Expert: Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - 8/6/2007

Question
Dear Rabbi, thank you for your precious time.  I am a Christian, 61 years old.  The Christian Bible uses the expression 'you must be born again'. It is used only a handful times, but popular literature and preaching has elevated it to a very divisive matter.  Does the expression have any meaning or equivalent in Conservative Judaism?

Answer
Dear Gerrie

Thank you for writing.

I needed to do some research on the various interpretations of "to be born again" in Christianity, and thus the delay in my response.

The Christian use of the term is apparently derived from Jesus’ words to Jewish leader Nicodemus as recorded in the third chapter of the Gospel of John:

"Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit."      – John 3:1-5, RSV

Thus, Most Christian denominations hold that a person must be born again in some sense to be a Christian. Thus, all who are true Christians are in fact born again, whether they describe themselves as such or not. However, the meaning of the term varies among Christian traditions:

   * The Roman Catholic Church associates "being born again" with baptism. It holds that "Baptism is ... the sacrament by which we are born again of water and the Holy Ghost."[2] This is also a belief held by Eastern Christianity, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism, among other Christian traditions.

   * Some Evangelical, Fundamentalist, and Pentecostal Christians associate "being born again" with a conversion experience that involves a personal, and sometimes intense, encounter of the individual with the power of God. It means that the person has been awarded salvation. Some Christians in these groups would assert that those without such a conversion experience are not true Christians.[3]

   * Most other Protestant churches place less emphasis on a conversion experience and rely on the individual's personal statement of belief in and commitment to Jesus Christ as "Lord" and "Savior." While they do not deny the validity of a conversion experience, they would seldom use the term "born again" to describe it.

In theology, the study of salvation is called soteriology. The idea of being "born again" carries with it the soteriological idea that a Christian is a "new creation," given a fresh start by the action of God, freed from a sinful past life and able to begin a "new life" in relationship with Christ via the Holy Spirit. John Wesley and Christians associated with early Methodism referred to the "born again" experience as "the New Birth."

Judaism does not have such a notion of either "original sin" nor does it require more than sincere repentance for sins to be one with God, deserving of "salvation," however that will ultimately turn out.

The use of "water" refers to the Jewish ritual of "mikveh," immersing onesself in a pool of water that is natural, either fed by a spring or rain-water. It is used to offer an individual an opportunity of concluding "change" and repentance, a sense of readiness to resume a close relationship with God.

Mikveh is used by a woman after her menstrual cycle before resuming sexual relations with her husband; by either gender after a urological flow; by a scribe before inscribing the name of God on parchment for ritual items; and many other circumstances in which we want to assert our renewal of our relationship with God. Some Jews go daily before morning prayers or just prior to the Sabbath weekly.

I have used the immersion when one was previously married and divorced and would like to "start all over again." I also have found that for many it is meaningful for an individual to express their gratitude to God for a return to health, after serious surgery.

In Judaism, therefore, it is not the annulment of sinfulness, but rather a positive psychological state of one-ness with the divine.

We are not symbolically being reborn as John is understood. Rather, we are reaffirming our identity as Jews and our commitment to the Jewish tradition.

Best wishes

Rabbi Dov