tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post1958894396362080285..comments2023-09-09T08:17:28.482-04:00Comments on Doubly Happy Too: Choosing Judaism - Part IUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-50094119935052229512011-03-21T10:49:24.913-04:002011-03-21T10:49:24.913-04:00My husband is a Turk and believes in Christianity....My husband is a Turk and believes in Christianity. I'm a Chinese and was born into the Taoism religion. We are comfortable with the status quo and have no intention to convert each other.<br />Great blog!Mrs Ergülhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07680097565655390222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-34419426642226798422009-04-20T02:40:00.000-04:002009-04-20T02:40:00.000-04:00I found your blog two days ago and I have the page...I found your blog two days ago and I have the page open at all times so that there is always a quick way to get back to reading it. Love it! And congratulations on your wedding! I am sure it was gorgeous and spiritually meaningful.<br /><br /><br />You are asking whether your readers are in interfaith relationships and are planning to convert. This question is an important one for me personally. I am a Russian Muslim who born into a family that considered itself Muslim historically but could not practice because of the Soviet regime. My grandfather on my father's side was a Sunni Mullah who renounced his faith amidst atrocities of the revolution and civil war saying that no God would allow that to happen. My grandmother on my mother's side at the age of 60 picked up Qur'an and learned Arabic. My mother is an atheist and I was brought up in an agnostic environment. At the same time, respect for other people's religions and beliefs was an important part of my education. As a young adult, I attended Orthodox Christian services, spoke to Mullahs, read Sufi authors, and meditated as a Buddhist. I am 32 and I still consider myself to be not religious and I struggle with the entire concept of organized religion and one GOD. <br /><br />Meanwhile, I am engaged to an American Jew from CT who was brought up following the values of the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism. He is not religious at all, and sometimes I think he feels sort of proud that I am Muslim :) His family has never mentioned anything about me converting to Judaism, and my fiance and I both agree that our future children will benefit from the fact that we were brought up so differently but still share the same values. It is also our agreement that I will be a stay-at-home mom once we start growing the family, and the thought of me being the major influence in our children's lives made me think seriously about at the very least taking the intro to Judaism classes or even possibly converting. I am not sure I will have enough faith in me to actually convert, but I definitely want to make sure that both our cultures are represented equally.Peanuthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667313802073956258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-31421474680100192722008-11-18T17:25:00.000-05:002008-11-18T17:25:00.000-05:00bridechka, thank you for leaving your comment -- y...bridechka, thank you for leaving your comment -- your story of the seder really touched my heart. i am looking forward to sharing this story with my fiance.Mrs. Hot Cocoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10729150178205701236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-53612689396284781552008-11-18T11:06:00.000-05:002008-11-18T11:06:00.000-05:00Hi, this is the first time I am reading your blog ...Hi, this is the first time I am reading your blog and I am so glad to have stumbled upon it. <BR/><BR/>I was born Jewish, unfortunately I was also born in the former Soviet Union, where to practice Judaism was illegal. Because of the prohibition, my family has no idea what our traditions are or what our religion means or stands for. All we knew was that we were Jewish (it said so on our passports back in the USSR) and that our family members had died just for being Jews so we were fiercely proud of our background but completely clueless about it at the same time.<BR/><BR/>Now I am marrying a wonderful man who comes from a non-religious Jewish family but who practices Judaism with all his heart. He never puts pressure on me and is totally fine with any level of my involvement but recently I started taking classes from a Rabbi in our area and I could not be more thrilled. I am learning about my culture, my history, my religion, my ethnicity. I feel like I am finally reconnecting with a part of myself that has always been missing. <BR/><BR/>Last year we had the Passover Seder at my parent's for the first time. My father (a giant of a man) cried at the table and thanked me and the Big Guy for finally giving back to him what the soviets had stolen from us.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your post! I cant wait to read more of your blog!Bridechkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06939935590766216936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-91937673510660631752008-11-17T11:20:00.000-05:002008-11-17T11:20:00.000-05:00Hi,Great post - I have spent the last two years pr...Hi,<BR/><BR/>Great post - I have spent the last two years preparing for my conversion (which will take place in December), it has been an amazing time and I also love that there is room to question life and God in Judaism. I am in the UK - converting Masorti which I think is like conservative Judaism in the US? We are getting married next June - and my partner also has moments where he can't quite believe we go to Shul twice a week and keep Kosher. It has been good for us both though. I wish you Mazel Tov and thanks for sharing. MichelleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-29726086978224373772008-11-14T12:51:00.000-05:002008-11-14T12:51:00.000-05:00Thanks for visiting and posting! @ Graeme: I hear...Thanks for visiting and posting! <BR/><BR/>@ Graeme: I hear you on the leap from being irreligious to religious thing. What's funny though is that my fiance is actually having more of a difficulty with this than I am! He's flummoxed at the idea of having to go to shul each week now.Mrs. Hot Cocoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10729150178205701236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-4649146221588410582008-11-14T12:27:00.000-05:002008-11-14T12:27:00.000-05:00My fiance brought this blog to my attention becaus...My fiance brought this blog to my attention because she's Jewish, I'm not, and we're both attending conversion classes at our synagogue. I don't know whether or not I'll convert--we're at a Reform synagogue and the rabbi will marry us whether or not I'm Jewish, as long as we attend the courses and commit to raising a Jewish family. This isn't a problem for us.<BR/><BR/>I'm finding the God thing difficult as well. I was raised in an irreligious family and I'm skeptical of religion generally. In some ways it maybe makes the process of conversion easier in that I don't have to draw a line under previous beliefs, like, say, believing in Jesus. At the same time, it might make conversion more difficult because the leap from being irreligious to religious is perhaps greater than changing from one system of beliefs to another. Ultimately, I imagine that everyone struggles with this and there's no real sense in talking about which is "easier" or "harder". You're right though about there being a real emphasis on the idea of struggling or wrestling with God instead of having certainty of belief. I find that to be reassuring, because as you put it "I don't think I would be converting if Judaism were a religion that insists on blind faith."Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15375230713040998061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7911323689296707815.post-11829540241940975332008-11-11T23:55:00.000-05:002008-11-11T23:55:00.000-05:00Thanks so much for this post. I am Methodist (well...Thanks so much for this post. I am Methodist (well kind of) and my future hubby is Jewish. I too do not have any pressure to convert from my future in laws but i have been considering converting because from the little I have learned about Judaism since dating my fi (over 5 years) and taking many classes in college i do believe it might be the path I will take in the near future. Thanks againBrittany and Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04039881848096706020noreply@blogger.com