Reply to Interested to check out Chabad - but not sure I'd be welcomed?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you are really interested in conversion for yourself and your child, Chabad can certainly guide you if you all feel like it is a good fit.

I think Chabad is a great organization for their efforts to just try to get Jewish people to observe a little more than they would on their own. They're also great at building community in a way that centers a Jewish worldview, because that has kind of fallen off the radar for assimilated Jews, especially unafilliated ones.

If that sounds like a community you'd like to be part of, OP, go talk to them and see what you think. [b]Your eventual conversion would place you in a much more central position in the larger Jewish world than a Reform conversion would.[/b] [/quote]
This last statement is a little misleading. I converted in the Reform Movement and I'm welcomed as Jewish everywhere except Orthodox spaces (and even then, usually only for ritual purposes and my kids' halachic status). Since I have no interest in living an Orthodox life and mostly wouldn't be eligible as a woman to do ritual things anyway, this is not an issue for me. The Conservative Movement has always accepted my Reform conversion and I'm an active member of my Conservative synagogue in Maryland.

OP, by all means, check out Chabad and see what you think. They're very welcoming and my coworkers parents do things with the Gainesville Chabad when they don't want to trek to more central Jewish life in Fairfax and have been happy with it. Just know that if you decide to convert through Chabad, you'll need to become Orthodox in your daily life. When I looked into converting Orthodox (I ultimately didn't), my husband (also born Jewish, like yours) and I would have had to become fully shomer shabbos and shomer negiah. He would have also been expected to attend daily minyan to show his support for my conversion and demonstrate that we were living an Orthodox Jewish life. If you AND your husband aren't on board with Orthodoxy, you won't be able to convert. You can still attend Chabad's programs and services, though. And maybe Orthodox life will really speak to your family. Who knows![/quote]

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