The Schizo-Effect—Chapter 2: Questioning Divinity (part 1)

For additional chapters, start here.

When a man converts to Judaism, it is one of the more strict requirements that he be circumcised, even in the more liberal movements. Some converting men, however, already received this procedure when they were infants. The reasons for why this is fortunate are twofold. First, and most obvious, is how painful it is for a piece of the penis to be sliced off. Second, and more importantly, is that a significant number of nerve endings live in the foreskin, so after circumcision as an adult, the man has noticeably less sexual pleasure. One could argue that the latter is precisely the reason for circumcision in its ritualistic context.

Even for a man who has been previously circumcised, however, there must be a ritual to officiate this procedure into an act of entry into the Jewish people. This is treated in the conversion process by a medical professional who takes a drop of blood from the penis and shows it to the rabbi who is sponsoring the convert.

For clarity, the man never gets to this point until the rabbi knows he is ready to take the final officiating steps. Leading up to these moments is a minimum of one year, but often longer, of the prospective Jew simultaneously learning in depth about the details of Jewish culture, and being integrated into Y’israel as a people.

Now, if you were to ask any Jew what it means to be Jewish, it is unlikely that every one would give the same answer, but more importantly, the answer would (arguably) always be incomplete; it is possible that you would only be able to understand the answer fully if you yourself were to become Jewish. Take, for example, the idea of God. Being Jewish does not require you to believe in God, and many Jews don’t. In fact, so many don’t that it is sometimes considered taboo to speak of God inside the synagogue outside of a service. Therefore, a belief in God is not what defines a Jew. However, if a Jew does believe in God, they are required to believe in only one God. One rabbi in particular likes to continually remind her congregants that “all Jews must believe in one God or less.”

That being said, one feature that separates Judaism from other religions is the allowance to question God’s authority. Abraham, the father of all Jews, had a moment where he confronted God because He was being tyrannical. With this in mind, it is not too much of a leap to understand that people don’t often convert to Judaism out of a desire to somehow be spiritually “saved.” This is much unlike Christianity, one descendent of Judaism, whose key feature is to be saved by Jesus Christ, whom they believe is the messiah prophesied in the Hebrew bible. Therefore, Judaism and Christianity are governed by unrelated paradigms, despite the latter having its origins in the former. Nevertheless, the most important component of Jewish prayer is the Jew’s continual declaration that The One true God is in fact his, her, or their God, to the rest of the Jewish people. So in reality, the most important Jewish prayer isn’t a prayer at all.

Once the prospective Jew is ready, he, she, or they, stand before a court of three rabbis to be deemed fully prepared to enter the Jewish people and take the final step to Jewhood, which is an immersion in a special kosher bath that is considered to be Holy. The converting Jew must have a clean and naked body when entering the water, and thrice must they fully submerge themself without even touching the floor of the bath. This is so that for a brief moment, they are one with only the water. After every submersion, they come back up for air and recite a specific blessing in Hebrew. And upon surfacing for the final time, they make the declaration that The One true God is their God. This declaration is called the “Sh’ma.”