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muman613:

--- Quote from: MarZutra on September 09, 2008, 10:19:52 PM ---Shalom Muman, Are you currently a Rabbi or studying towards it?  Are you partial to "Orthodoxy" or "ultra-Orthodoxy"?  If so which "sect"?  I use the quotes because, historically and realistically all of these "titles" are fabricated frauds anyway.
Kol tov chavar...
MarZutra

--- End quote ---

Shalom MarZutra,

I would love to study to be a Rabbi. Actually my mom has suggested this to me on several occasions. I am what is known as a Baal Teshuva, one who repents and returns to a religious lifestyle. I was raised in a Conservative Jewish home and was Bar Mitzvahed in a Conservative shul.

About six years ago, after falling very low because of my brothers death in 9/11, I found a local 'progressive' synagogue and started to attend Shabbat services. The local Orthodox Rabbi was doing Kiruv {Outreach} to the local synagogue and I started to learn about Orthodox Judaism. It appealed to me much more than the cheap version of Judaism taught at the progressive shul. Over the years I attended more Shabbatons, more High Holidays, more Purims and Channukahs with the Orthodox minyan.

This year I am going to the Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur services with my local Orthodox minyan. I am not fully observant at this time. I have been adding mitzvahs each year and sometimes at Pesach. I started wearing tzit-tzits about four years ago. I have been working on keeping Kosher {no easy feat here in the bay area with only one kosher market {which burned down about a month ago}}. I am keeping Shabbat much better than I was a couple years ago. I am making changes in my life to be fully observant.

The way to approach this, I have been told by my Rabbi, is to take each mitzvah as a baby step. Once you accept some mitzvahs it becomes much easier to accept the others. It is believed that by doing the mitzvah, even without the proper intention, you get merit. In the future when you do the mitzvah again you will do it with the proper intention.

I am not involved in any 'sects' at this time. Ethnically I am a Ukrainian/Polish descent and since my last name is UMAN I have aligned myself with the Breslev sect. The Breslevers follow Rabbi Nachman of Breslev and they allow their peyos to grow very long.Rabbi Nachman is buried in Uman and his followers make a pilgrimage there on Rosh Hashana to be by his gravesite. One of these days I wish I could go to Uman to be there for the Rabbi Nachman Rosh Hashana.

I hope that answers some of the questions...

Shana Tov!

muman613

דוד בן זאב אריה:
What made you get religous. Chabad helped me.

MarZutra:
Very good Muman.  Your history is very similar to my own.  Mine was more of a personal quest but I too am of Ukrainian/Lithuanian ancestry.  My great grandfathers fled glorious mother Russia during the 1880s.  My father's side came from Vilna to Holland and from there to England.  My mother's side from Odessa/Kiev, who walked to England, worked as a peddler to come to Canada.  Once there met another Orthodoxy Jewish fellow he worked in London England with.  Once in Canada the two made an agreement due to my great grandfather founding a little business, financed this fellows younger sister to come and be married in St. John NB. (friends to parents of Louis B. Meyer)

Personally, I found "conservative" Judaism and than found Orthodoxy, like you, but then did much self research and found the most vile Rabbi to ever represent the Jews: Rabbi Kahane Z"L.  After my research, I found that his views were in fact based on Judaism, real Judaism, to which the other Socialist "Jewish" Rats and many other deplorable "Orthodox/Ultra-Orthodox" condemned.  Found that there reasons were more of political and internal strife and not based on Judaism which is probably the reason why none would debate him openly.

So I'm, like you, a Baal Teshuva who is partial to Orthodox Judaism but a Religious Zionist which, quite sadly, most will not believe....sadly....due to political and internal conflict and not Judaism itself. imo

Mstislav:
How is teshuva done?

MarZutra:

--- Quote from: Mstislav on October 07, 2008, 01:27:33 AM ---How is teshuva done?

--- End quote ---
My advice is to take a walk into your nearest Orthodox synagogue and speak to the Rabbi... 

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