you ask me, how does it work? I take a cow, I slaughter it, and that's how I become closer to God. Doesn't make any sense. Correct. Because to you today, it doesn't make any sense. That's why God said, you know what? People don't understand it, they don't appreciate it. For them right now, it doesn't work. That's why God took away this service from us. [00:17:54] God said, right now, if Jews will be doing it, you're going to be wasting cattle, so take it away from them. But in the times of the temple, Jews actually understood how it worked. They felt it, and that's why it was bringing them close to God. And in order to become a Jewish, one had to bring a sacrifice to become closer to God. Today, sacrifices are not part of our mission, because today our main focus is with the world around us. To use the world around us for mitzvahs. [00:18:24] That's the main focus of our work. That's why a sacrifice is not necessary to become a Jew. [00:18:30] Once moshiach will come, we'll have a temple again. We'll be bringing sacrifice again. So then this Jew who has converted previously will have to bring a sacrifice, because then our mission will include bringing sacrifices as well. But right now it's not. [00:18:43] So that is the story. [00:18:45] That's why we need to make sure to use as much as possible for the world around us, for mitzvahs.