Questions tagged [conversion-to-judaism]
Conversion to Judaism. This entails acceptance of the mitzvos, tevila (immersion), and for men, bris milah (circumcision).
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Sefer on Conversion in Halacha
I am looking for a sefer in either english or hebrew that provides a comprehensive discussion on the halachos of conversion. I'm specifically looking for how it has evolved throughout history and the ...
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Wives of the Shevatim
Do any midrashim etc detail the names and background of each the wives of the sons of Jacob?
I know the book of Jubilees does, but that is not considered 'canonical'.
Besides that, I only know of the ...
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How would Gentiles come to faith and be accepted as believing Jews?
From the time of the exodus out of Egypt, a great mixed multitude went up with the Hebrew people, bringing their flocks and cattle with them, a mixture of nations of proselytes (see: Where did the ...
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Maintaining A Convert's Privacy
Bava Metzia 58b one is not allowed to remind a convert that they converted. However, they are given the name "Ben Avraham Avinu/bat Sarah Immenu" which makes them stand out and is a constant ...
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Would those of the lost tribes lose their status of Israelites after converting?
Jewishness is determined by matrilineal descent, so those of the lost tribes would have to convert.
But is not tribe determined by patrilineal descent? Being an Israelite means being a “son of Israel”,...
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Does a child who is adopted by a Kohen inherit Kohen status? [duplicate]
Would such a child (non Jewish) who is adopted and converts inherit any status from his father? Has any posek ruled on this? Is there halacha for this?
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Am I considered Jewish if? [duplicate]
my great-grandmother's grandparents were Russian Jews who left Russia during the programs in the early 1900s. When they came over to the United States, they had my great-great grandmother, who then ...
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May someone risk danger and harm to convert?
Historically there have been times where converting to Judaism was a crime punishable by the local rulers. The severity of the punishment in some instances was as extreme as being put to death.
I ...
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Convert taking name of his adopted father
According to some opinions, an adopted convert can go by ben-his adopted father's name (in terms of calling to the Torah for instance), would this apply only to people adopted under a certain age?
If ...
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What commandments can a gentile take on?
I'm currently a gentile who believes that Judaism is true. I understand that I don't need to be Jewish to share in the world to come, and I understand that being a Noahide is much easier, however, it ...
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Hakhel and the gerim
The mitzvah for Hakhel (lit. to gather or to assemble) can be found in sefer Devarim, perek 31:10.
And Moshe commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in
the time of the year of ...
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May a non-Jew who has not undergone gerus teach Torah to Jews?
Shalom.
I recently gave answer on Mi Yodeya here:
Does coming to God near death count less than coming to God when times are good?
I took a chance on this. I wasn't sure this was lawful. As explained ...
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Tefillin & Shabbos for a giyur lchumra? [closed]
Should someone’s whose yiddishkeit is questionable wear tefillin and keep Shabbos?
Should someone who’s in the process of conversion do so as well?
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Why can it not be possible that God could see the power it would have over the world, that sending part of himself to save the ones who strayed away? [closed]
My problem is I want to be Jewish, I dont understand why Jesus, cant be real. If hes able to make the majority even slightly better than luke warm, will God still spit them out? Doesnt God reward the ...
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Does a convert say kaddish for his parents when they pass? [duplicate]
Does a convert say kaddish for his parents when they pass? If yes is this limited to a Jewish parent (father) or does this include a non Jewish parent? If it does include a non-Jewish parent would it ...
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Question on Maran Ovadia Yosef's ruling for Ethiopian Jews
Given that it is well established both in the writings of the Radbaz on this matter and the oral traditions of Ethiopian Jews themselves, that it was a common occurrence for Christians from the ...
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Are there any poskim who rule that Karaites require geirus l'chumra?
I was reading that the reason the Tzitz Eliezer considered the status of Ethiopian Jews to be a safek was the fact that the Radbaz mentioned in one of his teshuvos on the subject of Ethiopian Jews ...
