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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Can you convert without a rabbi?
Disclaimer: I am already Jewish. This question for curiousity only. Obviously it is always the best idea to convert to Judaism with a proper, official beit din.
Three Jewish males over the age of bar ...
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Does a halachically circumcised non-Jew need Hatafat Dam when converting?
Rambam, Hilchot Milah 1:7 says that a convert must be circumcised before his conversion is complete. If he was already circumcised when he was not Jewish, a Hatafat Dam Brit (taking a drop of blood) ...
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What is a ger's birthday in terms of Jewish astrology? conversion date or birth date?
In terms of Jewish astrological signs and influences on people, per Kabbalah, would a ger use their actual 'birth' date or their date of conversion which is considered a rebirth?
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Why did the son of the Egyptian and Jew have to convert?
Rashi on Vayikra 24:10 says that the son of the Egyptian man (that Moshe killed) and Shlomit bat Divri converted:
בתוך בני ישראל: מלמד שנתגייר:
However, since his mother was a Jew, why did he ...
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What should a Jew do if encountered by ISIS?
Theoretically, if (Gd forbid) ISIS took over Israel, and the Jew in question was not immediately killed because he was Jewish and was not in the financial situation to pay the required taxes, should ...
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I want to be a Jew, but I'm born as a Muslim
I'm from Algeria, but I'm now living in France. I was born as a Muslim, but since I was 13, I realized that Islam wasn't for me. Since two years, I'm now looking for a new religion, and from what I've ...
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When is it acceptable for a non-Jew working towards Orthodox conversion to grow peyot?
I am working towards an Orthodox conversion, and physical reminders continue to help me on my path as reminders - like tzitzit and kippah. I would like to grow out my peyot, but I am concerned I may ...
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Do converts represent a "farblondzshet" neshama?
Before our wedding, a mikvah lady learned that my wife was marrying me -- a convert to Judaism. Her response was that I must represent a "farblondzshet neshama" (a confused or a lost Jewish soul). ...
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How to celebrate conversion?
Are there any customs from modern or historic communities involving the celebration of a person's conversion to Judaism? In contrast to other transformative occasions in one's life (i.e., bar mitzvah, ...
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Precedent for Forbidding Conversion
The Syrian community has a Takkanah in place which bars conversion. In addition to forbidding conversion under their own auspices, they also "Never accept a convert or a child born of a convert", as ...
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My great great grandmother was Jewish - am I? [duplicate]
I've discovered that my great, great grandmother was Jewish - i.e. my mother's mother's mother's mother. She converted to Catholicism upon marriage. Are matrilineal descendants of a Jewess who ...
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Can a convert serve as a dayan?
I believe that there are specific restrictions placed on a ger (convert) being a legal decisor on a beit din. What are these restrictions and do those, ipso facto, preclude that individual from ...
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Why mention the ger in Lev 19:10, 23:22?
Vayikra 23:22:
וּבְקֻצְרְכֶם אֶת קְצִיר אַרְצְכֶם לֹא תְכַלֶּה פְּאַת שָׂדְךָ בְּקֻצְרֶךָ וְלֶקֶט קְצִירְךָ לֹא תְלַקֵּט לֶעָנִי וְלַגֵּר תַּעֲזֹב אֹתָם
When you reap the harvest of your Land, ...
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Can the daughter of two people who could not marry a Cohen marry a cohen?
Can a woman whose father's father isn't Jewish, but whose father's mother is a regular Jew, and whose mother is the child of two converts marry a Cohen?
On the one hand she isn't purely from converts,...
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Mother is Jewish but child still needs to convert?
Recently I was going through some Responsa of Rav Yitzchok Isaac Halevi Herzog.
In one of the teshuvos Rav Herzog mentions parenthetically that there are some Rishonim and Achronim that are of the ...
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Can a convert drink wine he previously touched?
If a non-Jew touches uncooked wine it is considered yayin nesech. If that same non-Jew then converts and states categorically that he did not offer the wine as an idolatrous libation when he was a non-...
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If a woman converts to Judaism while pregnant, will her child be eligible to marry a Kohen?
If a woman converts to Judaism while pregnant, will her child be eligible to marry a Kohen?
Case #1 -- Assume her husband is a Jew by birth.
Case #2 -- Assume her husband converted to Judaism prior ...
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Receiving interest from a convert
Is it permissible to receive interest on a loan made to a convert if the loan agreement was made before the conversion and repaid after?
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What happens when a potential convert can't have a circumcision? [duplicate]
Suppose a man wants to convert to Judaism but cannot have a circumcision for bio-medical reasons (he has a foreskin, but has hemophilia or some other condition which would make the surgery fatal or ...
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Can a woman converting to Judaism go to the Mikvah during her period?
When Gentiles convert to Judaism, they are "like a newborn".
If I understand correctly, there is no such thing as Niddah vis a vis non-Jews.
So, if I add those two together, I am inclined to assume ...
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Can a Beis Din deny conversion if a person cannot physically perform a mitzvah?
As far as I know if a male is unable to have children due to body damage, he cannot become a ger. I have also heard of Beitei Din not allowing deaf people to convert since they cannot do certain ...
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What should a conversion candidate expect at an Orthodox beit din?
This question about conversion before a Reform beit din made me wonder about other cases: what does the examination of a prospective ger by an Orthodox beit din look like today? Does the beit din ...
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Do the parents of a convert merit in the afterlife for their child's decision?
When my child was little, she wanted to know whether my parents, who are not Jewish, would go to Heaven. I explained to her that the righteous of all nations have a place in the world to come. But ...
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Is there any benefit for a gentile to convert through one denomination versus another?
Despite being raised Conservative, it has been my impression that the only conversion that "counts" is an Orthodox one. I suspect this is the case for making aliyah, but under what other ...
