Converting to Judaism - First Thoughts for the record

[@yakovmedinets750]

You video was so wonderful, amazing, and authentic! You voice is so unique and you bring an increasable light and care to your conversation! Thank you so much, and looking forward to following your journey!

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you very much. I look more at languages and history, but will add bits of the journey into Israel here and there.

[@Hermanubis1]

@@BenLlywelyn Are you actually jewish? Or just larping pretending you follow their religion for brownie points in their international clique?

[@abrooks]

Thanks

[@BenLlywelyn]

Your kindness is a virtue. Thanks.

[@mawkernewek]

Thanks for sharing about your experience.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Meur ras.

[@callunas]

You're a great storyteller and I feel my story is so similar to yours in some ways, in terms of motivation and the way we see the world and the problems with it - except I'm converting to Catholicism and don't have a religious background. Like you it's something I've agonized over and studied deeply more than half my life. Perhaps there's something about Wales that draws that type of personality, haha. It certainly has a rich and meaningful history and stories. I hope you won't be giving up Welsh history and language though. And please be safe, I know the antisemitism is getting really dangerous these days around the world.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you for your supporting words. Wales has a cultural naiveté which is luring subconsciously to those seeking deeper humanity and simpler social bonds, and whilst this is true and Wales offers an easier pace socially and many idyllic landscapes and fine poetry, Wales also has profound problems of its own and prejudices which grow out of that cultural cocoon that often attack aspirational values or see those who hold them as conveying a snobbery - though this is not true - and see hope of better as attacking their group.

[@southvillechris]

Fideo diddorol iawn! Like you, I'm a gay man currently learning Welsh and who was also drawn to Judaism about 25 years ago and gave serious consideration to converting, although that would have been to liberal Judaism rather than Orthodox. Ironically, shortly after deciding not to convert I met my current partner, who is pretty much an atheist, but he was brought up Orthodox, and some of his family - now my extended family too - are very religious. We live in an English city with a very small Jewish community - or rather two communities, the liberal and the Orthodox. Although I am neither, I've found myself involved in both communities through Jewish friends and family.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Your story is appropriate to the subject in a poignant way. That you did not go through with it is fine in Judaism as you know, and part of what makes it beautiful.

[@marna_li]

I have been looking into Hebrew and Jewish Israeli culture in the last 10 months. I love it! Been learning some from romanized texts. I know enough basic words to transliterate comedy sketches and lookup the words that I don't know. I can infer from context. But this summer I realized I had to switch to Hebrew script. And the issue is that you need to learn the words before you can spell them i Hebrew alphabet due to it being written in mostly consonants. So I need practice the language. And I'm in Sweden so there is no place to practice.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Keep at it if it is your soul and what you are. But make sure.

[@marna_li]

@@BenLlywelyn Thanks. I have a deep appreciation for Jewishness. The traditions, and community that all people feel between each other and the respect for differences that is. Different opinions. There is so much to learn about Jewish philosophy and history. But I subscribe to the basis for what is Jewish and the mission to do good in the world as per the relationship with God.

[@SolitaryDrake]

As someone born and raised in the US South as well, I very much understand the harshness and comdemnation you must have felt from the Christians around you. I started watching some time ago for any informational language bits I could snag, but this is just as fascinating. Life is a wild, experiential mess, and I hope yours treats you well on whatever path you choose, my brother! Side note, Semitic languages can be difficult, but I've no doubt the struggle leads to greater depths of personal understanding, and understanding of the language's psychology.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you for your kindest of messages. The journey with Hebrew will be long, and rewarding.

[@cennethadameveson3715]

Hope you don't have to move too far from Cymru. My own journey has led my far from the beliefs of my family and friends but we still to hold each other dear in our hearts. Looking forward to following you on your journey, where ever that takes you. Pob luc/ Mazel tov!

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you for your kind words. I am in Wales :).

