Editing Conversion to Judaism (section)

==Consequences==
Once undergone, a valid [[religious conversion]] to Judaism cannot be overturned. However, a Beth Din may determine that the conversion is void as it was never undertaken correctly in the first place. For example, if the rite of ''mikveh'' was performed incorrectly.<ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Walter Jacob]]|author2=[[Moshe Zemer]]|title=Conversion to Judaism in Jewish Law: Essays and Responsa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKxvMujgKfQC&pg=PA49|year=1994|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-0-929699-05-9|page=49}}</ref> In recent years, many Orthodox conversions have been overturned. In 2008 Israel's highest religious court invalidated the conversion of 40,000 Jews, mostly from Russian immigrant families, even though they had been approved by an Orthodox rabbi.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/us/strains-grow-between-israel-and-many-jews-in-the-us.html |title=Strains Grow Between Israel and Many Jews in the U.S. |newspaper=New York Times |date=6 February 2015}}</ref> Debate on what constitutes a valid Beth Din for conversion and for annulling conversions has caused divisions in the Orthodox world. It is an implicit judgment on the character and uprightness of the rabbis in that religious court. For example, when Rabbi [[Barry Freundel]] was arrested on charges of voyeurism for filming women converts at the ''mikveh'' he supervised, Israel's Chief Rabbinate initially threatened to review and possibly invalidate the conversions Freundel had been involved in approving. A crisis between American and Israeli rabbis was averted when the Chief Rabbinate agreed that all conversions completed by Freundel would be considered valid.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/22/barry-freundel-conversions_n_6023906.html |title=Conversions Performed By Barry Freundel, Rabbi Arrested For Voyeurism, Still Legitimate: Israel Rabbinate |website=Huffington Post |date=22 October 2014}}</ref>

===Relations between Jews and proselytes===
Judaism is not an openly proselytizing religion. Judaism teaches that the righteous of all nations have a place in the [[Jewish eschatology#World to come|afterlife]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://religionfacts.com/judaism/afterlife |title=Afterlife in Judaism |website=ReligionFacts |access-date=2025-05-06}}</ref> Much like in the other Abrahamic faiths, Jewish law requires the sincerity of a potential convert. In view of the foregoing considerations, most authorities are very careful about it. Essentially, they want to be sure that the convert knows what they are getting into, and that they are doing it for sincerely religious reasons. However, while conversion for the sake of love for Judaism is considered the best motivation, a conversion for the sake of avoiding intermarriage is gaining acceptance also.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Walter Jacob|author2=Moshe Zemer|title=Conversion to Judaism in Jewish Law: Essays and Responsa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKxvMujgKfQC&pg=PA164|year=1994|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-0-929699-05-9|page=164}}</ref>

There is a tradition that a prospective convert should be turned away three times as a test of sincerity, though most rabbis no longer follow the tradition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/beliefs/conversion.shtml |title=BBC – Converting to Judaism |date=20 July 2006 |access-date=2008-09-25}}</ref> Neither the [[Rabbinical Council of America]] nor the [[Rabbinical Assembly]], the leading American [[Orthodox Jews|Orthodox]] and [[Conservative Jews|Conservative]] organizations, suggest taking this action in their conversion policies,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rabbis.org/documents/Comprehensive%20and%20Final%20Geirus%20Policies%20and%20Standards%20Protocol.pdf|title=Geirus Policies and Standards that will Govern The Network of Regional Batei Din for Conversion |date=30 April 2007 |access-date=2025-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/law/conversion_resources.html |title=Rabbinical Assembly: conversion resources |access-date=2008-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527163941/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/law/conversion_resources.html |archive-date=27 May 2008}}</ref> with the [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] (CCAR) and [[Union for Reform Judaism]] (URJ) actively opposing its practice.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=215&pge_prg_id=3818&pge_id=1637 |title=CCAR: Guidelines for Rabbis Working with Prospective Gerim |date=2 February 2005 |access-date=2008-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210095657/http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=215&pge_prg_id=3818&pge_id=1637 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://urj.org/outreach/conversion/qa/ |title=Union for Reform Judaism – Converting to Judaism: Questions and Answers |access-date=2008-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20051018001058/http://urj.org/outreach/conversion/qa/ |archive-date=18 October 2005}}</ref>

