Can you keep Shabbat before converting to Judaism?
If you’ve spent any time researching conversion online, you’ve probably encountered two completely opposite answers. Some people insist that conversion candidates should start keeping Shabbat as soon as possible. Others will tell you that non-Jews shouldn’t keep Shabbat at all.
So which answer is correct?
As with many Jewish questions, the answer is a little more complicated than a simple yes or no. It depends on your rabbi, your community, your stage of the conversion process, and what you actually mean when you say “keeping Shabbat.”
In this video, we’ll look at why this question comes up, why it’s primarily an Orthodox conversion issue, what many rabbis advise conversion candidates to do, and why you probably don’t need to have Shabbat completely figured out before your first rabbi meeting.
Transcript below.
Nervous about contacting a rabbi?
Grab my FREE Rabbi Meeting Prep Sheet by joining my mailing list. It will help you know what to ask, what to expect, and how to feel a little less awkward walking into that first meeting.
Transcript:
 Can you keep Shabbat before converting to Judaism? You’ve probably heard two completely different answers. Some people will say, “Of course, how else are you supposed to learn?” While others will tell you, “Absolutely not!” So which one is right?
The short answer is “it depends.”
It depends on your rabbi, your community, and what you mean by “keeping Shabbat.”
And yes, I know that is a very lawyer answer.
Hi, I’m Kochava. I’m a Jewish convert, and I’ve been helping people convert to Judaism since 2010 through my blog, BuildingaJewishLife.com.
If you’re nervous about contacting a rabbi, grab my Rabbi Meeting Prep Sheet.
The link is down below to join my mailing list. And it’ll help you know what to ask, what to expect, and how to feel a little less awkward walking into that meeting.
So can you keep Shabbat before converting?
Maybe. Maybe partially. Maybe almost completely.
But maybe not in the way that you’re imagining.
The answer depends on who is supervising your conversion.
And if you don’t have a rabbi yet, don’t panic. You don’t need to master Shabbat before your very first rabbi meeting. In fact, most people have barely started a Shabbat practice when they start meeting with rabbis.
Your job right now is to learn, observe, ask questions, and take the next step in front of you.
In all honesty, if you’re googling this question, it’s probably not relevant for you yet.
This is a question that comes up much later in the conversion process generally.
So why is this all so confused?
Conversion candidates are generally expected to start practicing Jewish life before their conversion is finalized.
You might attend services. You might light candles before Shabbat.
You might make Kiddush over your Shabbat meals. You might stop shopping on Shabbat.
You might start spending the day resting and learning and spending time with friends and family.
So people naturally think, “If I’m doing all this, I’m already keeping Shabbat, aren’t I?”
So here’s the crux of the matter.
This is a question that only comes up in Orthodox conversions. If you’re converting Reform or Conservative or another type of Judaism, this question will not be relevant to you.
Quite frankly, just because in those movements, most Jews don’t practice Shabbat fully.
In an Orthodox conversion, in contrast, you are expected to observe Shabbat fully, not mostly.
So without getting too much into the weeds, traditional Judaism views Shabbat as a covenant between Hashem (G-d) and the Jewish people, that it’s something special solely for Jewish people, and that that is why before your conversion is finalized, you shouldn’t be practicing Shabbat fully because you are not a Jew yet.
So that is where the caution comes from.
So even if you are converting Orthodox, your rabbis do want you practicing and living Shabbat.
But probably not doing everything.
So what does that look like in real life?
This is where things get messy.
As a general rule, what you’ll be told is that you should break Shabbat in one way. And ideally, at the end of your conversion process, when you’re ready to convert, you will be absolutely, fully shomer Shabbat (observant of the laws of Shabbat) minus breaking it in one way.
What is commonly advised is to turn a light on or off.
Which I’m no rabbi, but that brings up a question to me whether that’s breaking Shabbat “enough” because there was a lot of debate about electricity and how, whether or not it’s one of the 39 prohibitions. So I never really thought about this until I’m sitting here recording this video.
And is that really a “good enough” thing to do? I don’t know. I’m gonna throw that out to you, internet, and hope that you work on that question.
But not all conversion candidates will be told to break Shabbat.
If you converted previously, an Orthodox Beit Din ( the rabbinical court that oversees a conversion) will look at your conversion and see whether it may qualify halachically (under Jewish law) as a valid conversion. It’s unlikely with non-Orthodox conversions, but it can happen, and it has happened.
So then there’s doubt whether you are actually “Jewish” or not under Halacha. And so in that case, they tell you to keep Shabbat as a matter of caution.
But for the grand majority of you, if you’re going Orthodox, you’re gonna hear “break Shabbat.”
Now, this is not easy for all people. Most people take it pretty nonchalant, and it’s annoying, and they don’t like it, but they do it. But some people get really upset by this, and it really pains them to break Shabbat each week. So if that’s you, I hope you find a way to come to terms with it, and that your conversion process will be over soon. And you won’t have to do this anymore.
But likewise, if it’s not painful to you, that doesn’t say anything about you being a bad Jew. Those are all normal reactions to have to this requirement.
So if you’re in the position of trying to figure out how to bring a Shabbat practice into your life, and maybe you don’t have access to a Jewish community right now, check out this video next, three simple changes that you can make to start a Shabbat practice.
