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
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Community As a new convert, I thought it was okay to use the word ‘schwartze’ when talking about Black people
The moment is seared in my memory: It’s 1990, and I’m carpooling to the University of Connecticut Storrs campus with my new best friend Adrienne, whose mother is Jewish and from Oslo, Norway, where I grew up. We are sitting at a light on Albany Avenue in Hartford, Conn., and I use the word schvartzes…
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Life Let’s talk about the imposter syndrome that follows converting to Judaism
We don’t really talk about the imposter syndrome that comes after converting to Judaism. I identified as being Jewish since a very young age. Very young. Be it born with a Jewish soul, or lost Jewish lineage in my family tree wanting to be finally heard, I always knew that I was a Jew before…
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Fast Forward For those in the process of becoming Jewish, the pandemic means delayed, altered conversions
(JTA) — Renee Godinez had completed nearly all the steps to becoming Jewish before the coronavirus pandemic descended earlier this spring. She had studied extensively with Rabbi Rick Winer of Temple Beth Israel in Fresno, California, and adopted Jewish practices in her life. All that was missing was a ceremony to mark the end of…
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The Schmooze Karlie Kloss: Converting To Judaism Before Marrying Joshua Kushner Wasn’t ‘Weak’
The Talmud states that this is the first question the beit din — the group of rabbis sitting in judgment — should ask of a person seeking to convert to Judaism: “Why should you wish to convert — do you not know that the people of Israel at the present time are persecuted and oppressed,…
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Opinion My Black Children Are Jewish. Why Don’t Jews Treat Them That Way?
I thought I knew what being Jewish meant, until I had kids. Suddenly, here they were, these tiny balls of wonder, bouncing from one place to another faster than I could breathe. It was like my heart had split in two, plunged out of my chest, and started innocently bumbling into every danger imaginable, as…
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Fast Forward Brazil Holds World’s First Summer Camp For Heirs Of Forcibly Converted Jews
(JTA) — At the world’s only summer camp for descendants of forcibly converted Jews, young Brazilians had numerous first-time experiences, including seemingly mundane activities like studying the Bible in a group or singing at synagogue. But they were among the most memorable moments from Yeshiva Camp. There are multiple layers to the mission of bnei…
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The Schmooze ‘I Joined The Tribe’: Karlie Kloss Confirms That She Converted To Judaism
Where does a mansplainer get his water? From a well, actually… And what does the Schmooze say when a supermodel-slash-entrepreneur converts to Judaism and marries a Jewish real estate scion turned investor but then doesn’t acknowledge it for months, and the whole thing has shades of, like, biblical protagonists meeting at watering holes? Well, well,…
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Fast Forward Trump Shrugged At Ivanka’s Conversion: ‘She’s A Big Girl’
It’s not all traditional politics in Chris Christie’s forthcoming book, “Let Me Finish: Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the Power of In-Your-Face Politics” — the former New Jersey governor also reveals a conversation he had with President Trump over his daughter Ivanka’s conversion to Judaism. In the book, due out January 29, Christie…
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Fast Forward Steve Witkoff, Trump’s golf buddy when would-be assassin took aim, said they became friends over a ham sandwich
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Fast Forward Who is Laura Loomer? Trump wing woman uses her Jewishness to attack
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