We welcome both Jews and non-Jews to our website. People are interested in becoming Jewish for many reasons. Being saved by believing in Judaism as the only true religion is not one of them.

Please explore the various articles on our website and feel free to ask questions. Indeed, if you do not have a questioning spirit Judaism is not for you. Many people find blessings through becoming a part of God's covenant with the Jewish people. Others find they are coming home. You may be attracted by your contact with a Jew or your study of Judaism. However you come to us we welcome you.

INCREASING ONE'S LIFESPAN
By Rabbi Allen S. Maller

Shemu'el bar Yehudah, a rabbi in fourth century Babylonia who was a convert to Judaism, was asked to what he attributed his long lifespan. He replied that every single day of his married life he thanked God for giving him his wife, and he thanked his wife for giving him God. If my wife hadn't influenced me to study Torah with the Rabbis I would not have become a Jew. She enriched my life in ten different ways. I have been blessed to see our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren raised to study Torah and to do Mitsvot. When I sit at the table on Shabbat and Yom Tov and watch all the generations of pure and holy Jews who have issued from my union with her and with God, I know both a joy and a peace that surely prolongs my life.

Also, each day when I look at my wife, whose loving efforts brought me to Torah and Mitsvot, I see the face of God. My disciple, the great sage Abbayei, learned this from me and that is why he taught, "There are never less than 36 righteous men in the world who (daily) are vouchsafed the sight of the Shekhinah (the feminine presence of God)." Blessed is every man with a wife such as mine.

FOUR KINDS OF CONVERTS

The prophet Isaiah envisions a future time when God's spirit and blessings will pour out on the children of Jacob-God's servant: "This will say I belong to God, this will recite in Jacob's name, this his hand will write for God, and this will be surnamed Israel." Isaiah 44:5 Who are these four groups of people who will shall receive the spirit and blessing of God? The Avot d'Rabbi Natan says those who surname themselves by the name of Israel are non-Jews who convert to Judaism i.e. female converts who marry Jewish men and thus acquire Jewish names. What about the other three groups?

The second group, who long for and belong to God, could be converts who become Jewish all on their own without any romantic attachments. The third group, who speak or read in Jacob's name, could be converts who are drawn to Jews and Judaism and then discover that they have Jewish ancestors. Their souls are gilgulim-reincarnated souls of Jewish ancestors who were cut off from the Jewish people several generations ago and yearn to return home. Their gilgul calls out to them to return. The fourth group, whose hand (activities) writes for God, could refer to those non-Jewish men who actively support their Jewish wives in raising their children to be loyal and active members of the Jewish community. All four of these groups bring spirit and blessing into the Jewish People.