Conversion to Judaism
Encyclopedia
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish
person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion
is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people. A formal conversion is also sometimes undertaken to remove any doubt as to the Jewishness
of a person who wishes to be considered a Jew
.
The procedure for conversion depends on the sponsoring denomination
, and depends on meeting the ritual and other requirements for a conversion of that denomination. A conversion in accordance with the process of a denomination is not a guarantee of recognition by another denomination.
It is not necessary for a person to formally convert to Judaism in order to adopt any or all beliefs and practices of Judaism. In Judaism, such people are referred to as righteous gentiles (see, for example the character of Job). There are various groups that have adopted Jewish customs and practices. For example, in Russia
the Subbotniks
have adopted most aspects of Judaism without formal conversion to Judaism.
" which is derived from the Septuagint translation. In Karaite Judaism
a Ger is a Non-Jew who has yet to fully convert to Judaism. After a Ger converts to Judaism, they are no longer considered a Ger but a full fledged Jew.
The word ger comes from the Hebrew
root word gar (גר) meaning "to dwell" or "to sojourn [with]". In the Hebrew Bible
"ger" is defined as "stranger" or "sojourner." Marc Angel writes:
Angel's explanation of the literal meaning of "ger" as alien is borne out in biblical
verses such as :
As Jews were not converts in Egypt, but rather strangers, the verse is an indication that the meaning of ger is "stranger". There is no place in the Hebrew Bible where the term "ger" is clearly used to refer to a convert to Judaism. The closest thing in the Hebrew Bible to a conversion process is the circumcision
undergone by the male stranger ("ger") before eating the Passover offering . Another passage which may be relevant to a process of conversion involves non-Jewish women captured in war who could be adopted forcibly as wives .
In the Talmud
, "ger" is used in two senses: ger tzedek refers to a "righteous convert", a proselyte to Judaism, and ger toshav
, a non-Jewish inhabitant of the Land of Israel who observes the Seven Laws of Noah and has repudiated all links with idolatry
. Today, ger refers to a convert to Judaism.
(Isurei Biah 13:15), in the days of Kings David
and Solomon
, Batei Dinim
(Jewish courts) did not accept converts.
Nowadays, with the notable exception of some Syrian Jewish communities, (primarily the Brooklyn, NY and Deal, NJ communities), all mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts, with all denominations accepting converts converted by their denominations. The rules vary between denominations.
For Rabbinic Judaism
, the laws of gerut are based on codes of law and texts, including discussions in the Talmud
, through the Shulkhan Arukh and subsequent interpretations. (Many of the guidelines of accepting converts are based on the Book of Ruth
and the manner whereby Ruth
was brought into the fold through her mother-in-law, Naomi
). These rules are held as authoritative by Orthodox Judaism
and Conservative Judaism
. Jewish law is generally interpreted as discouraging proselytizing
, and religious gerut is also discouraged. In the past, Rabbis often rejected potential converts three times, and if they remained adamant in their desire to convert, they would then allow them to begin the process. This practice has been justified on several grounds, including:
However, a rabbi convinced of the prospective convert's sincerity may allow him or her to follow the process of conversion. This requires the person to appear before an established three-judge Jewish religious court known as a beth din
("religious court") to be tested and formally accepted. A person who formally converts to Judaism under the auspices of a halakhically constituted and recognized beth din consisting preferably of three learned rabbi
s acting as dayanim ("judges"), but also possibly two learned and respected lay members of the community along with a rabbi, is issued with a Shtar geirut ("Certificate of Conversion").
Conservative Judaism
takes a more lenient approach in application of the halakhic rules than Modern Orthodox Judaism
. Its approach to the validity of conversions is based on whether the conversion procedure followed rabbinic norms, rather than the reliability of those performing it or the nature of the obligations the convert undertook. Accordingly, it may accept the validity of some Reform
and Reconstructionist
conversions, but only if they include immersion in a ritual bath (mikvah
), appearance before a rabbinical court (beit din) and, for men, circumcision (brit milah) or a symbolic circumcision for those already circumcised (hatafat dam brit).
The requirements of Reform Judaism
for conversions are different. The denomination states that "people considering conversion are expected to study Jewish theology, rituals, history, culture and customs, and to begin incorporating Jewish practices into their lives. The length and format of the course of study will vary from rabbi to rabbi and community to community, though most now require a course in basic Judaism and individual study with a rabbi, as well as attendance at services and participation in home practice and synagogue life."
Although an infant conversion might be accepted in some circumstances (such as in the case of adopted children or children whose parents convert), children who convert would typically be asked if they want to remain Jewish after reaching religious adulthood – which is 12 years of age for a girl and 13 for a boy. This standard is applied by Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, which accept halakha as binding.
Karaite Judaism
does not accept Rabbinic Judaism and has different requirements for conversion. Traditionally non-proselytizing, Karaite Judaism's long standing abstention from conversions was recently lifted. On 1 August 2007, the Karaites reportedly converted their first new members in 500 years. At a ceremony in their Northern California synagogue, ten adults and four minors swore fealty to Judaism after completing a year of study. This conversion comes 15 years after the Karaite Council of Sages reversed its centuries-old ban on accepting converts.
who produced the Talmud
set out three requirements for a conversion
to Judaism (Keritot 8b), which must be witnessed and affirmed by a beth din
:
The consensus of halakhic authorities also requires a convert to understand and accept the duties of the halakha
, classical Jewish religious law. This is not stated explicitly in the Talmud, but was inferred by subsequent commentators
.
After confirming that all these requirements have been met, the beth din issues a "Certificate of Conversion" (Shtar Giur), certifying that the person is now a Jew.
article on circumcision of proselytes, in the 1st century CE
, before the Mishnah
was edited, the requirement for circumcision of proselytes was an open issue between the zealots and liberal parties in ancient Israel. R. Joshua
argued that besides accepting Jewish beliefs and laws, a prospective convert to Judaism must undergo immersion in a mikveh
. In contrast, R. Eliezer makes circumcision a condition for the conversion. A similar controversy between the Shammai
tes and the Hillelites
is given regarding a proselyte born without a foreskin
: the former demanding the spilling of a drop of blood of the covenant; the latter declaring it to be unnecessary.
In discussions about the necessity of circumcision for those born of a Jewish mother, lending some support to the need for circumcision of converts, the Midrash
states: "If thy sons accept My Godhead [by undergoing circumcision] I shall be their God and bring them into the land; but if they do not observe My covenant in regard either to circumcision or to the Sabbath
, they shall not enter the land of promise
" (Midrash
Genesis Rabbah xlvi). "The Sabbath-keepers who are not circumcised are intruders, and deserve punishment," (Midrash
Deut. Rabbah i).
However, the opposing view is supported in the Babylonian Talmud: "A male convert who has been immersed but not circumcised, or circumcised but not
immersed, is a convert."
