Judaism and Conversion

My involvement with Judaism began with a Jewish boyfriend, but I ultimately converted for myself.

Judaism and Conversion. Converting to Judaism. Jewish Lifecycle.

Male converts to Judaism are traditionally required to undergo circumcision or, if already circumcised, a ritual removal of a single drop of blood.

Kabbalat ol ha-mitzvot (acceptance of the commandments) combines faith and action with an intent to evolve as a practicing Jew.

Plan ahead to enhance the spirituality of the immersion experience; a mikveh or mikvah, a ritual bath, tends more toward the functional than the spiritual.

Immersion in the mikveh actualizes the transition between the convert's old identity and his or her new one as a Jew.

As with a literal newborn, the convert as a spiritual newborn selects a Hebrew name and adopts Abraham and Sarah as spiritual parents.

The different layers of the rabbinic discussion of conversion reveal the beginnings of a transformation from a citizenship ritual to a theological initiation rite.

Final authority for conversion rests with the three-person beit din, which rules on a candidate's sincerity, knowledge, and potential for success as a Jew.

In traditional communities, a child must be formally converted if adopted or born to a non-Jewish mother.