Hello,
I'm a Canadian living in Asia, nowhere near
a non-Orthodox Jewish community, and am highly interested in learning more
about (progressive) Judaism in support of a possible conversion in the near to
mid-future. It appears you have online Intro classes.
My questions are obvious. Do you take
non-Australian tutees residing outside of Australia? Also, are there any
significant differences between your presentation of Judaism and that presented
by the Reform movement (in Canada, in case that's a significant point)?
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi
Sarah,
The
basic answer is yes - we certainly welcome students from outside Australia, and
Progressive Judaism as taught on our course is a 'close sibling' of US/Canadian Reform
(we are all members of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, wupj.org).
The US/Canadian movement covers a spectrum from more traditional to very liberal, and we
tend to be towards the more traditional in practice and learning, but more
liberal end in terms of beliefs etc.
The
more complex answer is that ours is an 'Introduction to Judaism' course.
It would prepare you well to complete conversion in Canada (or with us).
But to convert, it is necessary to have a developing relationship with a
congregation, so you can attend shabbat and festival services and become part
of a community. It is very hard to be a Jew on your own - and virtually
impossible to convert on your own.
We
had an excellent student from deepest New Zealand - she completed the course and attended
our December open weekends in Melbourne twice running several years ago. But she then decided to move to Melbourne six months ago and has become involved
with the community and attending several times weekly - and went to the Bet Din
(Jewish Court) and was accepted last month.
I
hope this is a useful response. If you have not already done so I
would refer you to https:// progressivejudaism.blogspot.com to read my responses to a
range of other queries, and to http://pjv.org.au/education/introduction-judaism-online
where
you can do two free trial introductory sessions and then get registered and
started if you wish.
If you could give me a bit more background about yourself, family/partner, where exactly you are located to see if we have a community in the vicinty etc, it will help me give you better guidance.
Shabbat
Shalom (the greeting leading up to shabbat)
