This is 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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Fast Forward 200 Protest Rejection of Conversion by Rabbi Haskel Lookstein
JERUSALEM — About 200 demonstrators protested next to the offices of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate as a hearing took place about the legitimacy of a conversion conducted by the prominent American Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein. On Wednesday, the Supreme Rabbinical Court heard the appeal of a case in which a rabbinical court in Petach Tikvah…
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News Israeli Rabbinical Court Rejects Rabbi Who Converted Ivanka Trump
An Israeli rabbinical court did not accept a conversion by an Orthodox rabbi who also helped Ivanka Trump become Jewish. In the latest case exemplifying the tension between Israel’s rabbinate and Orthodox groups in the Diaspora, a religious court prevented the marriage of an Israeli man and an American woman, who converted under a well-respected…
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News Does Push for India’s ‘Lost Tribe of Menashe’ Signal New Interest in Far-flung Jewish Communities?
Israel will spend 8.1 million shekels, or about $2 million, to bring more than 712 members of India’s Bnei Menashe community to Israel this year, the Israeli news site Walla reported May 22. In the past, the Ministry of Absorption and the Jewish Agency have handled group immigration to Israel. But in the case of…
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Fast Forward Ivanka Trump Says Donald ‘Very Supportive’ of Conversion to Judaism
Ivanka Trump said her father, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, was fully supportive of her conversion to Judaism. “My father was very supportive,” she said at a CNN town hall meeting featuring the presidential candidate and his family broadcast Tuesday evening. “He knows me. He knows and he trusts my judgment. When I make decisions,…
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Opinion Conversion Ruling Chips Away at Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s Monopoly on Religion
(JTA) — The Israeli Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling on conversion is a truly historic decision – for Israeli and American Jewry. While the case only concerns a few individuals, the general rules and unequivocal language have wide significance for both Israeli and American Jewry. The ruling represents another blow to the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly…
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Fast Forward Ultra-Orthodox Plan New Push To Bar Reform and Conservative Conversions
The two ultra-Orthodox parties in the Israeli government, Shas and United Torah Judaism, are planning to sponsor legislation to block implementation of last week’s High Court ruling that recognized private Orthodox conversions in Israel. It would also block recognition of conversions performed under auspices of the Reform and Conservative movements. The court ruling relates to…
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Fast Forward Rabbinate’s Strict Rules Bar 660K Jews From Marrying in Israel
Prohibitions on civil and non-Orthodox weddings in Israel prevent 660,000 Jewish-Israelis — including 364,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union — from marrying in the Jewish state, according to a nonprofit promoting religious freedom in Israel. Hiddush presented the information in a report Monday to a Knesset conference on “alternatives to marriage through the [Chief]…
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Life The Israeli Men Who Return to Religion Due to Their Filipino Partners
Using the special Yemenite chant he learned decades ago as a young boy, Moshe Hizmi recites the Haftara portion that follows the weekly Torah reading, as a hush falls over the congregation. But the scene playing out on the podium this Shabbat at Beit Daniel, Israel’s flagship Reform congregation, is different from anything he remembers…
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