Editing Conversion to Judaism (section)

==Requirements==
The [[Amoraim]] who produced the [[Talmud]] set out basic requirements for [[religious conversion|conversion]] to Judaism ([[Keritot]] 8b), which must be witnessed and affirmed by a ''[[beth din]] (a'' rabbinical court composed of three Jewish males above the age of Bar Mitzvah). The judges on the Beth Din should be observant of Jewish law. Common Orthodox practice is for all of the  judges to be Rabbis or Orthodox clergy. Today conversion requirements and the time required to complete conversion differ according to denomination and rabbinic sponsor. The basic requirements set out in the Talmud include:

* [[Circumcision in the Bible|Circumcision]] (''[[Brit milah]]'' or ''[[hatafat dam brit]]'') for men. If the male is already circumcised, a single drop of blood is drawn as a symbolic circumcision <ref name="autogenerated1" /> 
* Immersion (''[[tevilah]]'') in a ritual bath (''mikveh'') for both men and women<ref name="autogenerated1" />
* Offering a certain sacrifice ([[korban]]) in the Temple (the [[Beit Hamikdash]]) (this is not currently required as a part of modern conversion to Judaism)

The consensus of ''halakhic'' authorities also requires a convert to understand and formally accept the duties of classical [[Halakha|Jewish law]]. This is not stated explicitly in the Talmud, but was inferred by subsequent [[Rishonim|commentators]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Conversion.html |title=Conversion |website=Jewish Virtual Library |access-date=2012-07-21}}</ref>

After confirming that all these requirements have been met, the beth din issues a "Certificate of Conversion" (''Shtar Giur''), certifying that the person is now a Jew.