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should i even look for my soulmate? [closed]
shalom everyone,
my question is complicated to say the least....and to be honest...even if i cant find an answer here...im hoping i can at least share a little my burden here
im a woman of 40 years ...
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What is the earliest source mentioning dipping in the water as a means of conversion?
I was arguing with a Christian about the Jewish ancient tradition to dip in the water as a means of spiritual conversion, but I only had Talmudic sources (the Gerim Tractate).
What is the earliest ...
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What women are mentioned explicitly converting into Judaism without marrying a Jew?
I was trying to recall a case of a woman mentioned explicitly converting into Judaism without marrying a Jew (i.e. in order to marry a Jew), but couldn't; IIRC even R' Akiva's Matronita finally ...
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How is Rehoboam Jewish?
It is repeatedly stressed in Tanach that Rehoboam's mother was Naamah the Ammonite. The chief god of which was Molech aka Milcom.
We like to say that all of Shlomo's wives converted but wouldn't the ...
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How long does a minor convert have to reject their conversion before it becomes permanent?
An underage (< 12 for girls, < 13 for boys) gentile child can be converted to Judaism under certain circumstances, but they have the right to renounce this conversion upon reaching adulthood.
My ...
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Do you call a yid who's had a giyur LECHUMRA "Ben/Bat Avraham Avinu"?
Do you call a yid who's had a giyur LECHUMRA "Ben/Bat Avraham Avinu"?
So basically if a yid grows up with the Hebrew name Shlomo ben Chaim or something like that then finds out his yichus is ...
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What was Maran Ovadia Yosef's reasoning for considering Ethiopian Jews halachically Jewish?
From my understanding the genetic makeup of Ethiopian Jews is mostly similar to those of the local Amhara and Tigrinya populations which suggests that the majority of their ancestors were converts as ...
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Is Mi Yodeya a suited forum for a someone who converted to Judaism? [closed]
Is Mi Yodeya suited for converts?
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Why do some communities not accept converts? [duplicate]
Why do some communities not accept converts? I heard that syrian communities don't accept converts. Also in Argentina.
Why did they stop accepting converts?
Also the gemara (yevamos 47b) says we push ...
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Does a Jewish great grandmother (mother's side) qualify me to make Aliyah? [duplicate]
My great grandmother was Gertrude Wirtschafter. She married a non-jew but her mother was jewish and married a jew. My great-great grandmother was Rose Wirtschafter and her husband was Abram Katz. I ...
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God as the Father of converts?
Chizkuni on Numbers 5:8 refers to God as the "Father of the convert". Do any other, earlier sources convey this idea?
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Are there any leniencies with gerim and their biological family?
When a person becomes a ger, he or she is considered a newborn, but what about their biological parents/family? Do all the halachos of tznius, yichud, shomer negiah, etc. apply to his/her biological ...
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How could Haman be a gilgul of Eisav?
The Arizal in Sefer HaGilgulim ch. 35 says that Haman was a gilgul (reincarnation) of Eisav. How is that possible being that Eisav had the din (status) of an Yisroel meshumad (apostate Jew Kidushin ...
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What would happen if the Jewish people became completely composed of non ethnic Jews
Undoubtedly, Judaism- though not proselytizing our beliefs - does accept Converts and Jews are commanded to love and respect the convert. What would happen if the Jewish people, over time, became ...
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If the Torah tells us 36 times to love the stranger where did the sephardic minhag of not marrying geirim come from?
To my understanding, the Syrian Jewish community of New York adheres to an "Edict" forbidding marriage to a convert. If the Torah tells us 36 times to love the convert where did this ...
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Jewishness of person based on religiousness of last four generations of the person’s most recent Jewish ancestors
This news article indicates that when the last four generations of a person’s most recent Jewish ancestors were not religiously observant, that person needs to undergo Orthodox conversion le’chumra (...
