Editing Conversion to Judaism (section)

===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>