[@Language_Guru]

I can relate to your experience in part. I'm straight, but I was brought up non-religious by parents who had decided to leave behind the Christianity of their youth. They were never remotely hippie-like. However, I was spiritually adrift as a child. I became a zealous evangelical Christian in the middle of my senior year of high school. I became a missionary. Twenty-five years later I realized that Christianity was not even biblical. I became a "none" for ten years, then an Episcopalian for five (a compromise with my Baptist wife). Eventually my wife wanted to go back to being a Baptist and I was through with any attempt to be even a loose, agnostic Christian. In 2019 I started attending a Reform synagogue and felt very much at home. I completed my conversion in 2020 and I am now very happily Jewish. ✡️

[@BenLlywelyn]

Glad to hear about your journey. I am since bisexual, but it still remains a painful coming to terms and I think Judaism has brought me peace, and happy it did to you also.

[@Kannot2023]

Many children who had hippie parents search for stability and become conservative and religious.

[@BenLlywelyn]

True.

[@YochananMat]

My path into Israel will have to be a continuation of the wilderness that I have wandered in for my whole life - but I know my Home/Life is in Malchuto / B'Artzo. I have appreciated your videos. Isolation is my worst nightmare but I choose it (for now) over the loss of the One who has been leading me back to HaDerech - Derech HaShem.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you. I hope your isolation is not too great.

[@phyllisbiram5163]

A fascinating video. Thank you for sharing.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you for watching, Phyllis.

[@romanus4879]

Now I understand why you hate Rome.

[@BenLlywelyn]

I've never been to Rome.

[@romanus4879]

@@BenLlywelyn If you have even been to Southern Europe, France, England, the Balkans, the Alps, Turkey, North Africa, and many other places, then you have been to Rome.

[@OzzieMozzie777]

​@@romanus4879well said brother.

[@raulpetrascu2696]

Is it true that when converting you are turned away 3 times?

[@BenLlywelyn]

Some do. But mostly not.

[@mihaiilie8808]

This road will make you better for sure. I can't change my religion but I like Ken Copeland.

[@mihaiilie8808]

This about Ken Copeland was a joke.

[@paulmartingurnett2168]

I watch your channel out of interest in languages which I am unable to take in. To see you choose the path of Judaism is admirable in these difficult times.I am not a jew but wish you well as your choice may be a wise and righteous one.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you very much.

[@paulmartingurnett2168]

@BenLlywelyn thank you for your interesting story

[@bgregz]

Great videos and good luck on your path. Coming from a Christian background, I also have always disliked the fearmongering aspect. I have nothing but respect for Judaism.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you.

[@benjaminklass5118]

As a fellow Benjamin I appreaciated this video. Funnily my name is of Semitic origin while my brother's is of Celtic origin which are both unintentionally connected to our ancestry (in that it isn't the main reason why we have our names in the first place).

[@BenLlywelyn]

A good name you have, Benjamin. Though I may be biased.

[@benjaminklass5118]

@@BenLlywelyn Thank you.

[@johnbirchall7077]

כל הכבוד על הסרטון המעניין הזה.

[@BenLlywelyn]

.אני שמח שמישהו נהנה

[@Lagolop]

Your vids are very professionally done! I think you have a very good handle on what it means to be a Jew. Languages: Yiddish is a lot of fun and would be easier to learn than Hebrew. Good luck on your journey. PS You have balls to consider converting at the best of times but now .... Am Israel Chai :)

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you. I began before all this madness kicked off, but the hatred we have seen has only convinced me of the goodness within this path, as each morning we thank Him for his faithfulness, I trust it will work out fine.

[@Lagolop]

@@BenLlywelyn Oh and BTW, if you ARE circumcised all they do is prick the "area" with needle to get a drop of blood. My friend who converted had it done and said it was no big deal. Otherwise if you are not, then it's done in a hospital.Not sure that would be so much fun.

[@fabiolarosengren5468]

Shalom! 🥰 welcome to the tribe

[@BenLlywelyn]

Shalom!

[@Hawaiian_Shirt_guy]

respect the journey man. great video

[@peterszeug308]

Props for mentioning the undeniable link of Germans and Israelis, I would like to add that Judaism itself and Germanic Paganism share a lot of traits, that Christianity or Islam, for example, lack. One should not think of Germanic tribes as having had idol worship as the core tenet of their faith, following that logic, one would also have to claim that Jews visiting a synagogue don't pray to Yahweh in there, but worship the building itself. Clearly that's not the case, and the same goes for praying to a lake not being equivalent to praying at a lake (to a deity). Idol worship was done by either the elite or to protest against Christianity with wearing Thor's hammer Mjölnir.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you.

