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Demspotis -> RE: Kinky Jews (11/12/2008 4:05:35 PM)
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Personally, I consider that it's the "vanillas" who act unnaturally, by attempting to ignore the natural dominance and submission that is a part of almost all interactions in the real world, so they are the really "kinky" or "perverse" ones.
Now, Judaism as seen in its scriptures, is quite compatible in some ways with many things in BDSM. Some examples followe... in Hebrew, the same word "ba'al" means both "husband" and "master"; the Torah includes imposition of corporal punishment for various offences, including limits on how many strokes are permissible; slavery is a normal part of life in the Bible, and the Torah gives rules for how they are to be treated, including special rules for Jewish slaves owned by fellow Jews (the laws being far less restrictive on how non-Jewish slaves may be treated). And, unlike with many kinds of Christians, Judaism is not anti-sex: there are some (severe) restrictions on what can be done, and when it can be done... but when it is done, it is considered very important to do it WELL, that is, pleasurably.
As others have said, though, what you privately do with your partner is not something that should be coming up in ordinary conversation in houses of worship; in a conversion process, a rabbi might well want to know that the potential convert is not in the habit of violating Jewish sexual law, though. Such as sleeping with animals.... or Canaanites... ;-)
As for conversion: it's significantly easier in certain ways for women, especially since women don't have to submit to genital modification as part of the process. If you would want your conversion to be valid in Israel, you would need to go through the conversion process under strict Orthodox supervision, since Reform and Conservative conversions are not considered valid there. Orthodox conversions require full adherence to the Jewish lifestyle as defined in Torah and Talmud. It's not hard to find authoritative information online; there are many good Jewish websites out there with articles and lessons, and FAQ's by widely esteemed rabbis.
Incidentally, there is another brand of Judaism, called Karaite, that does not accept the Talmud, and adheres only, and strictly, to the rules given in the written Torah.
I'm not Jewish, BTW, but have been studying up on it fairly intensively in recent months, including studying Hebrew and Aramaic, for a variety of reasons, among them, the marriage of a close relative to a Jewish person, thus bringing that religion into the extended family.
Best wishes for your quest.
~Demspotis
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