===Halakhic considerations===
Halakha forbids the mistreatment of a convert,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=636&ThisGroup_ID=292&Type=Article |title=Parshas Mishpatim |website=RabbiHorowitz.com |access-date=2012-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216171125/http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=636&ThisGroup_ID=292&Type=Article |archive-date=2013-12-16 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> including reminding a convert that they were once not a [[Jew]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Hence, little to no distinction is made in Judaism between those who are born Jewish and those who are Jewish as a result of conversion. However, despite Halakha protecting the rights of converts, some Jewish communities have been accused of treating converts as second-class Jews. For example, many communities of [[Syrian Jews]] have banned conversion and refuse to recognise any Jewish conversion, including those done under Orthodox auspices (possibly influenced by sects in Syria like the [[Druze]] which do not accept converts).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?_r=3&ref=magazine&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |work=The New York Times |title=The Sy Empire |first=Zev |last=Chafets |date=14 October 2007 |access-date=2010-04-01}}</ref>

According to [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] interpretations of [[Halakha]], converts face a limited number of restrictions. A marriage between a female convert and a [[kohen]] (members of the priestly class) is prohibited and any children of the union do not inherit their father's kohen status. While a Jew by birth may not marry a [[mamzer]], a convert can.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/myers/lindemann_debate.html |title=Lindemann vs. Myers The Transcript |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216072124/http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/myers/lindemann_debate.html |archive-date=16 December 2008  |url-status=dead}}</ref> Descendants of converts can become rabbis. For instance, [[Rabbi Meir]] Baal Ha Nes is thought to be a descendant of a proselyte. [[Rabbi Akiva]] was also a very well-known son of converts. The Talmud lists many of the Jewish nation's greatest individuals who had either descended from or were themselves converts. [[Asenath]], the wife of [[Joseph]] (son of [[Jacob]]), is mentioned as a possible convert. There are Midrash attesting to her conversion along with other women. This includes [[Hagar]], [[Zipporah]], [[Shiphrah and Puah|Shiphrah, Puah]], the Daughter Of Pharaoh, [[Rahab]], [[Ruth (biblical figure)|Ruth]], and [[Jael]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kadari |first1=Tamar |title=Asenath: Midrash and Aggadah |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/asenath-midrash-and-aggadah |website=Jewish Women's Archive}}</ref> In fact, [[King David]] is descended from [[Book of Ruth|Ruth]], a convert to Judaism. ({{bibleverse||Ruth|4:13–22|HE}}) In Orthodox and Conservative communities that maintain tribal distinctions, converts become ''Yisraelim'' (Israelites), ordinary Jews with no tribal or inter-Jewish distinctions. Converts typically follow the customs of their congregations. So, a convert who prays at a [[Sephardi]] synagogue would follow Sephardi customs and learn Sephardi Hebrew.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

A convert chooses his or her own Hebrew first name upon conversion but is traditionally known as the son or daughter of Abraham and Sarah, the first patriarch and matriarch in the Torah, often with the additional qualifier of "Avinu" (our father) and "Imenu" (our mother). Hence, a convert named Akiva would be known, for ritual purposes in a synagogue, as "Akiva ben Avraham Avinu"; in cases where the mother's name is used, such as for the prayer for recovery from an illness, he would be known as "Akiva ben Sarah Imenu".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukdp.co.uk/name-change-religious-conversion/#Judaism |title=Changing Your Name Upon Religious Conversion &#124; UK Deed Poll |publisher=Ukdp.co.uk |access-date=2012-07-21}}</ref>

Talmudic opinions on converts are numerous; some positive, some negative. A quote from the [[Talmud]] labels the convert "hard on Israel as a scab". Many interpretations explain this quote as meaning converts can be unobservant and lead Jews to be unobservant or converts can be so observant that born Jews feel ashamed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/government-israel/hearing-on-e1-zone-construction-plan-postponed-again/2023/03/12/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216071447/http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?mode=a&sectionid=58&contentid=13089&contentName=Daf+Yomi|url-status=live|title=Hearing on E1 Zone Construction Plan Postponed Again|first=Hana Levi|last=Julian|archive-date=16 December 2008}}</ref>