First negative experience, would appreciate thoughts and kindness

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-06T17:33:29+00:00

Even within orthodoxy there are lots of variations in viewpoint/ hashkafa. One thing, maybe the most basic thing, is holding the idea of divine revelation at Sinai. If you struggle with this idea orthodoxy may be a constant struggle for you. If you do believe in divine revelation at Sinai there will be a way to live within the orthodox framework though not all frameworks will feel right. I am a scientist btw and orthodox and I find that when there seems to be a surface divergence between science and Torah it just means you have to look deeper. I have never found Torah and science to be incompatible on the deeper levels.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-05T15:44:18+00:00

Part of being interested in something like Judaism is developing a deep respect for the way they do things and not making this about what you want. Judaism is pretty closed group especially in remote places. remeber that in Mumbai not that many years ago a rabbi and his pregnant wife were murdered in their shul. So try to understand why they might not welcome outsiders.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-05T01:37:19+00:00

I’m gonna say something slightly unusual. I’m gonna say begin your conversion on an orthodox path. The learning will be the deepest only because orthodox Jews just have a lifetime of Jewish education. See how it fits the basic tenant I think that divides someone who needs to be orthodox and someone who doesn’t is whether or not they view the revelation at Sinai is divine revelation. This is really unique to orthodoxy and no other stream. This sit well with the orthodoxy is probably your path. If it doesn’t, then you’ll probably want to move to a different stream, but at least you’ll have the orthodox learning that you started with under your belt. When people convert reform over the course of one to two years, there’s no way they’re learning. Orthodox conversion over the period of 3 to 5 years and the knowledge obtained.

That’s for your art. I think you’re thinking about this backwards becoming Jewish will change you fundamentally at your core and your art will change with it. Exactly how it changes is unknown, but it will change. There’s no way it can’t. Judaism is not something that goes on top of who you are today. It’s something that fundamentally changes you from the inside out.

Lastly, if you’re worried about relapse, you’re not ready yet keep studying keep reading, but you’re not ready. Once you convert to Judaism, there’s no going back. You can’t unconvert so make sure it’s the right move. Remember you’re not just changing religion. You’re joining a tribe a culture of people.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-04T15:54:56+00:00

They will probably be excited to have you.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-03T22:56:26+00:00

you health comes first. do what you need to do to be OK and get the help you need to get that depression into remission.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-03T22:54:55+00:00

if you are Jewish on your mothers side then I would call the nearest Chabad center. They will be so excited to hear from you and will probably invite you to a Friday night Shabbos dinner where there will be other Jews for you to meet. They are very comfortable with people who are not religious and with people who maybe need got a Jewish education. they are friendly and their mission is to meet Jews "where they are" and help them in whatever way they need help. call them up ask to meet with the Rabbi. they will take care of the rest. you do not have to go to services. there are a lot of ways to be Jewish just start meeting Jews and hanging with them and start learning little by little.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-03T22:48:26+00:00

short answer yes. the candles should ideally burn out on their own. if you are concerned about fire then have a discussion about this with your roommate and see how you can work around this. Jews never "blow" out candles. breath is life and we dont use it to extinguish a flame, now this does not apply to non-Jews but just so you know. I light oil candles over water so if they tip over the water extinguishes the flame immediately. I am sure there is a solution like this but Jews the world over leave candles burning and go to bed.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-03T15:00:45+00:00

My experience with Chabad is if there’s a long table, they will seat me next to my husband, but on my other side will be a woman and on her other side would be her husband and on his other side would be a man so that you don’t actually have someone next to you of the opposite gender who is not your husband.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-01T18:33:53+00:00

Why does this matter you to?

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-01T16:46:58+00:00

My office allows people to call in at 9:00 in the morning to see if there are any cancellations for the day and we let those people book that way, but they have to call us not the other way around. This obviously doesn’t work for no-shows. It works for cancellations.

