Sunday, November 2

the divine measure

First, let me say that I'm not Jewish. Still, the thought of any man (or council of humans), finding me or you acceptable unto God (or a religion) troubles me greatly.

JERUSALEM -- Raised without religion in Maryland, Shannon sought to make a new life for herself as a Jew in Israel.

In a rigorous conversion process, she studied religious law for a year, took a Hebrew name and changed her wardrobe to long skirts and sleeves as dictated by Orthodox Jewish custom.

Finally, a panel of rabbis pronounced her Jewish.

But five years later, she and some 40,000 like her have suddenly had their conversions annulled by Israel's Rabbinical High Court. The court says the rabbi who heads a government authority set up to oversee conversions is too liberal in approving them.
Full article on washingtonpost.com

If you consider "religion" a club, then a person's commitment can certainly be judged by humans. But if you believe religion to be the spiritual relationship between a person and God, then men don't have anything to say about it. It matters not if the person meets our definition or criteria for a Jew (or Christian)... only God can accept or reject them from His fold.

6 With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6: 6-9