Flavius Josephus in Jewish Antiquities Book 20 Chapter 2 recorded the story of King Izates
of Adiabene
who decided to follow the Law of Moses
at the advice of a Jewish merchant named Ananias. He was going to get circumcised, but his mother, Helen, who herself embraced the Jewish customs, advised against it on the grounds that the subjects would not stand to be ruled by someone who followed such "strange and foreign rites". Ananias likewise advised against it, on the grounds that worship of God was superior to circumcision (Robert Eisenman
in James the Brother of Jesus claims that Ananias is Paul of Tarsus
who held similar views) and that God would forgive him for fear of his subjects. So Izates decided against it. However, later, "a certain other Jew that came out of Galilee, whose name was Eleazar", who was well versed in the Law, convinced him that he should, on the grounds that it was one thing to read the Law and another thing to practice it, and so he did. Once Helen and Ananias found out, they were struck by great fear of the possible consequences, but as Josephus put it, God looked after Izates. As his reign was peaceful and blessed, Helen visited the Jerusalem Temple to thank God, and since there was a terrible famine at the time, she brought lots of food and aid to the people of Jerusalem.
In general, immersion in the mikveh is an important part of conversion. If the person who is converting is male, circumcision
is a part of the conversion process as well. If the male who is converting has already been circumcised, then a ritual removal of a single drop of blood will take place.
rejects the concept that any rules or rituals should be considered necessary for conversion to Judaism. In the late 19th century, the Central Conference of American Rabbis
, the official body of American Reform rabbis, formally resolved to permit the admission of converts "without any initiatory rite, ceremony, or observance whatever." (CCAR Yearbook 3 (1893), 73–95; American Reform Responsa (ARR), no. 68, at 236–237.)
Although this resolution has often been examined critically by many Reform rabbis, the resolution still remains the official policy of American Reform Judaism (CCAR Responsa "Circumcision for an Eight-Year-Old Convert" 5756.13 and Solomon Freehof
, Reform Responsa for Our Time, no. 15.) Thus, American Reform Judaism does not require ritual immersion in a mikveh, circumcision, or acceptance of mitzvot as normative. Appearance before a Bet Din is recommended, but is not considered necessary. Converts are asked to commit to religious standards set by the local Reform community.
has issued a legal opinion stating that Reform conversions may be accepted as valid only when they include the minimal Conservative halachic requirements of milah and t'vilah, appearance before a Conservative Bet Din, and a course of Conservative study. (Proceedings of Committee on Jewish Law and Standards: 1980–1985, pp. 77–101.)
In general, branches of Orthodox Judaism consider non-Orthodox conversions either inadequate or of questionable halachic compliance, and such conversions are therefore not accepted by these branches of Judaism. Conversely, both Conservative and Reform Judaism accept the stringent Orthodox conversion process as being valid. Since 2008, Haredi Orthodox religious courts in Israel have been rejecting conversions from other Orthodox rabbis, in addition to Reform and Conservative conversions, as not being stringent enough.
advocates an ultrastrict conversion and observation of traditional Jewish law.
One of the groups promoting change is the Vaad HaRabbonim Haolami LeInyonei Giyur. They hold that Orthodoxy hasn't had a unified standard of conversion, and that many Orthodox conversions done in the last century are suspect. They criticise as being too lax the Chief Rabbinate of Israel; the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks
, and a number of other Orthodox rabbis. Many critiques are aimed at Modern Orthodox Jews, who they label as "so-called Orthodox". Orthodox rabbis who cooperate in any way with non-Orthodox Jews are labeled as "orthodox", in quotes with a lower case "o", while Haredi rabbis are called Orthodox rabbis, with no quotes and no lower case letters. (Eisenstein, About Cooperation with Conservative, Reform—and So-called Orthodox)
Since 2005, Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar
has been in talks with the Rabbinical Council of America
. They tentatively floated a compromise: the RCA would draft a joint list of qualified beth dins authorized to perform conversions in the future, and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel would review the list; all conversions accepted by the RCA in the past and for a short period in the future will be accepted. As of May 2007, this agreement has not been accepted by Rabbi Amar. Rabbi Amar has demanded that RCA rabbis on American Beit Din be approved by the Israeli rabbinate. Traditionally, Orthodox communal rabbis have refrained from implementing tests on colleagues from other regions. Rabbi Amar's demand to vet RCA rabbis marks an evolution in diaspora and Israeli rabbinate relations. Rabbi Amar has also demanded more Haredi representation on Israel's conversion courts. Meanwhile, within Israel, the status of converts is becoming more confused. Recently, an Israeli rabbi in Ashdod retroactively annulled an Orthodox conversion performed by another rabbi whom he regards as not complying with the halakha.
Under Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim's plan, power would be distributed more widely than at present. According to Erez Halfon, director general of the Absorption Ministry, the current system's "rabbinical courts are intimidating converts as well as rabbis by setting unreasonable requirements." The reform proposes unifying institutions that deal with conversion under one administrative umbrella, and doubling the number of rabbinical judges who review conversions.
Some Sephardic Orthodox rabbis, particularly those of Judeo-Spanish descent, take a more liberal view of conversion than the majority opinion. For instance, the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Benzion Uziel, held that conversions should be accepted, if not strongly recommended, in the case of an intermarried couple who will continue to live as man and wife regardless of whether the non-Jewish spouse converts. Rabbi Uziel reasoned that it was preferable to convert the non-Jewish partner, regardless of the partner's reasoning for converting, than to permit the Jewish partner to continue transgressing by living with a non-Jew in a spousal relationship. Today, advocates for Rabbi Uziel's opinion include Rabbi Marc D. Angel
of Shearith Israel (the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue) in New York, but very few if any other Orthodox rabbis.
In 2008, the Haredi-dominated supreme Rabbinical Court in Israel annulled thousands of conversions performed by their Modern Orthodox Religious Zionist counterparts in Israel. These converts, ostensibly now unable to marry, be buried in Jewish ceremonies, or have recognized Jewish children, may have to re-convert under Haredi auspices. This controversial ruling is unprecedented in Jewish history.
. One is made up of a Bet Din (Jewish Court) of congregational member rabbis from the Rabbinical Council of America, Montreal region (RCA). This program provides a way to convert according to the rigorous rules of Halachah while making the process more “user friendly” for non-Jewish individuals seeking a more “hands-on” or “modern Orthodox” approach. The second program is supervised by the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, the Vaad Hair.
All conversion candidates – who could include singles, non-Jewish couples and adoption cases – must have a sponsoring rabbi and undergo a rigorous screening process. Conversions stemming from both programs are recognized in Israel and around the world.
through the KJU
. The process requires one year of learning, circumcision (for males), and the taking of the vow that Ruth took.
and other members of the Rabbinical Council of America
engaged in a series of private negotiations with the leaders of Conservative Judaism's Rabbinical Assembly
, including Saul Lieberman
; their goal was to create a joint Orthodox-Conservative national beth din for all Jews in America. It would create communal standards of marriage and divorce. It was to be modeled after the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, where all the judges would have been Orthodox, while it would have been accepted by the larger Conservative movement as legitimate. Conservative rabbis in the Rabbinical Assembly created a Joint Conference on Jewish Law, devoting a year to this effort.
