When you convert according to accepted orthodox standards, do you have to swear or solemnly promise God to live by those standards? And this makes for valid conversions, even though some people have no intentions to do any such thing? If that's the case, aren't you starting off your new life as a Jew with a pack of whopping lies? That can't please god or make you feel too honorable. I was a good Christian as long as I could convince myself that I was only "defrauding" and lying to the pope/the church/the preacher by saying I believed things I no longer did. On the day it hit me that I was, actually, defrauding and lying to myself and trying to fool god in the process, I stopped being and calling myself a Christian. Strangely enough, now I can attend any and all religious ceremonies of friends and family without furtively looking around and waiting for lightning to strike me or for a "FRAUD" sign to appear over my head. I'm no longer there, because I'm trying to fool anyone, but to honor someone else's belief and whatever of that belief they happen to celebrate. As they say in the South, "I got right with god, and it makes for dang good sleeping." Now, if I could only convince the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons that I really mean it, maybe they'd stop beating on my door at the crack of dawn on Saturdays.....Obviously, I sleep much better than they do :-)

Are secular Israelis so ignorant of haredi Judaism and their narreshkeit? I am shocked by Boim's casual acceptance and deference to of the orthodox halachic worldview on conversion and the many roadblocks they intentionally put in the way of potential converts, ont to mention their often venal treatment of converts after the fact. (To show that I am not insensitive to Halachic logic I would refer readers to the tshuva (responsa) of the Gadol Rabbi Moshe Feinstein who essentially ruled that potential exposure to "torah Judaism" was at times grounds for conversion...and he wrote that in regard to America...kal vachomer in Israel a convert whose soul is Jewish would have ample opportunities to explore a halachic lifestyle.) Lets just have a means for secular identification with the Jewish people as a standard for permanent residency in Israel, include secular marraige and if g-d forbid a secular convert (or their Hebrew speaking, IDF participating descendents) wants to marry into a hard core observant family then they can deal with it in the privacy of their own definitions of Jewishness...

How can you say something like this the day after Shavuos? Do you think that when Moshe handed down the Torah from Mount Sinai, that the people who became Jews said "We don't really care about the Mitzvot, about the Torah, we only feel Jewish, you know, bagels and lox, chinese food on Xmas, watching seinfeild and all that stuff"?? There is no such thing as a "secular" conversion because we are a nation united by Torah. If you do not believe in G-d and His Torah, why convert at all? Why simply not be human? It doesn't make any sense to accept Jewish converts if they reject G-d and the Path He has decided for us. Israel is a Jewish country, they have more than 170 other countries if they don't want to be Jewish and everything it entails.

When living abroad i also attended different ceremonies , mostly funerals , of non Jewish friends and so . I was there , the same way you are doing it , to pay respect for the deceased , or the religious wed friends . The most important : to feel good the way you behave , to be straight . I had also the same problems with those witnesses , not with mormons .

Ger Tzedek of Vilna Burned at the Stake (1749) Avraham ben Avraham, the famed "Ger Tzedek" (Righteous Convert) of Vilna, was born as Valentin Potozki, the son of Count Potocki, one of the richest landowners in Poland. As a student in Vilna he discovered Judaism and decided toconvert -- a capital offense in most countries in Christian Europe at the time.He fled to Amsterdam where he secretly converted to Judaism, assuming the nameAvraham ben Avraham ("Abraham the son of Abraham"). Years later he returned to Vilna, where he was eventually recognized as themissing son of Count Potocki and arrested by the church. He refused to renouncehis faith and was sentenced to death. He was burned at the stake in Vilna on the2nd day of Shavuot of 1749.

In your fundamentalist controlled State, which I love, conversions are not a "technical procedure." They are an uncontrolled tyranny in the hands of religious fanatics, who (read the newspaper) even choose to rescind a conversion of those who are not shomer mitzvot. I doubt Rabbi Druckman would agree with your assessment. You are alienating world Jewry with these inane policies.

When Moshe Rabenu came down from Sinai, he was married to the daughter of a Midianite Priest (Yitro). Of course, she was converted by a Beit Din, presided over by the Lubavitcher Rebbe ..... as was the wife of Joseph, mother or Ephraim and Menashe. How did they convert (rhetorical question): By becoming part of the Jewish People and casting their lot with us.

The day after Shavouoth [ not shavouos ] ? Don't you have TWO days SHAVOUOTH in Galut ? Or maybe you're Israeli , and conturn this ? and if Israeli write Shavouoth . You are pro religious , so don't write Yom Tov .

We cannot afford to convert a gentile into Jew who is not planning to be observant, or turns out to be not observant why? because he/she simply did not convert to judaism in the first place if this is the case If judaism tells you that you have to do A,B and C. (kashrut, Shabbat, family purity, shmita, you name it), then choosing not to comply with one or several of these, means you don't like judaism as a package deal. So why converting to the "wrong" religion? May be as most cases, because it will come in convenient for the gentile to "marry" a Jewish partner, and give the kids a Jewish status too. WHO ARE THEY FOOLING? Anyone converting to judaism understands 1- Jewish laws are originally commanded by G-d 2- G-d obviously knows what He is commanding The moment a "convert" chooses which laws are "convenient" for him and which not, then he/she is basically saying - "I know better than G-d" , this stands as a blatant contradicition and is logically defying right?

I will not discuss your knowledge of Halacha , i'm not an expert . But i have read another tb who said that observing the rules , even for a very short time is enough . Sadly , i did'nt ask then if that was so for the reformed , or if he spoke as an Orthodox . A difference of course .

