When considering Judaism, we recommend leading with your head. The different brands of Judaism make very different claims about the origins, nature, and parameters of Torah and Judaism. They are not merely different expressions of the same thing—it’s deeper than that (and more interesting!). And merely basing your decision on synagogue experiences is not going to give you enough information about the differences.
Therefore, we always suggest that one think about Jewish “movement” affiliation only based on the theology: examine the theologies of each brand of Judaism and their truth-claims, and figure out which (if any) makes sense to you.
Obviously, long-term comfort in a community matters, but that feeling of comfort is ultimately a feeling that should come AFTER you’ve decided if any brand of Judaism makes sense to you philosophically/theologically. (What happens if you choose based on comfort and in a few years move to a different community where your movement of choice is less comfortable?)
Do the intellectual work, and then you’ll know you’re on the right path for you, that is true to you, and you’ll work on the details within that theological framework. Whether it’s Conservative or Orthodox or Reconstructionist or Reform, the theology should resonate with you INTELLECTUALLY. Think about it: If (for example) Conservative or Reform theology makes the most sense, why would you want to go any other path? But if Orthodox makes more sense, wouldn’t it be worth the extra effort? Lead with your head.
Start with Judaism: A Historical Presentation and any of our other recommended history books.
Then read How Judaism Became a Religion—Understand the historical playground; why did Judaism split into “denominations” in the first place?
Now, the most rational, empirical pivot point for a convert is a deceptively simple question: What do you believe happened at Mount Sinai, and what is your evidence?
To consider both sides of this issue, read Permission to Receive to understand the structural, logical case for national revelation and the “chain of custody” argument that defines Orthodoxy.
Next, read Restoring the Exodus, a deep dive into the primary data of the Exodus to evaluate the rational and historical plausibility of the central event. Follow this with How to Read the Jewish Bible to understand heterodoxy’s academic theory of multiple source documents and then Ani Maamin to understand the argument against those source divisions and the historical plausibility of a unified ancient text.
By the end of this curriculum, the seeker will be well-informed about where the intellectual fault lines lie. The rational decision then becomes a matter of weighing whether the secular historical-critical model or the sophisticated traditional defense provides a more cohesive, evidence-backed explanation of Jewish history.
After that, if you are still interested in considering conversion you’ll likely enjoy Jewish Literacy.
