04-15-2008, 10:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-17-2008, 12:49 PM by Director Michael.)
My rabbi, and every other rabbi (Orthodox) whom I've asked, has pointed at the sign above the door. Everywhere I've ever lived and in every synagogue I've visited, there's been a sign or engraving, either on the bulletin board in the synagogue yard or carved above the door to the building or to the sanctuary: "My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples." The most recent one explained that one could be a non-Jew:
* hoping to convert,
* observing the path of B'nei Noach,
* hoping to broaden their worldview,
* looking to learn about Judaism as a form of general religious studies (often done with other members of a religion/theology class),
* wanting to understand the beliefs and practices of a Jewish friend or colleague,
* helping to honor and celebrate a Jewish acquaintance's life cycle events, such as bar/bat mitzvah,
* feeling an attraction to Judaism which he has yet to understand or explain to himself, but who might eventually realize that they have a Jewish soul and feel ready to approach conversion.
He said that any of those reasons were perfectly valid reasons for a non-Jew to come to synagogue. Moreover, a Jew should be modest enough to avoid directly asking a visitor why they were there; all they should ask is whether they have plans, or might welcome an invitation to the family's Shabbat table.
* hoping to convert,
* observing the path of B'nei Noach,
* hoping to broaden their worldview,
* looking to learn about Judaism as a form of general religious studies (often done with other members of a religion/theology class),
* wanting to understand the beliefs and practices of a Jewish friend or colleague,
* helping to honor and celebrate a Jewish acquaintance's life cycle events, such as bar/bat mitzvah,
* feeling an attraction to Judaism which he has yet to understand or explain to himself, but who might eventually realize that they have a Jewish soul and feel ready to approach conversion.
He said that any of those reasons were perfectly valid reasons for a non-Jew to come to synagogue. Moreover, a Jew should be modest enough to avoid directly asking a visitor why they were there; all they should ask is whether they have plans, or might welcome an invitation to the family's Shabbat table.