Answers to Questions by Yair Davidiy (7 September 2017, 16 Elul, 5777)
Converting Non-Jews. How come Judaism doesn't proselytise?
https://www.quora.com/How-come-Judaism-doesnt-proselytise/answer/Yair-Davidiy
Judaism as a systematic religious belief does not believe that others need to become Jewish in order to be saved.
Remaining a good Gentile is a valid option.
Historically there were times when proselytizing was practised more extensively than it is at present.
In the past Converts who were insincere caused troubles for the Jewish community.
In addition Christian Churches are terrified of losing adherents to Judaism.
Become a Muslim, become a Buddhist, be a witch, do your thing and no-one will bat an eye.
Turn into a Jew and a scandal may erupt.
The Jews were expelled from England in 1290.
One of the reasons given for their expulsion was the fear their presence might influence the religious beliefs of their Christian neighbors.
The Jews were unofficially allowed back into England in the time of Henry-8 but they had to keep it quiet.
In the Era of Oliver Cromwell and Charles-2 Jews were allowed to come untrammeled by serious restrictions.
There was however an understanding with the Church of England that no proselytizing would take place. {Conversely the Church would not try to missionize to the Jews, though in effect that is what they did do.]
Even now, or at least not so long ago, an Englishman who wished to become Jewish may have been advised to undergo the process in the Netherlands.
Zechariah (NASB) 8:
23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, “In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
David M. Eichhorn, 'Conversion to Judaism: A History and Analysis' - Friends of Louis Jacobs
"To this day, (one contributor writes) most of the rabbis of the British Empire (sic) take the promise given to Cromwell by Manasseh ben Israel very, very seriously, so seriously that more rabbinical stumbling blocks are placed in the path of would-be converts to Judaism in Great Britain and South Africa than almost anywhere else on earth. And, typical Englishmen that they are, these rabbis take great pride in their obduracy. The recent Chief Rabbis, without exception, have not hesitated to boast of the difficulty put into the way of a British non-Jew who wants to become a Jew, while, at the same time, they bemoan with equal emphasis the large number of British Jews who are lost to Christianity".