Jews who became Catholics: some commonalities

[AlegreFe]

Hum, it’s a nice thing that you’re talking to God like this! (“Hashem”, just like “Adonai”, is a Hebrew name that Jews use instead of the ineffable Name of God. “Hashem” is made of the article “ha” (the) stuck to the word “shem” which means “name”… in this case, since it’s an euphenism for God, of course it will be “the Name”.) Hashem Echad means: “God (the Name) is One”…

I love watching Brother Bob Fishman on EWTN. He is a Hebrew convert to the Catholic Church and he always greets us with “Baruch HaShem!” which means “Praise the Lord!”

You can catch Brother Bob every Monday at 5:30 PM ET, 4:30 PM CT. The show is called The Family Hearth. The last show in the series just aired yesterday (Monday June 9th) so you will be able to catch the first show in the series next Monday (June 16th) and have all 13 episodes recorded if you want (if you have DVR or Tivo). He’s always happy!

You can get his conversion story on VHS too. It’s called The Jewish Roots of Catholicism. I have that one and I also have one called Jewish Holidays with Brother Bob Fishman. But I can’t find it online anywhere right now. There is also a DVD series available from EWTN catalogue. Click on the picture below.

ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/images/catalog/detail/HDJRC.jpg

 

[HashemEchad]

Jewess?

Lapell is a good guy, and he truly does mean well, but yeah, I find it kind of curious that you picked up on that of all people!

Grammatically, “Jewess” is correct for a female Jew, but like the term “Negress”, it always bothered me. I’m not even really sure why!

 

[HashemEchad]

Sorry, I hadn’t read the posts before yours, Valke2. Sorry, Hashem Echad… I think I get your point a bit better, both of you.
Still… “Once a Jew, always a Jew!” No?

The Talmud says that a Jew who sins remains a Jew. However, they can be subject to cherem, which is excommunication. Your church has the same theology, in that once baptized a Catholic, always a Catholic, but you can still be excommunicated, or excommunicate yourself (latae sententiae).

A Jew (or Catholic) who sins greivously, remains a Jew (or Catholic), but they are excommunicated. This means (for Jews, anyway) that they cannot be married in a synagogue, be buried in a Jewish cemetery, be called up for an aliyah to the Torah, and many other privileges accorded only to Jews who have not been excommunicated.

Its similar to a sports player in the penalty box…he remains a player, but cannot play for the time being.

 

[HashemEchad]

:coffeeread: Aren’t Orthodox Jews Hassids? I always thought that the Orthodox Jews were members of the Hassidic community, like in the movie A Stranger Among Us,starring melanie Griffth as a detective,who investigates some murders in the community.My sister and I saw it years ago.I remember one of the characters explaining to her about various customs and laws of their community,and hearing the same things from our dad.Though not jewish, my dad and grandpa could speak Yiddish
and grandpa had business and other dealing with jews up in Milwaukee years ago.

And in regards to what you say about non religious jews,I guess in a way that’s true.My dad worked at NSA from 1970 to 1971.
He said on High Holy days you’d see guys running around wearing yamakas,and many of these people he had no idea they were jewish at all,as they never showed any sign that they were of the faith.Same goes true to for other faiths,you never know someone’s a Catholic till you see the ashes on their forehead on Ash Wendsday.

Can’t understand why any jew who converts to Christianity would curse being a jew.After, the first followers of Jesus besides the gentiles He attracted were jews.Nothing wrong with their former faith.Maybe they claim being Orthodox because it sounds more dramatic.

Hey, you understand what I’m talking about! The once in a while Jews, just like the once in a while Catholics!

As for why any Jew would hate their Jewishness despite converting to Christianity…because for some selfhating Jews, becoming a Christian is a way to escape being Jewish. In times past some who converted even changed their last names to further “hide” (such as, going from Cohen to Cowan).

Since you like movies, you might want to see SUNSHINE starring Ralph Fiennes. A very powerful movie that shows how assimilation via conversion worked in one Hungarian Jewish family (I won’t spoil the ending for you!)

 

[Eden]

Hashem, if you are trying to witness to the truth of your faith by acting condescending, I want to let you know it’s having the opposite effect, at least on me. Your lack of humility is just one further example to me of how powerful the message of Jesus Christ is on His believers, helping them transform their human faults into something beautiful, especially witnessed in the saints and humble servants like Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

 

[HashemEchad]

Yes. But if I remember correctly, all of such cases were people who were from Jews for Jesus or such groups, and not converts to Catholicism.

Marty Barrack claimed on his site to be from an Orthodox family, and the late Father Arthur Klyber, C. Ss. R was a Jew from a nonreligious background who became Catholic, and used to often claim he was ‘from an Orthodox family’.

There have been a few others, but I agree that in general, the Jews who become Catholics usually tend to be more truthful in their stories than the ones who become Protestants and messianics.

 

[HashemEchad]

I think you would be talking about a Jew who converts to being a non-Catholic Christian.

I have heard Hebrew Catholics, talk highly of their Jewish faith and upbringing. They never seem to put their former faith down. They see the similarities in both faiths. They see the fulfillment of their old faith in the Catholic faith. The same goes for former Protestants who come home to the Catholic Church. They are so grateful for their Christian upbringing in whatever denomination they were. And now they are glad to be Catholics and are so grateful for the Catholic Church.

During the Spanish Inquisition, some of the most vicious inquisitors and people making false accusations against Jews were Jewish converts to Catholicism…granted, they were probably doing it to “prove” that their conversions “took” so they too would not be accused before the Spanish Inquisition, but it is said that even Tomas De Torquemada was a Jewish convert. Another really awful one was Pablo Cristiani.

In the 1700s and 1800s, Jews in Europe would convert to Catholicism (or sometimes Lutheranism, depending on which form of Christianity was dominant in their respective country), to help them get a better career and move ahead (in many European countries, you had to be a member of the dominant religion to get the best jobs, college positions, etc)

 

[Cathdefender]

Lapell is a good guy, and he truly does mean well, but yeah, I find it kind of curious that you picked up on that of all people!

Grammatically, “Jewess” is correct for a female Jew, but like the term “Negress”, it always bothered me. I’m not even really sure why!

What do you mean of all people? I really do know a lot about the Jewish faith since my ex is a Jew. But that was years ago before I found God (or before HE found me). I can even talk Hebrew…listen…
Ahad, Shtine, shelosh, Alba, Hamesh, shesh, Sheva, Shmonie ,Tesa, Asar… I just never heard of Jewess…goy, mashugana, even gothin himel, but never Jewess.

 

[dessert]

Three times you are funny. Yes?
Or like Dorothy who needs three men aka tin and straw and fur ball to pull her up.
And a wizard to boot them.

 

[HashemEchad]

What do you mean of all people? I really do know a lot about the Jewish faith since my ex is a Jew. But that was years ago before I found God (or before HE found me). I can even talk Hebrew…listen…
Ahad, Shtine, shelosh, Alba, Hamesh, shesh, Sheva, Shmonie ,Tesa, Asar… I just never heard of Jewess…goy, mashugana, even gothin himel, but never Jewess.

Your ex was Jewish? Ah, I think I’m understanding a lot better now.

I can’t recognize most of those words you wrote from the spelling.

 

[Eden]

During the Spanish Inquisition, some of the most vicious inquisitors and people making false accusations against Jews were Jewish converts to Catholicism…granted, they were probably doing it to “prove” that their conversions “took” so they too would not be accused before the Spanish Inquisition, but it is said that even Tomas De Torquemada was a Jewish convert. Another really awful one was Pablo Cristiani.

In the 1700s and 1800s, Jews in Europe would convert to Catholicism (or sometimes Lutheranism, depending on which form of Christianity was dominant in their respective country), to help them get a better career and move ahead (in many European countries, you had to be a member of the dominant religion to get the best jobs, college positions, etc)

None of what you typed above has anything to do with Rosalind Moss, Edith Stein or any of the other converts from Judaism to Catholicism that have been mentioned on this thread. Certainly, in the United States if one wants to “get ahead”, converting to Catholicism would *not *be the way. Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice in this country. Can you give some examples of Jews who converted to the dominant religion in order to get a better job, either here or in Europe? I’m not aware of any specific cases of this, but I’d be interested in reading their conversion stories.

 

[HashemEchad]

None of what you typed above has anything to do with Rosalind Moss, Edith Stein or any of the other converts from Judaism to Catholicism that have been mentioned on this thread. Certainly, in the United States if one wants to “get ahead”, converting to Catholicism would *not *be the way. Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice in this country. Can you give some examples of Jews who converted to the dominant religion in order to get a better job, either here or in Europe? I’m not aware of any specific cases of this, but I’d be interested in reading their conversion stories.

Here in the USA? Joe Cohen

In Europe? Mendelssohn, the composer.

 

[Cathdefender]

Your ex was Jewish? Ah, I think I’m understanding a lot better now.

I can’t recognize most of those words you wrote from the spelling.

Hashem, I really thought you would get these Hebrew words because it is so simple. They are the Hebrew words of numbers 1 through 10!!
Years ago, I had 3 Israeli friends whom I loved dearly and vice versa. They were very good to me. They tried to teach me Hebrew but all I got were the numerals 1-10 and the word ‘mafera’ which means ‘ashtray’ in Hebrew…not much of a foreign language expert in this field, but I remember eating really good knishes. As a matter of fact, I had a cat and named it Kishke.
I mean no disrespect but, I could never marry a Jewish person, nor anyone else for that matter now in my life where I am because I couldn’t stand anyone who rejects Christ and the Catholic church. But that’s just me…funny how things change over the years.

 

[happychristian]

During the Spanish Inquisition, some of the most vicious inquisitors and people making false accusations against Jews were Jewish converts to Catholicism…granted, they were probably doing it to “prove” that their conversions “took” so they too would not be accused before the Spanish Inquisition, but it is said that even Tomas De Torquemada was a Jewish convert. Another really awful one was Pablo Cristiani.

In the 1700s and 1800s, Jews in Europe would convert to Catholicism (or sometimes Lutheranism, depending on which form of Christianity was dominant in their respective country), to help them get a better career and move ahead (in many European countries, you had to be a member of the dominant religion to get the best jobs, college positions, etc)

 

[dessert]

Is Friar Tuck still at large, he would know.

 

[HashemEchad]

Hashem, I really thought you would get these Hebrew words because it is so simple. They are the Hebrew words of numbers 1 through 10!!
Years ago, I had 3 Israeli friends whom I loved dearly and vice versa. They were very good to me. They tried to teach me Hebrew but all I got were the numerals 1-10 and the word ‘mafera’ which means ‘ashtray’ in Hebrew…not much of a foreign language expert in this field, but I remember eating really good knishes. As a matter of fact, I had a cat and named it Kishke.
I mean no disrespect but, I could never marry a Jewish person, nor anyone else for that matter now in my life where I am because I couldn’t stand anyone who rejects Christ and the Catholic church. But that’s just me…funny how things change over the years.

Do you understand the difference between Yiddish and Hebrew?

I do not speak modern Hebrew (a secular invention of zionists), and it is actually not the same as Biblical Hebrew.

Very Orthodox Jews tend to speak Yiddish in every day life, and use Hebrew only for worship in the synagogue. We consider it the lashon ha’kodesh, the holy tongue, which God used to create the world. Because there are so many converts to Judaism in our community, we use English (as opposed to Yiddish) for everyday, mundane matters, and synagogue Hebrew for davening in shul (praying in synagogue).

Modern Hebrew is a secularized form of Biblical Hebrew, with a different pronunciation as well. It is generally not spoken by very orthodox Jews due to its origin.

However, I did understand a few of the words you wrote, but many of them had such incorrect transliterations that I missed them. Its not your fault, if you’ve only heard the words spoken and not read them.

 

[Eden]

Here in the USA? Joe Cohen

Are you talking about the Jewish-American man who moved to Israel and then converted to Islam?

In Europe? Mendelssohn, the composer.

