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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News For Many Converts, Bumpy Road to Mikveh Only Beginning of Woes
(JTA) — There was the convert who was barred from a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Jamaican convert whose boyfriend’s rabbi offered him a coveted synagogue honor if only he’d dump her, the grandmother who told her granddaughter she’d be going to hell because she became a Jew. The road to conversion can be long…
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Fast Forward Israel Moves To Ease Path to Conversion
(JTA) — The Israeli government has adopted a major reform expected to ease the path to conversion for hundreds of thousands of Israelis now prohibited from marrying in the Jewish state. In the most significant response in decades to the estimated 400,000 Israelis who are not considered Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate, the Cabinet expanded authority…
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The Schmooze Brad Pitt Helped Shia LaBeouf Convert to Christianity
Getty Images Shia LaBeouf is many things: the former child star of “Even Stevens;” a sometimes weird performance artist; that drunk guy who crashes a performance of “Cabaret” and gets arrested. But a Jew? No longer. According to Haaretz, the actor has converted to Christianity, with a little help from Brad Pitt. LaBeouf, currently starring…
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Fast Forward Conversion Reform Passes Israeli Cabinet Vote
Israel’s Cabinet approved a government regulation that will reform the conversion process. The regulation approved on Sunday at the regular weekly Cabinet meeting will have the force of law. It can, however, be rescinded by the Cabinet as well. Only one government minister, the Jewish Home party’s Uri Ariel, who serves as housing minister, voted…
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Fast Forward After Mikveh Scandal, Rabbinic Council Appoint Committee To Review Conversion
The Rabbinical Council of America has formed a committee to review its conversion process in the wake of the arrest on voyeurism charges of one of its leading conversion rabbis. The RCA announced Wednesday the men and women appointed to a committee to review its current Geirus Protocol and Standards conversion process and suggest safeguards…
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Fast Forward After Freundel Scandal, Converts in Waiting Complain of Unexpected Obstacles
(JTA) — Tzipporah Laura LaFianza and her family have been living as Orthodox Jews for four years now. They reside in a heavily Jewish suburb of Washington, go to shul every Shabbat and keep a strictly kosher kitchen. But they’re not Jewish — yet. A prospective Orthodox convert, LaFianza, 34, is still waiting for the all-clear…
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Fast Forward Women’s Yeshiva Says Male Rabbis Don’t Have To Oversee Converts in Mikveh
In the wake of voyeurism allegations against a prominent Orthodox rabbi, the head of an Orthodox yeshiva for women is arguing that male rabbis needn’t be present for a female convert’s ritual immersion. Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Maharat in New York, is preparing a teshuva, or Jewish legal opinion, arguing that…
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Fast Forward Conversion Reform Bill Moves Ahead in Israel
A Knesset committee has for the second time approved a bill allowing local rabbis to oversee conversions to Judaism in Israel. The bill is now slated to be returned to the full Knesset for its second and third readings. The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday approved the conversion bill by a vote…
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