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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book of The Highest Order, January 21, 2000
This review is from: Ordained to Be a Jew: A Catholic Priest's Conversion to Judaism (Hardcover)
This is an excellent book. Scalamonti goes through a complete transformation from a very religious Catholic who wants (and succeeds) in becoming a Catholic Priest to his questioning of everything in the priesthood, to his conversion and immersion into Judaism. I hear alot of people talking about how glad they are to be "Jewish" but they do not really fulfill what being Jewish entails. Scalamonti describes in beautiful detail REAL Judaism. Not about hearts and stomachs, he describes many of the wonderful rituals behind Judaism. I think that he describes his dissasistifaction with Christianity in a respectable way (and after all, he DID get the FULL experience). This book is a very excellent read&is widely recommended not only to people interested in converting to Judaism, but Jews who want to have more meaning out of their life as well.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Of interest to those thinking of converting to Judaism, October 12, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Ordained to Be a Jew: A Catholic Priest's Conversion to Judaism (Hardcover)
John Scalamonti tells of his journey from training to be a Catholic priest to becoming an Othodox Jew.The book is divided equally between his training to become a priest and his eventual departure from the priesthood at which time he loses all support from the church and starts working in restaurants. It is here that he meets the woman who eventually becomes his wife. She is an observant, Orthodox Jew. John Scalamonti converts to Orthodox Judaism and relates how difficult it is as well as how fulfilling it is. He is in many cases not accepted by Jews or Christians. He mentions how a new Christian would be welcomed with open arms by other Christians while his conversion to Judaism was a quiet affair, not attended by others. I believe that Jews and those interested in converting to Judaism would be interested in this book because of the Jewish teachings it presents, and the encouragement given to born Jews to become more involved in their Jewish faith which John loves so much. Christians might not be as interested in the book,because after all, John did convert to Judaism. In a review by John Scalamonti above, he mentions that he is available for talks, but no e-mail address is given. Perhaps he could add that for folks who might like to contact him.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent and informative, October 20, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Ordained to Be a Jew: A Catholic Priest's Conversion to Judaism (Hardcover)
In this book, Scalamonti explains his gradual disillusionment with the church and his discovery and acceptance of Judaism. It is very important to recognize that in writing this book, he is in no way trying to convert Christians away from their faith. He is trying to explain why he, himself, converted. This book is not only for people who may be contemplating conversion to Judaism, but also for Jews who may not see the beauty of Judaism for themselves and therefore cannot understand why someone would choose to become Jewish. After reading this book, I believe that he wrote it primarily for this latter group - to inspire assimilated and ambivalent Jews to appreciate their own heritage and religion more. The writing style is smooth and easy to read. It is interstingly written and hard to put down.
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