For a number of reasons, the project did not succeed. According to Orthodox Rabbi Bernstein, the major reason for its failure was the Orthodox rabbis insisted that the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly expel Conservative rabbis for actions they took before this new beth din was formed, and the RA refused to do so. According to Orthodox Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, former president of the RCA, the major reason for its failure was pressure from haredi Orthodox rabbis, who held that any cooperation between Orthodoxy and Conservatism was forbidden. In 1956, Rabbi Harry Halpern
, of the Joint Conference wrote a report on the demise of this beth din. He writes that negotiations between the Orthodox and Conservative were completed and agreed upon, but then a new requirement was demanded by the RCA: The RA must "impose severe sanctions" upon Conservative rabbis for actions they took before this new beth din was formed. Halpern writes that the RA "could not assent to rigorously disciplining our members at the behest of an outside group." He goes on to write that although subsequent efforts were made to cooperate with the Orthodox, a letter from eleven Rosh Yeshivas was circulated declaring that Orthodox rabbis are forbidden to cooperate with Conservative rabbis.
, a joint Orthodox, Traditional, Conservative and Reform Bet Din was formed to promote uniform standards for conversion to Judaism. A number of rabbis were Orthodox and had semicha from Orthodox yeshivas, but were serving in synagogues without a mechitza
; these synagogues were called traditional Judaism. Over a five year period they performed some 750 conversions to Judaism. However, in 1983 the joint Beth Din was dissolved, due to the unilateral American Reform Jewish decision to change the definition of Jewishness.
The end of this program was welcomed by Haredi Orthodox groups, who saw the program as illegitimate. Further, Haredi groups attempted to prevent non-Orthodox rabbis from following the traditional requirements of converts using a mikvah. In the Haredi view, it is better to have no conversion at all than a non-Orthodox conversion, as all non-Orthodox conversions are not true conversions at all according to them.
, along with other American and Israeli Orthodox rabbis, worked with Conservative and Reform rabbis to come up with solution to the "Who is a Jew?" issue. In 1989 and 1990 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
spearheaded an effort to create a solution to the "Who is a Jew?" issue.
A plan was developed by Israeli Cabinet Secretary Elyakim Rubenstein, who negotiated secretly for many months with rabbis from Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Judaism, including faculty at Yeshiva University, with Lamm as Rosh Yeshiva. They were planning to create a joint panel that interviewed people who were converting to Judaism and considering making aliyah (moving to the State of Israel), and would refer them to a beth din that would convert the candidate following traditional halakha. All negotiating parties came to agreement:
Many Reform rabbis took offense at the notion that the beth din must be strictly halakhic and Orthodox, but they acquiesced. However, when word about this project became public, a number of leading haredi rabbis issued a statement denouncing the project, condemning it as a "travesty of halakha". Rabbi Moshe Sherer, Chairman of Agudath Israel World Organization, stated that "Yes we played a role in putting an end to that farce, and I'm proud we did." Norman Lamm condemned this interference by Sherer, stating that this was "the most damaging thing that he [Sherer] ever did in his forty year career."
Rabbi Lamm wanted this to be only the beginning of a solution to Jewish disunity. He stated that had this unified conversion plan not been destroyed, he wanted to extend this program to the area of halakhic Jewish divorces, thus ending the problem of mamzerut.
publicly backed the Neeman commission, a group of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbis working to develop joint programs for conversion to Judaism. In 1997 Lamm gave a speech at the World Council of Orthodox Leadership, in Glen Springs, N.Y., urging Orthodox Jews to support this effort.
This crisis deepened, when Israel's Rabbinate called into question the validity of soldiers who had undergone conversion in the army, meaning a soldier killed in action could not be buried according to Jewish law.
In 2010, the rabbinate created a further distrust in the conversion process when it began refusing to recognize orthodox converts from the United States as Jewish.
It is important to note, that according to the present judgements of Israel's Supreme Rabbinical Court, the former President of the State of Israel, Ezer Weizmann would not be seen as Jewish, as his mother (married to Israel's first President and Zionist pioneer Chaim Weizmann
) was a convert who led an unflinchingly secular lifestyle.
Indeed, the great-niece of the renowned Zionist Nahum Sokolow
was recently deemed "not Jewish enough" to marry in Israel, after she failed to prove the purity of Jewish blood for four generations.
At present, the question of Who is a Jew is a political crisis in Israel's Knesset
which is impacting the security and right to exist in Israel of thousands of individuals, and their children.
There is a tradition that a prospective convert should be turned away three times as a test of sincerity, though most rabbis no longer follow the tradition. Neither the Rabbinical Council of America
nor the Rabbinical Assembly
, the leading American Orthodox and Conservative organizations, suggest taking this action in their conversion policies,
with the Central Conference of American Rabbis
(CCAR) and Union for Reform Judaism
(URJ) actively opposing its practice.
have banned conversion and refuse to recognise any Jewish conversion, including those done under orthodox auspices.
According to Orthodox
interpretations of Halakha
, converts face a limited number of restrictions. A marriage between a female convert and a kohen
(members of the priestly class) is prohibited and any children of the union do not inherit their father's kohen status. While a Jew by birth may not marry a mamzer
a convert can marry a mamzer.
Converts can become rabbis. For instance, Rabbi Meir
Baal Ha Nes is thought to be a descendant of a proselyte. Rabbi Akiva
was also a very well known son of converts. Indeed the Talmud lists many of the Jewish nation's greatest leaders, who had either descended from or were themselves converts. In fact, King David is descended from Ruth
, a convert to Judaism.
In Orthodox and Conservative communities which maintain tribal distinctions, converts become Yisraelim (Israelites), ordinary Jews with no tribal or inter-Jewish distinctions. Converts typically follow the customs of their congregations. So a convert who prays at a Sephardi synagogue would follow Sephardi customs and learn Sephardi Hebrew.
A convert chooses his or her own Hebrew first name upon conversion but is traditionally known as the son or daughter of Abraham and Sarah, the first patriarch and matriarch in the Torah, often with the additional qualifier of "Avinu" (our father) and "Imenu" (our mother). Hence, a convert named Akiva would be known, for ritual purposes in a synagogue, as "Akiva ben Avraham Avinu"; in cases where the mother's name is used, such as for the prayer for recovery from an illness, he would be known as "Akiva ben Sarah Imenu".
Talmudic opinions on converts are numerous; some positive, some negative. A famous quote from the Talmud, labels the convert "Hard on Israel as a blight." Many interpretations explain this quote as meaning converts can be unobservant and leading Jews to be unobservant, or converts can be so observant that born Jews feel ashamed.
, Jews who were forced to convert
to Christianity
or Islam
. Since many of these descendants lack satisfactory proof of their Jewish ancestry, conversion has been a growing option for them to return to Judaism.
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people. A formal conversion is also sometimes undertaken to remove any doubt as to the Jewishness
Who is a Jew?
"Who is a Jew?" is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question is based in ideas about Jewish personhood which themselves have cultural, religious, genealogical, and personal dimensions...
of a person who wishes to be considered a Jew
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
.
