[nixtastic]

I have studied multiple religions and feel most at home with reform Judaism. If I convert will I be required to marry another jew? My boyfriend right now does not practice religion and I am fearful I will not be able to marry him if he does not convert as well.

[cdad]

If you are in fact living with your boyfriend and are acting as if married anyway then most religions are going to frown on that type of activity. Also Judaism has different classes of practicing sects. Some are much more stricter then others. If your seriously considering a section of Judaism to convert to then speak with someone in control of that section. Most priests or Rabbi's are open to discussion about what is expected and what you should expect from your faith.

[Gernald]

It's funny that I saw this post. A similar question is what brought me to this website. I was 17 at the time and had wanted to convert since I could remember. In university I started going to synagogue and got really involved with it and truly love it. When I finish graduate school and get to go back to the states I have every intention of making my conversion official in the eyes of the rabbi's and beit din.
In the end it's your decision. If that's what you want, that's what you need to do because speaking from experience it can make you miserable otherwise. I'm 21 now and still haven't taken the jump not because I don't want it... but because I want to be sure.

As for your questions. With the reform branch I don't think marrying another Jew is required but it is more welcome. But, I know lots of Jews who are married to non-Jews. I think raising your children as Jewish is required as the 'oath' however. The marriage depends mostly on the rabbi; some will approve it. But, others won't. It really depends how strict they are.

[JudyKayTee]

It's funny that I saw this post. A similar question is what brought me to this website. I was 17 at the time and had wanted to convert since I could remember. In university I started going to synagogue and got really involved with it and truly love it. When I finish graduate school and get to go back to the states I have every intention of making my conversion official in the eyes of the rabbi's and beit din.
In the end it's your decision. If that's what you want, that's what you need to do because speaking from experience it can make you miserable otherwise. I'm 21 now and still haven't taken the jump not because I don't want it...but because I want to be sure.

As for your questions. With the reform branch I don't think marrying another Jew is required but it is more welcome. But, I know lots of Jews who are married to non-Jews. I think raising your children as Jewish is required as the 'oath' however. The marriage depends mostly on the rabbi; some will approve it. But, others won't. It really depends how strict they are.

Marrying a Jew is not REQUIRED... BUT the religion of the MOTHER determines whether a person is Jewish. Jewish father, Christian mother? That person is Christian in the eyes of other Jews unless/until the mother converts - and in the stricter sects that STILL doesn't change anything. The child is still Christian until the child converts.

A Jew is any person whose mother was a Jew or any person who has gone through the formal process of conversion to Judaism.

"It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do. A person born to non-Jewish parents who has not undergone the formal process of conversion but who believes everything that Orthodox Jews believe and observes every law and custom of Judaism is still a non-Jew, even in the eyes of the most liberal movements of Judaism, and a person born to a Jewish mother who is an atheist and never practices the Jewish religion is still a Jew, even in the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox. In this sense, Judaism is more like a nationality than like other religions, and being Jewish is like a citizenship."http://www.jewfaq.org/whoisjew.htm