For someone who has egregious sins in their past, genuine Teshuva is essential. (It`s a good idea for the rest of us too.) If I were Charles Taylor`s rabbi, I wouldn`t reject him outright but I would require him to go back to Liberia and make amends as best he could with the millions of people whose lives he ruined or violently cut short. I don`t think someone who has done as much evil as Taylor could ever do that in one lifetime but he might do a little good by trying.
BTW - Patrick #1: No - Unlike Islam and some Christian sects, you can`t become Jewish simply by declaring yourself such. You have to go through a process with a Bet Din (rabbinical court). While there is disagreement about exactly which rabbis can do this and how they should, no Jewish group accepts conversion by self-declaration. |
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