The procedure for conversion depends on the sponsoring denomination
Jewish denominations
Jewish religious movements , sometimes called "denominations" or "branches", include different groups which have developed among Jews from ancient times and especially in the modern era among Ashkenazi Jews living in anglophone countries...
, and depends on meeting the ritual and other requirements for a conversion of that denomination. A conversion in accordance with the process of a denomination is not a guarantee of recognition by another denomination.
It is not necessary for a person to formally convert to Judaism in order to adopt any or all beliefs and practices of Judaism. In Judaism, such people are referred to as righteous gentiles (see, for example the character of Job). There are various groups that have adopted Jewish customs and practices. For example, in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
the Subbotniks
Subbotniks
Subbotniks are one of the Russian religious bodies known under the general name of "Judaizing Christian sects". On the whole, the Subbotniks originally differed probably very little from other Judaizing societies. They first appeared during the reign of Catherine II, toward the end of the...
have adopted most aspects of Judaism without formal conversion to Judaism.
Terminology
A male convert to Rabbinical Judaism is referred to by the biblical word ger and a female convert is a giyoret. The word is related to the term "proselyteProselyte
The biblical term "Proselyte", derives from the Koine Greek προσήλυτος/proselytos, as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism from Paganism...
" which is derived from the Septuagint translation. In Karaite Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
a Ger is a Non-Jew who has yet to fully convert to Judaism. After a Ger converts to Judaism, they are no longer considered a Ger but a full fledged Jew.
The word ger comes from the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
root word gar (גר) meaning "to dwell" or "to sojourn [with]". In the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
"ger" is defined as "stranger" or "sojourner." Marc Angel writes:
- "The Hebrew ger (in post-Biblical times translated as "proselyte") literally means "stranger" and refers to a non-Israelite who lived among the IsraeliteIsraeliteAccording to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
community. When the TorahTorahTorah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
commands compassion and equal justice for the ger, it is referring to these "strangers." But Rabbinic tradition interpreted the word ger as also referring to proselytes..."
Angel's explanation of the literal meaning of "ger" as alien is borne out in biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
verses such as :
- As a citizen among you shall be the ger (the stranger) who lives among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were gerim in the land of Egypt—I am the Lord your God.
As Jews were not converts in Egypt, but rather strangers, the verse is an indication that the meaning of ger is "stranger". There is no place in the Hebrew Bible where the term "ger" is clearly used to refer to a convert to Judaism. The closest thing in the Hebrew Bible to a conversion process is the circumcision
Circumcision in the Bible
Religious male circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in Muslim countries and Israel, and is most prevalent in the Jewish and Muslim faiths, although also common in the United States, the...
undergone by the male stranger ("ger") before eating the Passover offering . Another passage which may be relevant to a process of conversion involves non-Jewish women captured in war who could be adopted forcibly as wives .
In the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, "ger" is used in two senses: ger tzedek refers to a "righteous convert", a proselyte to Judaism, and ger toshav
Ger toshav
Ger toshav , is a term used in Judaism to refer to a gentile who is a "resident alien", that is, one who lives in a Jewish state and has certain protections under Jewish law, and is considered a righteous gentile .-Definition:...
, a non-Jewish inhabitant of the Land of Israel who observes the Seven Laws of Noah and has repudiated all links with idolatry
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
. Today, ger refers to a convert to Judaism.
Overview
According to MaimonidesMaimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
(Isurei Biah 13:15), in the days of Kings David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, Batei Dinim
Beth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
(Jewish courts) did not accept converts.
Nowadays, with the notable exception of some Syrian Jewish communities, (primarily the Brooklyn, NY and Deal, NJ communities), all mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts, with all denominations accepting converts converted by their denominations. The rules vary between denominations.
For Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Talmud...
, the laws of gerut are based on codes of law and texts, including discussions in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, through the Shulkhan Arukh and subsequent interpretations. (Many of the guidelines of accepting converts are based on the Book of Ruth
Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament. In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is included in the third division, or the Writings . In the Christian canon the Book of Ruth is placed between Judges and 1 Samuel...
and the manner whereby Ruth
Ruth (biblical figure)
Ruth , is the main character in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible.-Biblical narrative:Ruth was a Moabitess, who married Mahlon, the son of Elimelech and Naomi, but Elimelech and his two sons died...
was brought into the fold through her mother-in-law, Naomi
Naomi (Bible)
Naomi is Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth...
). These rules are held as authoritative by Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
and Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
. Jewish law is generally interpreted as discouraging proselytizing
Proselytism
Proselytizing is the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion and, particularly, another religion. The word proselytize is derived ultimately from the Greek language prefix προσ- and the verb ἔρχομαι in the form of προσήλυτος...
, and religious gerut is also discouraged. In the past, Rabbis often rejected potential converts three times, and if they remained adamant in their desire to convert, they would then allow them to begin the process. This practice has been justified on several grounds, including:
- The laws Jews require of themselves are more stringent than they consider to be required of other nations; a person who would be considered derelict of religious duties under Jewish law could easily be, without change in action, an exceedingly righteous gentile.
- Jews have suffered regular and often severe persecution throughout the ages; a proselyte is exposing himself to potentially mortal danger.
- In the Book of Ruth, Naomi tried to get Ruth to go back to her own people three times before Ruth became a part of the Hebrew people.
However, a rabbi convinced of the prospective convert's sincerity may allow him or her to follow the process of conversion. This requires the person to appear before an established three-judge Jewish religious court known as a beth din
Beth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
("religious court") to be tested and formally accepted. A person who formally converts to Judaism under the auspices of a halakhically constituted and recognized beth din consisting preferably of three learned rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s acting as dayanim ("judges"), but also possibly two learned and respected lay members of the community along with a rabbi, is issued with a Shtar geirut ("Certificate of Conversion").
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
takes a more lenient approach in application of the halakhic rules than Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
. Its approach to the validity of conversions is based on whether the conversion procedure followed rabbinic norms, rather than the reliability of those performing it or the nature of the obligations the convert undertook. Accordingly, it may accept the validity of some Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
and Reconstructionist
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...
conversions, but only if they include immersion in a ritual bath (mikvah
Mikvah
Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...
), appearance before a rabbinical court (beit din) and, for men, circumcision (brit milah) or a symbolic circumcision for those already circumcised (hatafat dam brit).
The requirements of Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
for conversions are different. The denomination states that "people considering conversion are expected to study Jewish theology, rituals, history, culture and customs, and to begin incorporating Jewish practices into their lives. The length and format of the course of study will vary from rabbi to rabbi and community to community, though most now require a course in basic Judaism and individual study with a rabbi, as well as attendance at services and participation in home practice and synagogue life."
Although an infant conversion might be accepted in some circumstances (such as in the case of adopted children or children whose parents convert), children who convert would typically be asked if they want to remain Jewish after reaching religious adulthood – which is 12 years of age for a girl and 13 for a boy. This standard is applied by Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, which accept halakha as binding.
Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakhah, as well as in theology...
does not accept Rabbinic Judaism and has different requirements for conversion. Traditionally non-proselytizing, Karaite Judaism's long standing abstention from conversions was recently lifted. On 1 August 2007, the Karaites reportedly converted their first new members in 500 years. At a ceremony in their Northern California synagogue, ten adults and four minors swore fealty to Judaism after completing a year of study. This conversion comes 15 years after the Karaite Council of Sages reversed its centuries-old ban on accepting converts.
Requirements
The Amora'imAmora
Amoraim , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara...
who produced the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
set out three requirements for a conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
to Judaism (Keritot 8b), which must be witnessed and affirmed by a beth din
Beth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
:
- CircumcisionCircumcision in the BibleReligious male circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in Muslim countries and Israel, and is most prevalent in the Jewish and Muslim faiths, although also common in the United States, the...
(Brit milahBrit milahThe brit milah is a Jewish religious circumcision ceremony performed on 8-day old male infants by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal .-Biblical references:...
or hatafat dam brit) for men - Immersion (tevilah) in a ritual bath (mikveh) for both men and women
- Offering a certain sacrifice (korbanKorbanThe term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...
) in the Temple (the Beit Hamikdash) – this requirement is deferred while the Temple does not exist until such time as it may be rebuilt.
The consensus of halakhic authorities also requires a convert to understand and accept the duties of the halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, classical Jewish religious law. This is not stated explicitly in the Talmud, but was inferred by subsequent commentators
Rishonim
"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...
.
After confirming that all these requirements have been met, the beth din issues a "Certificate of Conversion" (Shtar Giur), certifying that the person is now a Jew.
Early debate on requirement for circumcision
According to the Jewish EncyclopediaJewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
article on circumcision of proselytes, in the 1st century CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
, before the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
was edited, the requirement for circumcision of proselytes was an open issue between the zealots and liberal parties in ancient Israel. R. Joshua
Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent , and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers . His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas,...
argued that besides accepting Jewish beliefs and laws, a prospective convert to Judaism must undergo immersion in a mikveh
Mikvah
Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...
. In contrast, R. Eliezer makes circumcision a condition for the conversion. A similar controversy between the Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
tes and the Hillelites
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
is given regarding a proselyte born without a foreskin
Aposthia
Aposthia is a rare congenital condition in humans, in which the foreskin of the penis is missing.Toward the end of the nineteenth century, E. S. Talbot claimed in Medicine that aposthia among Jews was evidence for the now-discredited Lamarckian theory of evolution...
: the former demanding the spilling of a drop of blood of the covenant; the latter declaring it to be unnecessary.
In discussions about the necessity of circumcision for those born of a Jewish mother, lending some support to the need for circumcision of converts, the Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
states: "If thy sons accept My Godhead [by undergoing circumcision] I shall be their God and bring them into the land; but if they do not observe My covenant in regard either to circumcision or to the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, they shall not enter the land of promise
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
" (Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
Genesis Rabbah xlvi). "The Sabbath-keepers who are not circumcised are intruders, and deserve punishment," (Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
Deut. Rabbah i).
However, the opposing view is supported in the Babylonian Talmud: "A male convert who has been immersed but not circumcised, or circumcised but not
immersed, is a convert."
Flavius Josephus in Jewish Antiquities Book 20 Chapter 2 recorded the story of King Izates
Izates bar Monobaz
Izates II or Izates bar Monobaz was a proselyte to Judaism who became King of the Parthian client kingdom of Adiabene. He was the son of Queen Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. During his youth he was sent by his father to the court of King Abinergaos I of Characene in Charax Spasinu...
of Adiabene
Adiabene
Adiabene was an ancient Assyrian independent kingdom in Mesopotamia, with its capital at Arbela...
who decided to follow the Law of Moses
613 mitzvot
The 613 commandments is a numbering of the statements and principles of law, ethics, and spiritual practice contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses...
at the advice of a Jewish merchant named Ananias. He was going to get circumcised, but his mother, Helen, who herself embraced the Jewish customs, advised against it on the grounds that the subjects would not stand to be ruled by someone who followed such "strange and foreign rites". Ananias likewise advised against it, on the grounds that worship of God was superior to circumcision (Robert Eisenman
Robert Eisenman
Robert Eisenman is an American Biblical scholar, theoretical writer, historian, archaeologist, and "road" poet. He is currently Professor of Middle East Religions, Archaeology, and Islamic Law and director of the Institute for the Study of...
in James the Brother of Jesus claims that Ananias is Paul of Tarsus
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
who held similar views) and that God would forgive him for fear of his subjects. So Izates decided against it. However, later, "a certain other Jew that came out of Galilee, whose name was Eleazar", who was well versed in the Law, convinced him that he should, on the grounds that it was one thing to read the Law and another thing to practice it, and so he did. Once Helen and Ananias found out, they were struck by great fear of the possible consequences, but as Josephus put it, God looked after Izates. As his reign was peaceful and blessed, Helen visited the Jerusalem Temple to thank God, and since there was a terrible famine at the time, she brought lots of food and aid to the people of Jerusalem.
Modern practice
The requirements for conversions vary somewhat within the different branches of Judaism, so whether or not a conversion is recognized by another denomination is often an issue wrought with religious politics. The Orthodox rejection of non-Orthodox conversions is derived less from qualms with the conversion process itself, since Conservative and even some Reform conversions are ostensibly very similar to Orthodox conversions with respect to duration and content, but rather the belief that a non-Orthodox Rabbi is not qualified to oversee and perform a conversion.In general, immersion in the mikveh is an important part of conversion. If the person who is converting is male, circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
is a part of the conversion process as well. If the male who is converting has already been circumcised, then a ritual removal of a single drop of blood will take place.
Maturity
Someone who was converted to Judaism as a child has an option of rejecting this after reaching the age of maturity, which in Judaism is age twelve for girls or thirteen for boys.Reform Jewish views
In the United States of America, Reform JudaismReform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
rejects the concept that any rules or rituals should be considered necessary for conversion to Judaism. In the late 19th century, the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
, the official body of American Reform rabbis, formally resolved to permit the admission of converts "without any initiatory rite, ceremony, or observance whatever." (CCAR Yearbook 3 (1893), 73–95; American Reform Responsa (ARR), no. 68, at 236–237.)
Although this resolution has often been examined critically by many Reform rabbis, the resolution still remains the official policy of American Reform Judaism (CCAR Responsa "Circumcision for an Eight-Year-Old Convert" 5756.13 and Solomon Freehof
Solomon Freehof
Solomon Bennett Freehof was a prominent Reform rabbi, posek, and scholar. Rabbi Freehof served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Beginning in 1955, he led the CCAR's work on Jewish law through its responsa committee...
, Reform Responsa for Our Time, no. 15.) Thus, American Reform Judaism does not require ritual immersion in a mikveh, circumcision, or acceptance of mitzvot as normative. Appearance before a Bet Din is recommended, but is not considered necessary. Converts are asked to commit to religious standards set by the local Reform community.