[@algorithm4390]

Impressive spiritual journey..

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you.

[@thegreenmage6956]

I have extremely strong feelings about Abrahamic Monotheism which I choose to keep separate from you and your valuable work.

[@BenLlywelyn]

I believe you should be free to your faith as you wish fellow.

[@Bronzebeautywyn]

I love your voice ☺

[@BenLlywelyn]

What would you like me to talk about?

[@Bronzebeautywyn]

@@BenLlywelyn I’m still new to your channel. I don’t know how to answer that question yet . As a Welsh speaker with a friend in Israel, who is half American and just found out he’s part Welsh- I’m sure the algorithm brought me to you 🤭 I’d like to watch more of your videos.

[@TerencePetersenAjbro]

I wish you much joy and peace on your journey, may you find fellowship, friends and family among this very special people. I love reading the Hebrew Bible, such comfort and hope in the Psalms and Isaiah, for example. The Hebrew alphabet is one of my favourites and I love the way Hebrew builds words using root consonants of two or three letters. Had it not been for Paul and the Church of Rome, Christianity may well have remained a Jewish offshoot. The spiritual path we choose depends on whether the symbols and mythology of the faith resonate with us.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you very much fellow.

[@ethanbennett9000]

23:34 Yes! Andiamo

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you.

[@maxavail]

Converting to Talmudic Judaism is the same as converting to Islam. They are both equally divorced from the Bible.

[@BenLlywelyn]

For me Christianity and Islam have lost the meaning of the Torah. And unlike them, I'm not trying to convert you - there is nothing to save you from.

[@Jewish_Israeli_Zionist]

Not at all! Pure ignorance 🤢 Rabbinic Judaism put an emphasis on the Bible... Jews read tge Haftara and discuss about the bible a lot. Some anti-zionist sects within ultraorthodox try to avoid the bible because it can ignites zionist ideology among the believers, or just because they view it as too holy. But they are the minority. Other than them, most of the Rabbinic Jews know the bible very good, especially the Zionist-religious Judaism, and especially in Israel. The Hebrew bible is our cultural heritage... Please don't talk BS.

[@razvanandreivalcu9649]

You should try Orthodox Christianity, Ben.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Why?

[@Kannot2023]

​@@BenLlywelynbecause it is the branch of Christianity closer to the Judaism :)

[@hglundahl]

Have you considered Roman Catholicism?

[@BenLlywelyn]

It is where I began.

[@hglundahl]

OK,@@BenLlywelyn ... what did you find wrong?

[@BenLlywelyn]

@@hglundahl There is nothing to save us from.

[@hglundahl]

w a i t ...@@BenLlywelyn ... death as the last enemy? Original sin? Damnation? Isaias (Isaiah) 34:10

[@hglundahl]

@@BenLlywelyn can I resume you conclude this from first denying a literal Adam and Eve and a literal Genesis 3 history?

[@Ponto-zv9vf]

I haven't the temperament to convert or learn another language and written script. I am not religious, I was baptised Roman Catholic when I was 2 days old. As I said, I am not religious so I rebelled against that religion, I am spiritual. Spiritualism is a personal journey you don't learn from books or dogma or a language. I don't know what Beith means in Hebrew, but the bet in alphabet means house. In Maltese a Semitic language bejt does not mean house but roof. I have heard modern Hebrew and it sounds Semitic like Arabic and Amharic to my ears. I think as far as language goes I would have an easier time learning Hebrew because my parent tongue, though not my tongue, is Maltese a Semitic language. The written form of the language I would find difficult.

[@BenLlywelyn]

It means house.

[@mango2005]

did you complete the process? It is true that Judaism tends to have much less homophobia than Christianity, though its also true that Western Christian countries tend to have legal protections for them.

[@BenLlywelyn]

I am taking a Judaism class and going through conversion.

[@amywelch1894]

I'd say that one day the Marxists will learn what a kibbutz is, and that the early Israeli leaders were considered far-left, but that probably won't happen. Do you think the similarity between German and Jewish culture is due to being intellectual peoples?

[@BenLlywelyn]

I would say both that similarity is over-rated. And that it just so happened that Austrian, German, Hunagarin and Polish Jews formed the wave which eatablished a free Israel, so we think of all Jewish culture as that when it is not.