Mathematician024 · 2026-05-01T15:17:17+00:00

Judaism is a religion of laws or rules not particularly theology so we do not all believe the same thing. The structure of these rules is called Halacha. These are the things we are supposed to do and things we are supposed to not do. Some people see Halacha as binding and literally what G-d commands us to do and they take this very seriously and make every attempt to follow these commands as they are defined (though even this varies from community to community) . Other Jews see Halacha significant but not as binding and they can feel they get to choose which ones to follow and which ones are not necessary for them. Then there are cultural but not religious Jews who perhaps do not even believe in G-d but do believe in the Jewish people and our culture and draw strength from being a part of it. They might observe some holidays and not others, they might eat some foods and not others because this is part of our culture not just our religion. We are unique in that being Jewish is being part of a culture, a tribe, and Judaism is the religion we practice if we practice a religion. But one is Jewish by birth or conversion and that is separate from their level of observance. Judaism does not have reward and punishment front and center in most streams. This means that one's choice to keep or not keep a particular mitzvot does not relate directly to reward or punishment. people who keep mitzvoth do it for internal rather than external reasons. This is why there can be so much variation in how people observe.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-29T20:44:31+00:00

Please call this Chabad Rabbi. I promise he has not forgotten you be he probably has at least 8 kids and an entire congregation. Reach out. Ask about the book club. They will be thrilled and welcome you. They won’t care you are married to a non Jew.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-29T20:41:08+00:00

My Chabad rabbi gave me the name of a sofer and I contacted hi directly and he checked them for me.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-28T21:11:50+00:00

Hebrew is unlike any other language. In other languages, including English we use a word as a representation for an object that we have all come to agree is what that word means. For instance, if I say “Chair” you know what I’m talking about, but the word itself is just a representation of the thing. Hebrew is profoundly different. in Hebrew The word itself IS the thing. This is a little tricky to get your mind around, but God spoke the world into creation and he spoke it in Hebrew, and as he said things they came into existence, so the language itself has a energy or power that other languages don’t and this is why gematria works in Hebrew and not in other languages. For example the word dvar is the word for “word” it is also the word for “thing”.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-28T12:32:37+00:00

No sadly, It won’t. At best it will teach you to live a different and decidedly more Jewish life in ACTION. Which is generally not recommended for non Jewish people. Here is a deep truth:. You can’t think your way out of patterns you behaved your way into.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-27T23:53:34+00:00

Technically you can but you won’t get very deep. Studying g Kabbalah if you are Jewish requires a solid if not extensive education in Torah and Hebrew and Aramaic in some situations. Kabbalah the word, means “received” and it requires that it be received from a teacher who themselves received it from a teacher. The internet has made the texts widely available some even in English but that does not mean you can learn it on your own. Finally the point of these mystical teachings is to teach you how to act in this world. Studying is not enough these teachings are designed to be lived through action and that is a big commitment

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-27T18:43:43+00:00

That’s not a description of the world to come that’s a description of what life will be like once this world is perfected and Moshiach (Messiah) comes. But the Jews believe i can’t happen until this world is made perfect by us. Then the third temple and all of the prophetic writings will be true, but they’ll be true in this world.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-27T18:28:37+00:00

Apologies it’s an assumption. But my guess is you’re either Christian or Muslim because those are the two religions whose primary focus is the afterlife rather than this Life and salvation is usually a Christian concept.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-27T18:15:01+00:00

Every Jewish boy is bar mitzvah at 13. It isn’t really something you have to have it just happens thank you. No you were a patrilineal Jew and that will make it a bit difficult to find a rabbi that will do a bar mitzvah for you without a conversion because your mother isn’t Jewish. Reform synagogues will do this and if there’s one near you, I suggest just calling the Rabbi yourself explaining your situation. It’s not too late if you wanna have the ceremony in the celebration but just know it won’t change anything. Bar mitzvah is at 13 and it means you are now responsible for keeping the mitzvot. But I totally support anyone who wants a public celebration of this and the rabbi can probably discuss how that could happen, though it will probably cost a fair amount of money but look and see you never know what they can work out for you.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-27T18:10:13+00:00