Interdenominational views
In response to the tremendous variations that exist within the Reform community, the Conservative Jewish movement attempted to set a nuanced approach. The Conservative Committee on Jewish Law and StandardsCommittee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. Within the movement it is known as the CJLS...
has issued a legal opinion stating that Reform conversions may be accepted as valid only when they include the minimal Conservative halachic requirements of milah and t'vilah, appearance before a Conservative Bet Din, and a course of Conservative study. (Proceedings of Committee on Jewish Law and Standards: 1980–1985, pp. 77–101.)
In general, branches of Orthodox Judaism consider non-Orthodox conversions either inadequate or of questionable halachic compliance, and such conversions are therefore not accepted by these branches of Judaism. Conversely, both Conservative and Reform Judaism accept the stringent Orthodox conversion process as being valid. Since 2008, Haredi Orthodox religious courts in Israel have been rejecting conversions from other Orthodox rabbis, in addition to Reform and Conservative conversions, as not being stringent enough.
Intra-Orthodox views
Orthodox Jewish groups are not unified, and different orthodox communities may hold themselves as more strictly correct in observance than others, or consider others' religious observances of inadequate strictness and validity. As such, Orthodox rabbis often will not automatically accept each other's authority, which has led to a some reluctance in certain Orthodox communities to prepare and perform conversions. Haredi JudaismHaredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
advocates an ultrastrict conversion and observation of traditional Jewish law.
One of the groups promoting change is the Vaad HaRabbonim Haolami LeInyonei Giyur. They hold that Orthodoxy hasn't had a unified standard of conversion, and that many Orthodox conversions done in the last century are suspect. They criticise as being too lax the Chief Rabbinate of Israel; the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Kt is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name is Yaakov Zvi...
, and a number of other Orthodox rabbis. Many critiques are aimed at Modern Orthodox Jews, who they label as "so-called Orthodox". Orthodox rabbis who cooperate in any way with non-Orthodox Jews are labeled as "orthodox", in quotes with a lower case "o", while Haredi rabbis are called Orthodox rabbis, with no quotes and no lower case letters. (Eisenstein, About Cooperation with Conservative, Reform—and So-called Orthodox)
Since 2005, Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar
Shlomo Amar
Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar has been the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion since his appointment in 2003. His colleague is Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel....
has been in talks with the Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...
. They tentatively floated a compromise: the RCA would draft a joint list of qualified beth dins authorized to perform conversions in the future, and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel would review the list; all conversions accepted by the RCA in the past and for a short period in the future will be accepted. As of May 2007, this agreement has not been accepted by Rabbi Amar. Rabbi Amar has demanded that RCA rabbis on American Beit Din be approved by the Israeli rabbinate. Traditionally, Orthodox communal rabbis have refrained from implementing tests on colleagues from other regions. Rabbi Amar's demand to vet RCA rabbis marks an evolution in diaspora and Israeli rabbinate relations. Rabbi Amar has also demanded more Haredi representation on Israel's conversion courts. Meanwhile, within Israel, the status of converts is becoming more confused. Recently, an Israeli rabbi in Ashdod retroactively annulled an Orthodox conversion performed by another rabbi whom he regards as not complying with the halakha.
Under Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim's plan, power would be distributed more widely than at present. According to Erez Halfon, director general of the Absorption Ministry, the current system's "rabbinical courts are intimidating converts as well as rabbis by setting unreasonable requirements." The reform proposes unifying institutions that deal with conversion under one administrative umbrella, and doubling the number of rabbinical judges who review conversions.
Some Sephardic Orthodox rabbis, particularly those of Judeo-Spanish descent, take a more liberal view of conversion than the majority opinion. For instance, the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Benzion Uziel, held that conversions should be accepted, if not strongly recommended, in the case of an intermarried couple who will continue to live as man and wife regardless of whether the non-Jewish spouse converts. Rabbi Uziel reasoned that it was preferable to convert the non-Jewish partner, regardless of the partner's reasoning for converting, than to permit the Jewish partner to continue transgressing by living with a non-Jew in a spousal relationship. Today, advocates for Rabbi Uziel's opinion include Rabbi Marc D. Angel
Marc D. Angel
Marc D. Angel is Rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, the historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New York City....
of Shearith Israel (the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue) in New York, but very few if any other Orthodox rabbis.
In 2008, the Haredi-dominated supreme Rabbinical Court in Israel annulled thousands of conversions performed by their Modern Orthodox Religious Zionist counterparts in Israel. These converts, ostensibly now unable to marry, be buried in Jewish ceremonies, or have recognized Jewish children, may have to re-convert under Haredi auspices. This controversial ruling is unprecedented in Jewish history.
Canadian Orthodox program
There are two orthodox conversion programmes in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. One is made up of a Bet Din (Jewish Court) of congregational member rabbis from the Rabbinical Council of America, Montreal region (RCA). This program provides a way to convert according to the rigorous rules of Halachah while making the process more “user friendly” for non-Jewish individuals seeking a more “hands-on” or “modern Orthodox” approach. The second program is supervised by the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, the Vaad Hair.
All conversion candidates – who could include singles, non-Jewish couples and adoption cases – must have a sponsoring rabbi and undergo a rigorous screening process. Conversions stemming from both programs are recognized in Israel and around the world.
Karaite views
As of 2006 the Moetzet Hakhamim (Council of Sages) began to accept converts to Karaite JudaismKaraite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakhah, as well as in theology...
through the KJU
Karaite Jewish University
The Karaite Jewish University is a non-profit corporation incorporated in California, U.S.A., in November 2005 for the purposes of disseminating the study of Karaite Judaism. Karaite Jewish University is not accredited as an academic institution...
. The process requires one year of learning, circumcision (for males), and the taking of the vow that Ruth took.
"For whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried; the LORD do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."
1950s: proposed joint beth din
In the 1950s Rabbi Joseph SoloveitchikJoseph Soloveitchik
Joseph Ber Soloveitchik was an American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a descendant of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty....
and other members of the Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...
engaged in a series of private negotiations with the leaders of Conservative Judaism's Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
, including Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman , also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or The Gra"sh , was a rabbi and a scholar of Talmud...
; their goal was to create a joint Orthodox-Conservative national beth din for all Jews in America. It would create communal standards of marriage and divorce. It was to be modeled after the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, where all the judges would have been Orthodox, while it would have been accepted by the larger Conservative movement as legitimate. Conservative rabbis in the Rabbinical Assembly created a Joint Conference on Jewish Law, devoting a year to this effort.
For a number of reasons, the project did not succeed. According to Orthodox Rabbi Bernstein, the major reason for its failure was the Orthodox rabbis insisted that the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly expel Conservative rabbis for actions they took before this new beth din was formed, and the RA refused to do so. According to Orthodox Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, former president of the RCA, the major reason for its failure was pressure from haredi Orthodox rabbis, who held that any cooperation between Orthodoxy and Conservatism was forbidden. In 1956, Rabbi Harry Halpern
Harry Halpern
Harry Halpern was an American religious and community leader, a powerful orator, a respected religious educator, and a prominent Conservative rabbi who served for almost 49 years as the rabbi of the East Midwood Jewish Center , in Brooklyn, New York.-Life and works:Halpern was born on the Lower...
