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UnYeshiva - Choosing the Tribe: Jewish Conversion, Past, Present, Future (Part 1)‘You can’t convert to Judaism, right?’ ‘Don’t you have to be turned away three times?’ ‘Did conversion even exist in the Bible?’ ‘Are converts real Jews?’
Let’s separate fact from fiction, bust some myths, and discover exciting new frameworks about conversion to Judaism. There’s lots to think about, because 1 in 6 US Jews in the US are converts, and Rabbis nationwide report that their conversion classes are bursting at the seams! In this three part mini-course, we’ll see what conversion looked like thousands of years ago, how the Rabbis of the Talmud ‘invented’ the concept as we understand it today, and how there has always been a wide range of attitudes to conversion, from the hostile to the welcoming. We’ll also look at how modernity shifted the discourse on conversion as Jews discovered new freedoms in a new world and what the reality of conversion looks like today on the ground. Finally, we’ll take a speculative look at the (exciting and important) future of conversion and take into account new developments, including the Internet, emergent communities in the Global South and the post-COVID era.
This source sheet is the first of a three-part series.
UnYeshiva - Choosing the Tribe: Jewish Conversion, Past, Present, Future (Part 2)This study session examines the conversion discourse in Judaism. In this historical session, we are going to look at 'the long present', from the early Middle Ages to Modernity.
Editors
Esther Hugenholtz
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