WHY I LOVE MOSES’S FATHER IN LAW –JETHRO. HE MADE THE DECISION TO CONVERT-THE LESSONS THE TAUGHT ME!

 

A convert’s choice of Judaism should inform our own acceptance of and attitude towards it.  True, a Jew born Jewish has no choice in the matter.  A Jew born a Jew remains a Jew regardless of his or her actions and choices to the contrary. 

Nevertheless, a Jew must always strive to incorporate the “choice” element inherent in a conversion to Judaism;  one should always be looking for ways to apply his or her own initiative, just as if he or she were choosing Judaism for the first time.  The advantage of treating this as a choice is that it is usually something one does with fervor, enthusiasm and joy.

Conversely, the convert to Judaism must recognize that he or she has always possessed a Jewish soul, one that stood at Mount Sinai with all the other Jewish souls and enthusiastically declared “Na’aseh v’nishma – we will do and we will listen!” 

The convert is no less an heir to the Torah than a born-Jew and is in that sense not an outsider after all.