Food for thought
What should a non-Jew or a Noahide do when they have a strong connection to Hashem (God) & The Tora? Should one convert to Judaism or live according to Jewish Law? A firm and solid Yes! Would be the most common answer. However, this answer poses many problems for non-Jews who simply want to follow what they feel in their heart and soul is the right and proper thing to do.
Did you know that if the Noahide or Non-Jew decides to convert they usually experience many issues once they have “converted”...
Some of the issues that arise are:
Customs: When converting how should a non-Jew who has no Sephardi, Ashkenazi, nor Yemenite background convert? If one lacks knowledge in these backgrounds, what should one do? If for some reason the newly converted must move away to a more rural area and cannot find a Rabbi who will show them correct customs?
Marriage: In some communities, converts are not allowed to marry those who are born Jewish and are told that they must marry converts. Any future offspring is usually accepted as Jewish and allowed to marry into the general Jewish community.
Nusach: Nusach primarily means "text" or "version", the correct wording of a religious text or liturgy. Thus, the nusach tefillah is the text of the prayers, either generally or in a particular community. When the convert wants to pray as is the requirement of all Jews will find a challenge. If one converted under an Ashkenazi Rabbi, Sephardic Rabbi, or Yemenite Rabbi the Nusach will differ a great deal and affect the intention and connection of the converts prayers. This is one of the on going issues with American Jewry as most converts are forced to follow Ashkenazic Nusach by default regardless of their cultural background. This practice is against Shulchan Arukh and other halachic sources and authorities.
The above are a few basic issues one may encounter for synagogue life. That issue becomes harder for converts and Noahides who often times find themselves without a Rabbi to oversee their newly found way of life within under the wings of the Jewish community.
What did Rambam have to say on this subject?
What we find written in the Mishneh Tora in general is fascinating for us as Jews. It is equally enlightening for the non-Jew contemplating conversion to Judaism and may bring some comfort on both sides.
Moshe only gave the Tora and mitzvot as an inheritance to Am Yisrael, as Devarim 33:4 states: 'The Tora... is the inheritance of the congregation of Ya’akov.” However, the seven Noahide laws are for all who live in Hashem’s world. They must be followed by everyone Jew and Noahide alike.
Who decides & the Halachic Outlook
As stated above this has been an ongoing debate since the time of the Shoftim. The debate about conversion in the political, halachic and academic arenas, has two distinct and opposing groups. One of these groups claims that the validity of a conversion to Judaism (giyyur) is dependent not only on the correct rituals being performed during the conversion process, but, most importantly, also in the adoption of a distinct lifestyle and belief system: observant (usually fervently observant) orthodoxy. The defenders of this proposition have even gone as far as positing that when a convert ceases to observe Jewish law as fervently as he or she once did, even after years of doing so, their original intentions can be brought into question, and, therefore, the giyyur can be retroactively annulled.
This group places paramount importance on lasting ideological and behavioral transformation as well as original purity of intention as the key markers of a valid conversion to Judaism.
The other group claims that, although proper intention and commitment to Judaism’s ideology and practice are certainly important and desirable, it does not have the same ability to impinge on the validity of the giyyur if the proper rituals were performed. In other words, the level of commitment to the ideology and practice of Judaism before or after the giyyur determines if one is a good Jew but not whether one is a Jew or not. Conversion, for this group, is not contingent on the inner process of the candidate, nor can it be undone by any of her future actions.
In the realm of Halacha, the first group is eager to call on a long list of latter-day authorities to support its views. Many of the rabbinical sources since the 19th century have expressed views that make conversion contingent on motivation and ideological compliance. Most of them hail from the Ashkenazi orthodox societies that arose in response to the challenges of modernity in eastern and central Europe. As for the other side, its strongest argument for their view of conversion comes from quoting the Rishonim and the RaMBaM (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 1135-1204) on this topic. He wrote: "a convert whose intentions were not checked nor who was informed about the commandments and their punishment but was circumcised and immersed in front of three laymen: he is a convert. Even if we know that he is converting for an ulterior motive, if he was circumcised and immersed, he is no longer considered a gentile, although we are suspicious of him until his righteousness becomes apparent. And even if he returns and worships an idol he is considered as a sinning Yisrael." (Mishneh Tora, Hilchot Issure Biah 13.17).
The sources and importance of the RaMBaM’s support lies not only in his weight as a halachic authority, rather it is important because this is also how Rabbi Yosef Karo’s Shulchan Aruch quotes his opinion almost verbatim, thus canonizing it -in the eyes of many- as the final word in halacha. The view of the RaMBaM, although it mentions the fact that the convert’s righteousness needs to be confirmed by his or her behavior, places the validity of the conversion on its rituals: circumcision and immersion.
This almost sacramental view of conversion is surprising, to say the least, coming from the mouth of the Rabbi who introduced the idea that the central part of Judaism was the attachment to a series of beliefs. For the RaMBaM, the essence of Judaism is its philosophical and theological content and not the rituals that embody them. Just ask anyone who has spent time learning Guide of Self-Conscious. Thus, it is only natural to expect that in the process of converting to Judaism the determinant issue would be to confirm the reception of these fundamental religious truths and not the rituals performed.
Earlier Writings and Thought of RaMBaM
In one of his earlier texts, he seems to imply that attachment to these beliefs is the essence of being Jewish. When these principles [the Thirteen Principles of faith] are established for a Jew and he believes in them truly, he has entered the congregation of Yisrael, and it is our duty to love him and forgive him and all that Hashem commanded us concerning mutual love and familyhood. Even if he does what is considered a transgression because of his appetite or his being overpowered by his evil inclination, he is punished according to the size of his rebellion but [still] he has a share [in the world to come] and he is considered as a sinning Yisrael. However, when an individual I.e., the non-Jew, raises doubts concerning one of these principles, he is considered outside the congregation [of Yisrael] and has rebelled against Hashem and is called a “heretic”. Mishna Sanhedrin.
There seems to be, then, a stark tension between the RaMBaM’s halachic approach to conversion and his philosophical and religious definition of Judaism. Although many authors in the past decades have made a career of pointing out the disparities between the philosophical “Maimonides” and the great halachist the “RaMBaM”, we have plenty of evidence that the RaMBaM was not shy in introducing particularities of his philosophic or religious worldview into his halachic framework.
Therefore, given the strength of his commitment to a content-driven and defined Judaism, there must have been a profoundly strong reason for him not to side with his philosophical self, as it were, in this issue and introduce radical changes to the topic at hand. In his ideal description of the conversion process, the RaMBaM introduces these theological concepts as the core values that the new Jew must busy him/her/self with.
This process is described in Yevamot 47a-b and although he preserves most of the language of Talmud, he also seamlessly adds his own requirements to the process (underlined in the quotation):” It is written “and we inform him of the principles of the religion which are the oneness of Hashem and the prohibition of idolatry, and we expand upon this. And we inform him of some easy commandments and of some hard commandments and we do not expand upon this, and we inform him/her of the chet of Leqet, Shikheha, Peah and Maaser Sheni [agricultural mitzvoth], and we inform him/her of the punishment of violation of these mitzvoth (Hilchot Issure Biah 14.2).”
To be continued...