Why would a Reform or Conservative convert want to move to Israel? They can't have a legal Jewish marriage or be buried there unless they choose to undergoe a full conversion later on. Basically, they can become citizens, vote, serve in the army, go to school and work but they really can't start a legitimate family or be buried among Jews. What is the point?

I personally knew two Israelis who married non-Jewish women who then underwent an Orthodox conversion in the U.S., but only because they didn't want any grief from the rabbinate if they decided to go back to live in Israel, which both of them ended up doing. But, trust me on this. Those non-Jewish wives never became observant. Why? Because their Israeli husbands would have divorced them if they had. So isn't it time for the Orthodox establishment to stop demonizing Reform and Conservative conversions and finally face up to the reality that the majority of Israelis aren't religious...even many of those who are willing to sacrifice their lives to defend the Jewish State..

There should be a specific list of recognized Rabbis around the world who do conversions accordingto these standards. Otherwise, converts are severely injured to find the conversion not valid. NEXT? Yank the smichah from the homo and other "rabbis" who do not follow or teach Torah and declare them "not valid". They are leading the potential convert down a dark pagan road. Thank you.

I am more educated in Jewish history, tradition as well as in religion than many 100% Jews I know. But one quarter of my blood is not jewish and I have to go and ask for Orthodox approval to be accepted as a Jew? This is totaly redicoulous.

Honestly, I have not enough background to answer your good question

Your very honest answer is truly appreciated . Sabbat Shalom

1. The Jews are not identified by blood. You have just demonstrated your ignorance or any other physical characteristics 2. Being more educated in anything Jewish that the Jewish friends you know does not make you Jewish. Only your mother or the proper conversion can make you Jewish.

I dare say that due to the manner in which Israel deals with the subjects of conversions, its treatment of non- orthodox Jews, its religio / politico manipulation of Jewish identity, its handling of absorption, etc., its easy from my vantage point, here in the US to envision a day, in the not too distant future, when the growing possibility appears that we see that the Israel-Diaspora dichotomy no longer exists. That Jews, especially American Jews, will no longer consider Israel the place to be. Already here in the US there are Jewish organizations that see the emergence of a "new Jew" that no longer consider themselves to be eternally wandering in search for a homeland. There homeland is America, Berlin, or Moscow or wherever they happen to feel most comfortable. That the emphasis on 'diaspora' and 'Israel' has prevented Jews from exploring the diverse Jewish experience and just how exactly Jews craft their identities at home where they live, away from Israel. ...That some Jews are disolving the concept of diaspora because the word conjures up images of Jewish seeds scattered in the 'galut' which is a negative term suggesting spiritual diminishment and exile rather than just dispersion from a hight. ...Can anyone forget that the destruction of European Jewry transformed American Jews into the largest wealthiest most stable and secure Jewish comm- unity in the diaspora ? It's easy to understand why some Jews may be asking themselves why they should have to tolerate such nonsense and corruption emmanating from Israel regarding Judaism, which can have detrimental re-percussions in the US and elsewhere around the world. Somewhat good argument for a distinctive American brand of Judaism, don't you think ?

Only your mother ....can make you Jewish , you wrote . Is this not blood ?

I wonder if the conversion of Akiva ben Yosef would have been sanctioned by the Chief Rabbinate? I find it bizarre that a people that who so value community, and are so threatened by assimilation, so fear allowing the "wrong" Rabbi (based solely upon his/her physical location at the time of the conversion) to sit on the bet din of a convert; nor do I recall any specific mitzvoth relating to conversion in eretz Israel as opposed to in the Diaspora. However, long experience studying radical Islam has taught me that religious zealots always have the correct and exclusive interpretation on the keys to life on earth and in heaven; why should we believe differently?

That Conservative and Reform conversions cannot be performed in Israel ? YOU SHOULD BE PELTED WITH TOMATOES !!!

For denying jews from be allowed in to your country.

While I don't claim any halachic authority, what on God's green earth are you talking about? Rabbi Akiva wasn't a convert. His father was (as was Rabbi Meir's father). His mother, incidentally, was a born Jewess (not that it makes any difference whether she was born Jewish or converted). Before you open your mouth and make an attack... HAVE YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!! You'd have done better with Shemaya and Avtalyon (who the Rambam says were converts), or Jael in Judges, or the Prophet Ovadia, or, heaven forfend... RUTH!!!

I have no idea about the process of converting a non Jew into a Jew,but I believe it has to follow strict and ortodox rules(what does not mean the converted must become an ortodox Jew-as Boim said) We already know the mess created by not following ortodox rules:cristianity is one of them.Does that desobedience brought something good for the humanity,or just robery,envy and hate? One can not invent over the Torah.It must be followed as a line and period. For those who want to trully become Jews,there are no reasons not to follow It.

have some self respect , and do'nt write such meaningless tb's . Christianity because of the mess created by not following strict orthodox rules ? you wrote also : i do'nt know the process of converting a non Jew .....If you do'nt know , ask it , but do'nt write nonsense .

I feel angered by your opinion!. I was born catholic but married my lovely partner who is Jewish and from Israel. I am currently studying and practicing very hard to convert-because of my own respect and appreciation of what it is to be jewish, for my partner so we can fulfill a happy life together in a religion we BOTH follow and understand and for our children to be born into it and someday move to Israel. It is strict and I myself have had to jump over many hurdles of judgement and dissaproval and feeling unwelcome. But my heart is in it. BUT, in your reference to Christianity!!!-hate? ROBBERY???- I was on the bus the other day where an Orthodox couple from US (tourists) wanted to buy a tickets with £50-no one looked at them as they asked around for change- eventually i gave them the fare as i didn't have that much change- after buying the tickets they sat down without giving me the rest back!. It makes me think!...orthodox rules?