Why Judaism?

Lebanese ex-patriot - Rawan Osman (Orato)

There are two kinds of people who have always fascinated me. Although they are, in many ways, opposites, they are also strikingly similar. At least in one crucial sense. Both are willing to leave the warm cocoon of social relationships in which they were raised and enter a life radically different from the one they knew.

The first group consists of those who choose to abandon the religious customs and practices in which they were raised. Freedom from religious obligation often comes at a steep price: the loss of family bonds and friendships. It means entering a world that is unfamiliar, even strange. A world in which they have not yet formed meaningful relationships. I cannot imagine the difficulty of such a choice. The pain of loss must be unbearable, as must the loneliness, at least at first. And yet, there seems to be an uptick in people who are doing exactly that.

But the same phenomenon exists in reverse. What motivates someone to abandon a life free of religious obligation? Or to exchange one set of obligations for another. Especially if they were once devout in one religion and now face an entirely new religious framework?

I have written before about those who lose their faith and walk away from religious obligation. But I am equally fascinated by those who move in the opposite direction. Why would someone raised in Islam decide to convert to Judaism? What is it about Judaism that convinces them it is true and thereby to abandon  the religion in which they were raised?

That question was answered beautifully by Rawan Osman, a Muslim woman who describes herself as a ‘recovered antisemite’. She is now converting to Judaism. I am awed by her perceptive response. Rather than paraphrase her words, here is what she said in a Times of Israel featured blog post:

A secular Jew asked me why I was converting to Judaism.

Why would a rational, educated woman choose to join an ancient people and embrace traditions that seem to belong to another age? Did I truly believe those traditions were still relevant?

My answer is simple: Judaism survived because of its traditions, not despite them...

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