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According to the theory of Gilgul Nashamot, are the souls of converts reincarnations of souls that previously inhabited Jewish bodies? [closed]
As an explanation for why some gentiles feel connected to Judaism and therefore decide to convert, I have read that some rabbis see them as Jewish souls. That is to say that their souls in a previous ...
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Which mitzvot are slaves who have been immersed obliged to follow?
R Steinsaltz notes in his explanation of a passage in Yevamot 45b
that a gentile slave purchased by a Jew must be circumcised and then
immersed in a ritual bath by being immersed for the sake of ...
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Tzafenas Paneach and the conversion of Rus
I heard in a shiur once that Rus' and her sister Orpa's conversion to Judaism was pending. Meaning, when they married Na'ami's sons, they converted. However, since they converted for marriage, it was ...
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Was Herod Jewish?
Slightly related.
This topic has been on my mind lately. According to Josephus, Herod's father Antipater was the son of Antipas, one of the Edomites converted by Yochanan Hyrcanus. I asked one of the ...
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Who did Shalshelet Hakabblah think Onkelos was?
Rabbi Gedalyah Ibn Yechiyah in Shalshelet Hakabbah wrote:
"In the fourth year of the previously mentioned emperor [Trayatzo (/Trajan?)]...there was a noble priest called Eccasia [אכקזיה] and in ...
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Where does it say that a convert's yetzer hara becomes stronger?
I hear this from many authoritative sources but where is it from Torah she beal peh?
Is it merely because all the mitzvot are now obligatory or are there deeper reasons?
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Are ALL a convert's sins erased?
I've heard a convert's sins are all forgiven when they convert. Are even sins between men erased?
If, G-d forbid, a non-Jew said "I will sin now, and the sin will be forgiven when I convert" ...
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Are you Jewish if adopted immediately after birth by a Jewish mother raised and having lived Catholic? [duplicate]
This is a hypothetical with a fact pattern that has not been answered by any previous questions.
Generally, a non-Jew adoptee in a Jewish family will be Jewish by halachic upbringing.
If a child of a ...
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How could Batya convert without a Jewish court?
A follow up to "how-did-batya-know-that-tevilah-is-part-of-conversion".
Rashi in place (Sota 12b) proposes that by dipping in the Nile Batya converted (presumably to Judaism).
For Rashi, how ...
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How did Bisya/Basya know that tevilah is part of conversion?
In Shemos 2:5, we read the daughter of Pharaoh came down "לִרְחֹץ עַל הַיְאֹר" "To dip into the Nile". The Gemara in Sotah 12b says it means she came to convert.
How did she know ...
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Conversion and Devarim 23:8-9
Shalom.
I am a little confused by what appears to me to be a discrepancy between the halakha concerning gerus and Devarim 23:8-9.
The latter verse states that ‘Children born to [Edomites and ...
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The origins of Rabbi Akiva
In this lecture, historian Gershon Bar-Kochva recounts the story of how Rabbi Akiva's parents met.
In short, his mother, Sarah, was an orphan living in Lod. Her neighbor was a non-Jew who was ...
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On the occurence and existence of mass conversions to Judaism after antiquity
I've been reading up on conversions to Judaism/the Jewish people and most conversions have been (and are) of an individual nature.
But there seem to have been a few mass conversions along the way.
I ...
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Consequence of filial mitzvot with parents and children both converting
A person who converts loses his halachic connections to his family (see the gemara at the bottom of Yevamot 48b as well as Yevamot 98a).
What happens to "filial mitzvot" (e.g., filial ...
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Calling a convert up to the Torah as "Ben Avraham Avinu"
I hear sometimes people being called up to the Torah as "Ploni Ben Avraham Avinu"
I assume that these are people who - by their own choice - wish to advertise that they are converts. (I also ...
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Does growing up in Israel (thereby being fluent in Hebrew and Jewish traditions) with a Jewish family have any effect on the conversion process?
Assume a boy, Ploni, is born to a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father in Israel. Ploni's mother is not halachically Jewish but has integrated into non-Orthodox Jewish culture. Ploni speaks, reads, ...
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