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Currently in a marriage with a non-observant Jewish woman and I want to convert to Orthodox
I am currently married to a Jewish woman who is non-observant. I wish to convert to normative Orthodox Judaism and be observant. My wife is agreeable to study with me and keep a jewish home. My wife ...
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Were the converts mentioned in the Megillah actually Jews?
Esther 8:17 says that many people of the various lands מתיהדים which means, literally "Made themselves Jewish".
Does this mean that they were "valid" Jews, i.e. obligated in all the mitzvoth as ...
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Were the eirev rav Jewish?
Were the eirev rav Jewish? If they were in fact Jewish why are they described by the term eirev rav instead of just referring to them as we would any other Jew? If they were not Jewish why were they ...
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Estate of a convert whose only possible heir is just that: only a possible heir
The last mishna in chapter 11 of Y'vamos says that if a woman didn't wait long between two marriages and therefore we don't know whether her son, say Samuel, is from the first husband, Aaron, or the ...
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Can a convert mourn for their Jewish parents?
Consider someone who was born to a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother who then converted to Judaism with his mother. It seems pashut from the Shulchan Aruch that one who converts is considered a "...
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Why are modern conversions valid?
I have heard that Rashi said that there are three requirements for conversion: brit milah; mikveh; korban in Beit Hamikdash. If this is true, why is it that this is not rendering modern conversions ...
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How Do Modern Orthodox Women Typically Dress?
I am currently studying to convert (as you can tell I still have quite a ways to go but I will get there eventually) and, for awhile I was set on conservative but, recently, I've been quite ...
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When is a convert's Hebrew birthday?
Is it their conversion date, the Hebrew date on which they were biologically born, or something else? (For questions of halachic age as well as mystical significance)
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Halachically, must a Jewish convert sever ties with his non-Jewish family?
It has been said that a convert must avoid aspects, or relics of their non-Jewish life, from before conversion. I have heard some rabbis say, all ties to genetic family are severed with conversion. ...
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Observance of the convert
Are converts expected to be more observant than the community they are joining? For example, if most married women in a community don't don a wig or head scarf, would this be acceptable behaviour for ...
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If I wanted to convert to Judaism, would I need to have my circumcision repeated?
I was baptized in the Catholic Church, raised in the Methodist Church, and became an atheist when I was about 14 years old. My grandmother on my father's side was a non-observant Jew, but my father ...
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Does a child born to a mother that converted when she was pregnant need Pidyon HaBen?
It was discussed in a previous question if when a woman who converts to Judaism while pregnant if the child is also Jewish or not. From there it seems that the child is yes Jewish however with some ...
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Why not do as Avraham and Sara did w.r.t. conversion
Rashi to B'reshis 12:5 quotes Rav Huna: "... whom they brought [to Judaism]. Avraham was converting the men and Sara the women...".
My understanding is that nowadays female prospective converts study ...
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Is a convert free to choose his own minhagim?
Back when Jews lived in the same communities for generations, they were obligated to follow the minhagim (customs) of their community. The classic example is that East European Jews held that one ...
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Can one bring a Korban nowadays?
Assuming we don't have a problem with the Dome of the rock.
Has anyone discussed sacrifices nowadays regarding:
Can (and should) one bring sacrifices nowadays as we don't know the exact location for ...
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Did Jethro convert? Before or after Matan Torah?
Did Jethro convert? And, was it before or after the Torah was given? I heard a few things this past shabbat, but I would like to see if we can compile all of the midrashic and aggadic opinions.
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Who are these "aliens" in Isaiah 56?
I was reading through this passage in Isaiah 56:
4 For thus saith the LORD concerning the eunuchs that keep My
sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and hold fast by My
covenant. 5 ...
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Sons of a female convert and yibum?
A mishna on Yevamot 97b says (Soncino translation):
The sons of a female proselyte who become proselytes together with her neither participate in chalitzah nor contract levirate marriage. Even if ...
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Why Jews feel no need to evangelize/convince others of their beliefs?
I've read in the interview with Monica Cellio that “Jews feel no need to evangelize.”
I am curious why is that.
There is no need to share the truth with the others?
Even the loved ones?
Are there ...
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What if the non-Jew to whom I have sold my chometz converts?
What would be the net effect if the non-Jewish person to whom I have sold my chometz for Pesach converts to Judaism over Pesach?
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Non-Jews & Shul Access
Can a shul deny access to a non-Jew due to the fact that he/she is not Jewish? Even if the person genuinely has a desire to learn about Judaism and worship Hashem? What are the rights (if any) of a ...
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Why does "בני ישראל" sometimes include גרים and sometimes not?
Tosafos (to Suka 28, Sanhedrin 86, and M'nachos 61; and Tos'fos Harosh to Sanhedrin 86) cite various verses containing the words "בני ישראל", b'ne Yisrael. In some cases, they note, the g'mara seeks ...
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If husband becomes Jewish during pregnancy of Jewish wife, is he considered the baby's father?
I know about a case of a non-Jewish husband who converted to Judaism while his Jewish wife was pregnant. The beit din rushed to finish the conversion process before the baby was born, and I don't ...
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Origin for making giyur?
A friend of mine asked me from when a Non-Jew was allowed to make giyur (conversion); and on which Biblical verses it was based upon. I guess he wanted to know more about it's origin. So that's why I'...
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Can a female convert hold a position of communal authority over women?
"A convert may not hold a position of Jewish communal authority."
(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Melachim 1:4)
In light of the Rambam above and the answers here, which discuss the prohibition on ...
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(How) did the South African rabbinate deal with non-white conversion candidates during apartheid?
As I understand it, during apartheid, the South African government treated the Jews as "white."
Did it ever happen that someone in a different racial group expressed interest in converting to Judaism ...
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