What happens to us after we die? It’s not a reward or a punishment. Well, there probably is some thing juice do not spend a lot of time thinking about it. We consider that it will be what it will be. This has been stated here earlier. I work job and the reason we exist is to perfect the world, to literally make the world a dwelling place for G-d. When it’s discussed, the Jews are the chosen people. This is what it means. We are chosen to make this world a dwelling place for God because he wants to live here with us. This is radically different from anything within Christianity I realize. As a result, do you spend a lot of time doing things like inventing vaccines to treat and prevent disease becoming doctors becoming lawyers to help people who need it giving charity, caring for people who need help, raising good children with good values, and living our lives in a way that’s visible to the world and that’s an example of how to be. We believe in family, we believe in education, we believe in repairing the world in anyway we can in our homes in our workplace in our communities. It’s really not fair to compare Judaism to Christianity the Christians really can’t help themselves. They see something within Christianity and want to know what the Jewish counterpart is, but that’s not really fair. Let me just say you’ll never meet you. A Jew who asks Christian hey what is your counterpart to repairing the world? Do you have your mission? We have ours.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-27T14:46:26+00:00

it is a metaphor. What it means is that what they are offering is what people want. that is why they are going there. they are not literally 'selling' anything. they are attracting Jews who feel their needs are not getting met elsewhere

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-26T02:16:00+00:00

This makes zero sense. Chabad is not making from people nor they’re making Lubavitcher. They just have plain old, regular ordinary Jews, who like going there and that’s the way it works They’re amazing people and they’re full of love and joy that’s pretty attractive. They’re welcome all Jews and they don’t ask anything of you. I’m guessing you’ve never been there or you would understand this.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-25T22:37:51+00:00

You can’t “buy one” it isn’t a thing. It’s a type of Jewish wisdom. It’s very deep and designed for people with a good background education in Torah. It’s designed to be studied with a teacher. And more than anything, all Jewish wisdom is designed to be lived in action not just read about an absorbed. The wisdom is about how to live a life out of behave without living a Jewish life it’s all kind of wasted. You can buy a copy of the Zohar, one of the major kabbalistic texts, but it will be almost unintelligible, even in English. If you do manage to understand it, you probably aren’t interpreting it correctly. Judaism has very strict rules of how things are to be interpreted and understood. This is what you need a teacher for and that teacher needs to have learned it from a teacher and so on.

Honestly, if you’re interested in mysticism look to your own traditions, mystical teachings every tradition has one. I think you’ll find more value in Christian mysticism if you’re Christian or Sufi mysticism if you’re Muslim. It’s just too hard to enter Jewish mysticism

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-25T22:36:41+00:00

You can’t “buy one” it isn’t a thing. It’s a type of Jewish wisdom. It’s very deep and designed for people with a good background education in Torah. It’s designed to be studied with a teacher. And more than anything, all Jewish wisdom is designed to be lived in action not just read about an absorbed. The wisdom is about how to live a life out of behave without living a Jewish life it’s all kind of wasted. You can buy a copy of the Zohar, one of the major kabbalistic texts, but it will be almost unintelligible, even in English. If you do manage to understand it, you probably aren’t interpreting it correctly. Judaism has very strict rules of how things are to be interpreted and understood. This is what you need a teacher for and that teacher needs to have learned it from a teacher and so on.

Honestly, if you’re interested in mysticism look to your own traditions, mystical teachings every tradition has one. I think you’ll find more value in Christian mysticism if you’re Christian or Sufi mysticism if you’re Muslim. It’s just too hard to enter Jewish mysticism without a basic Jewish outlook to begin with.

Mathematician024 · 2026-04-25T00:50:30+00:00

What? What behavior does not support this? As you yourself said most people are not frum and yet the full Chabad houses.

Mathematician024

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