Originally Posted by GeddyBass2112

Why do I want to be Jewish you mean?

Pretty easy in my eyes. For me, the fundamental basis of Christianity, Jesus' supposed claim to be the Messiah and the son of HaShem, flies in the face of what is actually taught in the Old Testament (the book which Christians claim is the basis of their religion) as being requirements of the Messiah. The theology of the New Testament is flawed and the history is plainly wrong.

I also reject Islam for much the same reasons. It's based on the same theology.


I choose Judaism because I see in every aspect of the Jewish faith the mark and reminders of the Divine. According to Judaism, we are all created in the image of God, and through righteousness, charity and good works can see the World to Come.

Shabbat, which starts tonight (which means I'm not supposed to be on the laptop!!!), is meant as a reminder to humanity of what life was like in the Garden, and what it will be like in the World to Come, where there will be no need to work or toil. The Shabbat table is representative of the altar of the Temple, and the meal as a banquet fit to be presented to HaShem himself like a king's banqueting table.

Keeping kosher though is a bit of a tricky one- I believe that although we do not know the reasons for these laws on what we can eat, we also do not know the reward for keeping them, or the punishment for not keeping them. We should also uphold major or more difficult mitzvot as strictly as we uphold minor or more easy ones.


As to why I choose Orthodox Judaism specifically, and not say, Reform or Conservative Judaism, my belief is that Orthodoxy represents for me the most 'correct' form of Judaism.