, of the Joint Conference wrote a report on the demise of this beth din. He writes that negotiations between the Orthodox and Conservative were completed and agreed upon, but then a new requirement was demanded by the RCA: The RA must "impose severe sanctions" upon Conservative rabbis for actions they took before this new beth din was formed. Halpern writes that the RA "could not assent to rigorously disciplining our members at the behest of an outside group." He goes on to write that although subsequent efforts were made to cooperate with the Orthodox, a letter from eleven Rosh Yeshivas was circulated declaring that Orthodox rabbis are forbidden to cooperate with Conservative rabbis.
1978–1983: Denver program
In Denver, ColoradoColorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, a joint Orthodox, Traditional, Conservative and Reform Bet Din was formed to promote uniform standards for conversion to Judaism. A number of rabbis were Orthodox and had semicha from Orthodox yeshivas, but were serving in synagogues without a mechitza
Mechitza
A mechitza in Jewish Halakha is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women....
; these synagogues were called traditional Judaism. Over a five year period they performed some 750 conversions to Judaism. However, in 1983 the joint Beth Din was dissolved, due to the unilateral American Reform Jewish decision to change the definition of Jewishness.
- The move was precipitated by the resolution on patrilineality adopted that year by the Central Conference of American Rabbis. This decision to redefine Jewish identity, as well as the designation of Denver as a pilot community for a new Reform out reach effort to recruit converts, convinced the Traditional and Conservative rabbis that they could no longer participate in the joint board ...the national decision of the Reform rabbinate placed the Traditional and Conservative rabbis in an untenable position. They could not cooperate in a conversion program with rabbis who held so different a conception of Jewish identity. And furthermore, they could not supervise conversions that would occur with increasing frequency due to a Reform outreach effort that was inconsistent with their own understanding of how to relate to potential proselytes.
The end of this program was welcomed by Haredi Orthodox groups, who saw the program as illegitimate. Further, Haredi groups attempted to prevent non-Orthodox rabbis from following the traditional requirements of converts using a mikvah. In the Haredi view, it is better to have no conversion at all than a non-Orthodox conversion, as all non-Orthodox conversions are not true conversions at all according to them.
1980s: proposed Israeli joint beth din
In the 1980s Orthodox Rabbi Norman Lamm, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva UniversityYeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
, along with other American and Israeli Orthodox rabbis, worked with Conservative and Reform rabbis to come up with solution to the "Who is a Jew?" issue. In 1989 and 1990 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
spearheaded an effort to create a solution to the "Who is a Jew?" issue.
A plan was developed by Israeli Cabinet Secretary Elyakim Rubenstein, who negotiated secretly for many months with rabbis from Conservative, Reform and Orthodox Judaism, including faculty at Yeshiva University, with Lamm as Rosh Yeshiva. They were planning to create a joint panel that interviewed people who were converting to Judaism and considering making aliyah (moving to the State of Israel), and would refer them to a beth din that would convert the candidate following traditional halakha. All negotiating parties came to agreement:
- Conversions must be carried out according to halakha
- the beth din (rabbinic court) overseeing the conversion would be Orthodox, perhaps appointed by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and
- there would be three-way dialogue throughout the process.
Many Reform rabbis took offense at the notion that the beth din must be strictly halakhic and Orthodox, but they acquiesced. However, when word about this project became public, a number of leading haredi rabbis issued a statement denouncing the project, condemning it as a "travesty of halakha". Rabbi Moshe Sherer, Chairman of Agudath Israel World Organization, stated that "Yes we played a role in putting an end to that farce, and I'm proud we did." Norman Lamm condemned this interference by Sherer, stating that this was "the most damaging thing that he [Sherer] ever did in his forty year career."
Rabbi Lamm wanted this to be only the beginning of a solution to Jewish disunity. He stated that had this unified conversion plan not been destroyed, he wanted to extend this program to the area of halakhic Jewish divorces, thus ending the problem of mamzerut.
1997: Neeman Commission proposal
In 1997 the issue of "Who is a Jew?" again arose in the State of Israel, and Orthodox leaders such as Rabbi Norman LammNorman Lamm
Norman Lamm is a major American Modern Orthodox rabbi, scholar, author and Jewish communal leader. He is presently the Chancellor of Yeshiva University....
publicly backed the Neeman commission, a group of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbis working to develop joint programs for conversion to Judaism. In 1997 Lamm gave a speech at the World Council of Orthodox Leadership, in Glen Springs, N.Y., urging Orthodox Jews to support this effort.
- Lamm told his listeners that they should value and encourage the efforts of non-Orthodox leaders to more seriously integrate traditional Jewish practices into the lives of their followers. They should welcome the creation of Reform and Conservative day schools and not see them as a threat to their own, Lamm said. In many communities, Orthodox day schools, or Orthodox-oriented community day schools, have large numbers of students from non-Orthodox families. The liberal movements should be appreciated and encouraged because they are doing something Jewish, even if it is not the way that Orthodox Jews would like them to, he said. "What they are doing is something, and something is better than nothing," he said in his speech. "I'm very openly attacking the notion that we sometimes find in the Orthodox community that `being a goy is better'" than being a non-Orthodox Jew, he said in an interview.
2000s: Conversion Annulments and Confusion
A current situation of confusion and instability in Jewish identity in Israel was made worse when Haredi Rabbi Avraham Sherman of Israel's supreme religious court called into question the validity of over 40,000 Jewish conversions when he upheld a ruling by the Ashdod Rabbinical Court to retroactively annul the conversion of a woman who came before them because in their eyes she failed to observe Jewish law (an orthodox lifestyle)..This crisis deepened, when Israel's Rabbinate called into question the validity of soldiers who had undergone conversion in the army, meaning a soldier killed in action could not be buried according to Jewish law.
In 2010, the rabbinate created a further distrust in the conversion process when it began refusing to recognize orthodox converts from the United States as Jewish.
It is important to note, that according to the present judgements of Israel's Supreme Rabbinical Court, the former President of the State of Israel, Ezer Weizmann would not be seen as Jewish, as his mother (married to Israel's first President and Zionist pioneer Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
) was a convert who led an unflinchingly secular lifestyle.
Indeed, the great-niece of the renowned Zionist Nahum Sokolow
Nahum Sokolow
Nahum Sokolow was a Zionist leader, author, translator, and a pioneer of Hebrew journalism....
was recently deemed "not Jewish enough" to marry in Israel, after she failed to prove the purity of Jewish blood for four generations.
At present, the question of Who is a Jew is a political crisis in Israel's Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
which is impacting the security and right to exist in Israel of thousands of individuals, and their children.
