Sunday, April 13, 2008

Rabbi Vinas denies proselyzing - he just encourages non-Jews to explore Judaism

The following is found on the Voice of America web site. The link posted by anonymous does not work - but if you search for Vinas,VOA and select the cached version it does appear.

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The congregation also has quite a few converts -people who are reconnecting with their historic roots, or those who have been seeking a spiritual home, and find in the Orthodox Jewish community a life-style they like. "Thank God we have many of those," Rabbi Viñas says of the Jews by choice. "I'm actually one of the Orthodox synagogues that's known for welcoming people who are in the process of exploring their connection to Judaism. I want you to know, though, about conversion. That Judaism is very much against proselytizing. But we are for people who want to explore. So if somebody wanted to come and study and learn more about Judaism, and at the end of that process felt that they didn't want to convert, I would feel very successful, because it would mean that they had learned and experienced things and come to a decision on their own. I'm also very happy to report to you that there are quite a number of people who DO convert."

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