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I have studied Judaism on my own for a little over two years and I do have the FULL intent to ultimately convert. I live in a very rural area in the south, so Jewish communities are few and far between, so I do not yet have a Rabbi to ask in this instance (however, I have coordinated with the closest one to me and will be meeting with him after the High Holidays!) All of this in mind, I've been told that as part of the conversion process, one should "live a Jewish lifestyle." Does this include observing Yom Kippur? It recently occurred to me that observing Jewish holy days may be seen as appropriative or offensive, and that is the last thing I want to do. I welcome your thoughts graciously.

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    This is something you have to ask the rabbi closest to you. There are many possible answers but the only right one is the one he gives you
    – יהושע ק
    Commented Oct 3, 2019 at 20:42
  • Offhand overall thinking - There is a prohibition for a Gentile to observe Shabbat in the same ways as Jews do, particularly in terms of not doing melachot ("work"). In that sense, Yom Kippur is like Shabbat. However, there is no problem with either repentance or fasting on Yom Kippur as far as I can tell. Other religions have fast days, and repentance is a common and noble action of humanity. Additionally, as has been stated in MY, there is no problem with Gentiles praying in a synagogue. (Check with the cong's rabbi, esp. on YK, as most places have "stricter" policies on these days.)
    – DanF
    Commented Oct 3, 2019 at 20:48
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    It sounds like you're already in contact with a rabbi. That's great. For this kind of question he'll be happy to answer it for you even before you formally meet. Just give him a call
    – Daniel
    Commented Oct 3, 2019 at 22:42
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    Taylor, I wanted to officially welcome you to MiYodeya. Can I recommend you take the tour to get a sense of how the site works? We have many other conversion-to-judaism questions you might find of interest. Great to have you learn with us!
    – mbloch
    Commented Oct 4, 2019 at 12:27
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    @Mau judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/4774/759 judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/q/3873/759
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Oct 4, 2019 at 16:46

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