Consequences
Once undergone, a religious conversion to Judaism is irreversible (from a Jewish perspective), unless there are convincing grounds to believe that the convert was insincere or deceitful during the conversion process. In such cases, a beth din may determine that the conversion was void.Relations between Jews and proselytes
Judaism today, unlike Christianity and Islam, is not normally an openly proselytizing religion: unlike certain sects of those religions, it teaches that the righteous of all nations have a place in the afterlife.There is a requirement in Jewish law to ensure the sincerity of a potential convert. This is taken very seriously, and when played out against the background of the foregoing considerations, most authorities are very careful about it. Essentially, they want to be sure that the convert knows what he is getting into, and that he is doing it for sincerely religious reasons. However, while conversion for the sake of love for Judaism is considered the best motivation, a conversion for the sake of preventing intermarriage is gaining acceptance, also.There is a tradition that a prospective convert should be turned away three times as a test of sincerity, though most rabbis no longer follow the tradition. Neither the Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...
nor the Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
, the leading American Orthodox and Conservative organizations, suggest taking this action in their conversion policies,
with the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
(CCAR) and Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
(URJ) actively opposing its practice.
Halakhic considerations
Halakha forbids the mistreatment of the convert, including reminding a convert that he or she was once not a Jew. and hence little distinction is made in Judaism between those who are born Jewish and those who are Jewish as a result of conversion. However, despite Halakha protecting the rights of converts, some Jewish communities have been accused of treating converts as second class Jews. For example, many communities of Syrian JewsSyrian Jews
Syrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: from the Jews who inhabited the region of today's Syria from ancient times Syrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern...
have banned conversion and refuse to recognise any Jewish conversion, including those done under orthodox auspices.
According to Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
interpretations of Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, converts face a limited number of restrictions. A marriage between a female convert and a kohen
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
(members of the priestly class) is prohibited and any children of the union do not inherit their father's kohen status. While a Jew by birth may not marry a mamzer
Mamzer
The Hebrew noun mamzer in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person. A mamzer is someone who is either born of adultery by a married woman, or born of incest , or someone who has a mamzer as a parent...
a convert can marry a mamzer.
Converts can become rabbis. For instance, Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
Baal Ha Nes is thought to be a descendant of a proselyte. Rabbi Akiva
Rabbi Akiva
Akiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century . He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha...
was also a very well known son of converts. Indeed the Talmud lists many of the Jewish nation's greatest leaders, who had either descended from or were themselves converts. In fact, King David is descended from Ruth
Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament. In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is included in the third division, or the Writings . In the Christian canon the Book of Ruth is placed between Judges and 1 Samuel...
, a convert to Judaism.
In Orthodox and Conservative communities which maintain tribal distinctions, converts become Yisraelim (Israelites), ordinary Jews with no tribal or inter-Jewish distinctions. Converts typically follow the customs of their congregations. So a convert who prays at a Sephardi synagogue would follow Sephardi customs and learn Sephardi Hebrew.
A convert chooses his or her own Hebrew first name upon conversion but is traditionally known as the son or daughter of Abraham and Sarah, the first patriarch and matriarch in the Torah, often with the additional qualifier of "Avinu" (our father) and "Imenu" (our mother). Hence, a convert named Akiva would be known, for ritual purposes in a synagogue, as "Akiva ben Avraham Avinu"; in cases where the mother's name is used, such as for the prayer for recovery from an illness, he would be known as "Akiva ben Sarah Imenu".
Talmudic opinions on converts are numerous; some positive, some negative. A famous quote from the Talmud, labels the convert "Hard on Israel as a blight." Many interpretations explain this quote as meaning converts can be unobservant and leading Jews to be unobservant, or converts can be so observant that born Jews feel ashamed.
Jews by choice
The term "Jew by choice" is often used to describe someone who converted to Judaism, and is often contrasted with such terms as "Jew by birth" ("Jew by chance").Anusim
In recent decades, there has been a renewed Jewish conversion interest with some descendants of AnusimAnusim
Anusim is a legal category of Jews in halakha who were forced or coerced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically while forcibly converted to another religion...
, Jews who were forced to convert
Forced conversion
A forced conversion is the religious conversion or acceptance of a philosophy against the will of the subject, often with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm. These consequences range from job loss and social isolation to incarceration, torture or death...
to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
or Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Since many of these descendants lack satisfactory proof of their Jewish ancestry, conversion has been a growing option for them to return to Judaism.
See also
- Abraham ben AbrahamAbraham ben AbrahamAbraham ben Abraham, also known as Count Valentine Potocki , is a legendary figure who is claimed to have been a Polish nobleman of the Potocki family who converted to Judaism and was burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church because he had renounced Catholicism and had become an observant...
- Ger toshavGer toshavGer toshav , is a term used in Judaism to refer to a gentile who is a "resident alien", that is, one who lives in a Jewish state and has certain protections under Jewish law, and is considered a righteous gentile .-Definition:...
- List of converts to Judaism
- Machon MeirMachon MeirMachon Meir' is a religious Zionist outreach organization and yeshiva situated in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe, close to Givat Shaul...
- Outreach Judaism
- Religious conversionReligious conversionReligious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
Further reading
- Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben and Jennifer S. Hanin (foreword by Bob Saget) Jewish: The Challenges, Rewards, and Paths to Conversion, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011, 272 pp. - Jointly written by a rabbi and a convert to Judaism, this book provides a modern, comprehensive overview of the reasons, practices, and results of Jewish conversion. It addresses all denominations of Judaism and covers topics as varied as how to tell family and friends to antisemitism, to pop Kaballah.
- Menachem Finkelstein,Conversion: Halakhah and Practice, Bar-Ilan University Press, 2006, 784 pp. - this is the most comprehensive and complete compilation of laws covering giyur in English. Authored by a sitting Israeli judge, this groundbreaking volume examines entire halakhic literature on the subject, from the time of Mishnah and Talmud until today.
- Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement 1927–1970, Vol. II, Ed. David Golinkin, The Rabbinical Assembly, 1997
- Norman Lamm, Seventy Faces: Divided we stand, but its time to try an idea that might help us stand taller, Moment Vol. II, No. 6, June 1986 – Sivan 5746
- Mayer E. Rabinowitz Comments to the Agunot Conference in Jerusalem, July 1998, and on the Learn@JTS website.
- Emmanuel Rackman, letter in Jewish Week 8 May 1997, page 28.
- Joseph Soloveitchik Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews in the United States: Second article in a series on Responsa of Orthodox Judaism in the United States, 1954
- Jack Wertheimer, Ed., Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Vol. II, p. 450, 474, JTS, NY, 1997
- Rabbi Josef Lifland Converts and Conversion to Judaism. Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-235-4
External links
- Fifth Anniversary of the Mikveh of East Denver, by Rabbi Hillel Goldberg and Yated Ne'eman Staff
- New 'modern Orthodox' conversion program launched, David Lazarus, Canadian Jewish NewsCanadian Jewish NewsThe Canadian Jewish News is a weekly, English-language tabloid-sized newspaper serving Canada's Jewish community. Though independent, the newspaper has been, since 1971, owned by a group of Jewish leaders involved with Canadian Jewish Congress...
- Conversion to Judaism homepage— beginner's information on conversion within all branches of Judaism in North America.
- Publications on Conversion at the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner