Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of conversion, the process by which those of other faiths adopt Judaism. Most streams of Judaism, unlike many other religions, do not evangelize.
Conversion
The Latest
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News ‘Online Conversion’ Fulfills Spiritual Dreams — But Stirs Controversy
(JTA) — The morning of her conversion to Judaism, Diana Sewell was so nervous she “was running around like a headless chicken” in her Australia home. Meanwhile, some 9,000 miles away in Georgia, her rabbi was dealing with computer difficulties. Neither of those things put a stop to Sewell fulfilling a 60-something-year-old dream of converting…
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Community Requiem for a Jewish Redneck
Visiting home in upstate New York on break from school, I hear my mother bellow from downstairs: “Lauren! Why is the puppy dragging around a menorah?” “Uh, no idea, Mom!” I reply. My heart drops. Sabre has stolen the menorah from my backpack and, in typical golden retriever fashion, begun parading it around. I take…
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Opinion Ivanka Trump Gives the Israeli Rabbinate a Taste of Its Own Medicine
Being a convert to Orthodox Judaism in America is much like riding a roller coaster. The initial high many experience after completing a conversion in the mikveh is followed by an inevitable low. After uprooting and completely altering one’s life, converts reach the high of being told they will be loved and accepted by the…
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Community How My Southern Baptist Minister Mother Explained Her First Christmas to My Orthodox Jewish Son
I am a Jew by choice, I was raised a Muslim, and my mother is an ordained Baptist minister. One might think that I would encounter religious conflict with my family on all fronts. In fact, people are often incredulous at the ease with which I can navigate through these three Abrahamic faiths. Perhaps, because…
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Life From Secular Christianity To The Sukkah (But Watch Out For Bears)
When I was 12 I asked my mom to take me to church so I could learn about religion. I grew up in a secular Christian household. My religious upbringing was full of questions without answers and a sense that there must be something more out there. Though we celebrated secular Christmases and Easters at…
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Fast Forward Israel Chief Rabbi Pushes for Acceptance of American Rabbi’s Conversions
— Israeli Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau sent a letter urging a midlevel bureaucrat in the Chief Rabbinate to accept conversions certified by the head of a prominent American Orthodox rabbinical court. Lau “asked me to clarify to you once more that his position is to recognize the certifications given from the Beth Din of America and signed…
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Fast Forward Israelis and Americans Back Non-Orthodox Conversion — and Pluralism at Kotel
— A large majority of American and Israeli Jews say Israel should recognize marriages and conversions performed by Reform and Conservative rabbis. A poll conducted by The Jerusalem Post and the American Jewish Committee found that 74 percent of American Jews and 62 percent of Israeli Jews believe the non-Orthodox rites should be recognized. The findings…
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Community Dining or Dying – A Jew’s Conundrum in Zimbabwe
Food, food, everywhere, but not a morsel to eat. My play on words exaggerate, but as a traveler in a strange land, my eyes often feasted upon a surfeit of food my commitment to kosher forbade I consume. In late 2015 my father died in Harare, Zimbabwe and I inherited his property which included land….
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