The story is a little more complex than you would have us believe:

That the anniversary of the Augsburg Confession should have stimulated the composer to create an expression of his affinity with Luther’s faith merits some brief discussion. Mendelssohn was born into a cultured Jewish family whose patriarch, Moses Mendelssohn (the composer’s grandfather) was a renowned philosopher and champion of religious tolerance and liberty. Although Moses Mendelssohn clung firmly to his faith, his household was one in which the humanistic precepts of the Enlightenment were felt at least as strongly as religious doctrine.

This identification with humanistic values belonging to the mainstream of European thought at the end of the eighteenth century accelerated under Abraham Mendelssohn, Moses’ son and Felix’s father. A successful banker, Abraham converted his family to Christianity in 1816. That decision undoubtedly had a pragmatic basis: although he lived in a period of relative tolerance, the elder Mendelssohn surely understood that Jews would always occupy, at best, a somewhat precarious niche in German society. But conversion was not an intellectually or spiritually empty gesture. Rightly or not, the Mendelssohns felt that the Enlightenment philosophy they valued so highly was more compatible with Christian doctrine than the family’s ancient religion. Moreover, Luther’s faith was the basis for much of the literature (Goethe’s Faust, for example) and music (especially that of J. S. Bach, which was particularly important to Felix) that formed the center of their lives. Thus, conversion constituted not merely the abandoning of one faith for another but a means of identifying with European art and culture.

slso.org/0203notes/sub29.htm

 

[Cathdefender]

Do you understand the difference between Yiddish and Hebrew?

I do not speak modern Hebrew, that is actually not the same as Biblical Hebrew.

Very Orthodox Jews tend to speak Yiddish in every day life, and use Hebrew only for worship in the synagogue.

Modern Hebrew is a secularized form of Biblical Hebrew, with a different pronunciation as well.

No, so before you make anything else more complicated as it is, I told you my ISRAELI FRIENDS had taught me. Seeing that they were from Tel Aviv, they were certainly speaking Hebrew because they TOLD ME so. Hebrew is Hebrew but you can say it is other things if that what makes you feel cmfortable.

 

[dessert]

Submit your questions to this site:
adherents.com/largecom/fam_jewish_catholics.html

 

[happychristian]

During the Spanish Inquisition, some of the most vicious inquisitors and people making false accusations against Jews were Jewish converts to Catholicism…granted, they were probably doing it to “prove” that their conversions “took” so they too would not be accused before the Spanish Inquisition, but it is said that even Tomas De Torquemada was a Jewish convert. Another really awful one was Pablo Cristiani.

In the 1700s and 1800s, Jews in Europe would convert to Catholicism (or sometimes Lutheranism, depending on which form of Christianity was dominant in their respective country), to help them get a better career and move ahead (in many European countries, you had to be a member of the dominant religion to get the best jobs, college positions, etc)

Shalom!

There were a lot of Jews who were converted to Catholicism because they feel Catholicism is a fulfilllment of their Jewish faith especially when they believe and accept Jesus as the long awaited Messiah that some Jews are still waiting to come when we Christians are joyfully and hopefully waiting for His second coming already.

Anyway I just like to share with you my favourite Jewish conversion story to Catholicism was Alphonse Ratisbonne (1842?) through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I too wear the miraculous medal that’s why.Have you heard about him and his story?
He went to Palestine(then) to establish a group which still exists today (I think Daughters of Zion?).The purpose of which I beleive is to share his conversion to his fellow Jews.

Hebrew Catholics exist in Israel today as contrast to Arab Catholics. These are Catholics in the fullest sense who are Hebrew speaking and were once Jewish and they live in Israel. Though smaller in number compared to their Arab brothers and sisters they are very vibrant and alive community who shares their faith in Jesus Christ with their fellow Hebrews who are Jewish in their religion.

When now retired Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michael Sabah was first installed as such his first Mass was with the Hebrew Catholics in Jerusalem.

Anyway if you are interested watch EWTN June 30, 2008 Monday 8 PM ET The Journey Home. The guest will be Bruce Fingerhunt. He was a Jewish convert to Catholicism. He will discuss his faith journey. You can participate in the program by emailing him or call him at 1 - 800 - 221 - 9460.

Another book is The Forgotten Converts

catholicism.org/forgotten-converts.html