[@Hawaiian_Shirt_guy]

4:45 I'm so sad you never had the opportunity to introduce yourself as "Ben-jammin'" whilst wearing a hawaiian shirt and a rasta tam. Your dad did you a grave disservice ROTFL :)

[@BenLlywelyn]

It is too cold to wear Hawaiian shirts here.

[@fics-il3qn]

💗🤗🌺👋

[@BenLlywelyn]

Thank you.

[@mihaiilie8808]

Plovdiv in Bulgaria is couple thousands years older than even Jerusalem.😂 Tell that to those jews that think they are an old,, concept,,.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Plovdiv has not been a continuation of a culture which spawned the earth's 3 great Abrahamic faiths. Jerusalem has.

[@mihaiilie8808]

@@BenLlywelyn Depends how you look at it. I think the customs and clothes of the Bulgarian orthodox church look way more ancient than the jews.The trachian druids turned into Arian and orthodox priests.

[@mihaiilie8808]

@@BenLlywelyn Bulgaria is the cradle of the european civilisation - Charles De Gaulle. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWmUcmZnndGae6Msi=-er3AVuz530_vGIp

[@MrBoazhorribilis]

@@mihaiilie8808 You really seem to have inhaled your own fumes. The essence of Dacopathy. Be proud to be Romanian because that is who you are.

[@lunadeargint540]

@@mihaiilie8808 Bulgarians adored Perun, they only become Christians very late and reluctantly, they persecuted the local Christian Romance speaking population/Proto-Romanians.

[@saintlybeginnings]

Jewish Roots to the Eucharist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmWYc3t6h6Zqprcsi=jKZZMTDYiaNNquyQ And when you connect the Passover to the promised Fulfillment in the Messiah, Jesus.. the Manna (literally means “what is this”), the True Bread of Presence to the Eucharist.. it is beyond powerful! We recite “I am not worthy for You to enter under my roof, but only say the word & I shall be healed” prior to received the Holy Eucharist.

[@e-deternaldatabase4721]

Why are you converting to islam ?! And why you have a beef with latins ?

[@BenLlywelyn]

Judaism is not Islam.

[@CoC789-f7o]

Islam is a GROUP in submission.

[@redknight9740]

I have issues with quite a lot of the inappropriate passages in the Talmud. Thats not to tar all with same brush though Bob lwc on your journey with judaism

[@BenLlywelyn]

One could say Talmud is not Torah, and it is the Torah (the Hebrew version) and your interpretation if it that matters.

[@redknight9740]

@BenLlywelyn OK brother, I appreciate the clarity

[@crbgo9854]

Orthodox Christianity doesnt work with oh you just join either

[@BenLlywelyn]

Fascinating.

[@crbgo9854]

@@BenLlywelyn I was a catehuman for a year alot of learning to prepare yourself for first time partaking in the Eucharist also I'm from Alabama and converted to eastern Christianity. I understand the conversion journey

[@thebanished87]

Become Orthodox bro 💪 ☦️

[@BenLlywelyn]

😀

[@ionatanpurcaru5020]

You lost me😢

[@BenLlywelyn]

How did I confuse you?

[@bernardmolloy6241]

Ive said before and will say again. Wales + all forms of Welsh culture needs to stay fully neutral in this Israel / Palestinian conflict. There are very much 2 sides and the conflict very tragic and deeply embedded. As you live in the States you are far too influenced by the one sided pro-Isreal stance there.

[@BenLlywelyn]

I don't live in the States.

[@Cariadcymru792]

⁠@@BenLlywelynI whole heartedly support everything you have said in your personal,not political, video. You are a very caring cerebral, thoughtful person who is thinking about the spiritual beauty of Judaism - god bless you. As a person who has been looking for a spiritual and physical home too I fully understand your desires. I can see how Wales and the love of god would be a real blessing. Dwi’n gobeithio ti find beth ti’n anyen Ben a heddiw mywnhau am dros traeth a gwrandwo nant bach. Still struggling with Welsh ond dwi’n trio.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Diolch yn fawr iawn am y gefnogaeth. Appreciated. Another learn Welsh video out later today - I hope!