Tomorrow They Will Hate You

According to the tradition, when a gentile comes to a rabbi for conversion, the rabbi is supposed to discourage him/her. The discouragement is supposed to be antisemitism (except there was no such name until the 19th century). Tractate Yevamot of the Talmud says:

The rabbis taught: When someone nowadays presents himself for conversion, we say to him: Why do you wish to convert? Are you not aware that nowadays Israelites are careworn, stressed, despised, harassed and persecuted?

Rabbis now a days may word it like this: 

You must know that by converting, people who pay no mind to you today, will hate you tomorrow, simply because you will be Jewish. 

I read this contemporary rabbi's response in one of my books. The second response to the potential convert is much more severe, invoking hatred from the extreme antisemites as the reason not to become a Jew. But it is the Talmud that recognizes the true situation that makes life difficult for Jews and for converts, potential or otherwise. Because the truth is, it's not the Hitlers, Stalins, or Ahmadinejads of the world who could discourage us from being Jewish. They are full of hate and it's disgustingly apparent. All the brilliant minds of this world couldn't change the mind of the committed antisemite. And let's be honest, many people have tried. What we know of all baseless hatred is just that: it's baseless. You can't pull the rug out from under them because there is no rug. They have no reason other than hate to hate, so convincing them into understanding, tolerance, or acceptance is simply not possible. You just ignore them best you can and live your life as a G-d fearing, Torah loving Jew. 


It's not the extremists who really hurt you with their opinions. It's the rest of the people, the people who are kind in all respects save for those antisemitic sentiments they quietly harbor. They're appalled by the Holocaust but believe Jews control the media and the economy. Or they don't understand why Jews are so stubborn as to still not accept Christ after all these years. Or they just dislike Jews for some strange reason. So no, it's not the KKK or the WBC who pain you with their opinions and discourage you from being Jewish. It's the people you know.


It's the person you work for who purposefully offers pork to the Jewish girl and then evilly laughs when she politely declines. And it's that person who despises Israel for no reason other than it's a Jewish country. And it's your friend's mom who laughs hysterically at the idea of you becoming Jewish then offers her disapproving judgment upon realizing it's not a joke. 


But no matter how many antisemitic incidents you pile onto this list, they could never out weigh the Torah. Throw as many cons and negatives at us as you want, rabbi - world, nothing can discourage a life studying and living Torah once you realize its potential. It might sound trite or it might sound idealistic, but it's true. Once the idea of Jewish has entered your mind, heart, and ultimately soul, there is no turning back. And dealing with the antisemitism is part of the deal, and it's worth it, quite honestly. It is a gift to be a Jew, whether you were born one or get to choose that life as an adult, and nothing with great rewards and beauty can come completely free. If dealing with hateful, ignorant people is the cost to living life according to the Jewish calendar, getting to study Torah, and serving G-d through tikkun olam, tzedakah, and gemilut chasadim, then so be it. 


Discourage me all you want, rabbi; antisemitism is negligible in this consideration. Antisemitism is nothing when we consider all that G-d has to offer.