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September 2000 Issue, Volume 2

Towards a More Open View of Conversion

By Aaron Schatz

A few months ago, when "Vice-Presidential candidate" Joseph Lieberman was just a rumored gleam in some reporter's eye, an assimilated, liberal Jewish journalist named Philip Weiss wrote a piece in the New York Observer criticizing Lieberman's Orthodox Judaism. Weiss felt that if Gore picked Lieberman as his running mate, he would be vulnerable to the same sort of attack that was made on George W. Bush after he spoke at Bob Jones University, because Jewish opposition to intermarriage is inherently racist.

Well, here we are a few months later, and while the issue of Lieberman's Orthodoxy has brought up a number of interesting issues, we haven't heard much from this one. Nevertheless, the Lieberman nomination has been an occasion to both spread knowledge of Jewish practice and to rethink our commitment to it, or lack thereof, and this belief by many liberals that opposition to intermarriage equals racism needs to be examined, because it is ill-informed and incorrect.

Why? The answer is conversion. Because while a black student at Bob Jones University can never become white, a Christian man or woman can easily become a Jew. The Jewish opposition to intermarriage is not like a white opposition to intermarriage; it is like a Muslim, or Catholic, or Mormon opposition to intermarriage. The fact is that while it might be nice to marry someone who shares an upbringing of Camp Ramah, Allen Sherman records, and cheering when the Israeli athletes marched in the Olympic ceremonies, marrying a Jew is not about race, and it is not about nationality. It is about how we live, and our desires to raise our children with Jewish values in Jewish homes.

So far, this sounds fairly uncontroversial, but let's take this one step forward. If we agree that Judaism is the best religion for us and our families, is it such a stretch to say that it might be the best religion for others as well? Judaism historically has shied away from encouraging conversion. But there are historical reasons for this. When Jews lived as minorites in nations without religious freedom, encouraging conversion could endanger the Jewish community. By Muslim law, for example, conversion to Judaism or Christianity by someone born Muslim was punishable by death.

In the United States in 2000, however, Jews should not be afraid to say that we have, if not the only set of answers, at least a pretty good set. Why should we be afraid; nobody else is. Many Americans are searching for the meaning in the world and ethical guidance that we find through Judaism. Some of them find it through different types of Christianity, or Islam. Others find it through Eastern religions. And still others discover cults such as Scientology. But if someone is searching for religion, why should we be afraid to popularize Judaism? I believe, and I would bet many reading this would as well, that Judaism has much more offer in terms of meaning and lifestyle than Scientology, or even for that matter Evangelical Christianity. If we did not feel this way, we would not be Jews. We would become something else ourselves.

The fact is, many Americans are already part of the way towards what might be considered a Reform Jewish outlook on life. Ask the average twentysomething "Christian" if they believe that a man named Jesus who was also God died 2000 years ago in order to save them from their sins, and many of them will say no. They probably believe in God, they live ethical lives, and they celebrate "Christian" holidays, namely Christmas, in non-religious fashion. But there are many Americans who simply don't buy the Jesus concept.

Certainly from that point it is a big step to accept the other precepts of Judaism: Torah, or at least acknowledgement of it even if you are a Reform or Conservative Jew who does not live by each specific ritual. Love of Israel. Belonging to the Am, the People of Israel. But if we don't point out that the Am is always accepting new members, those who might gain both joy and wisdom through Judaism won't know they can even consider joining.

It is undeniable that some converts are unaccepted as full Jews by sections of our community. Those Jews who can not accept converts as full Jews are racist. But this is not the position of normative Judaism. And yes, conversion is arduous. You aren't joining a tennis club here. If you want to be a Jew, you must show a knowledge of Judaism. Yes, many people who are born Jewish do not have this much Jewish knowledge. What can you do? Some parents are not as concerned with such things. But our rabbis are, and they are effectively the "parents" of converts when it comes to learning the ways of Judaism.

Luckily, I can turn to an example of the positive impact conversion can have right in my house. My new roommate Sean was not born Jewish. He was dating a Jewish girl who asked that he convert in order to marry her. He did so, but they broke up midway. He discovered that he fell in love with Judaism, so he completed his conversion, learned some Hebrew, and even spent a few months in Israel. He keeps kosher, and he goes to shul a couple of times a month, or more often than the average Conservative Jew. He will find a Jewish woman and raise Jewish children.

Sean believes that he was attracted to Judaism from the first time he had a close Jewish friend, early in college. But there was such a stigma attached to the idea of converting, except in the context of marriage, that he didn't even consider that he could become a Jew himself. But something was missing in his life, and Judaism filled that need. If we could only be more open about the prospects of conversion to those who don't believe in the prevailing Christianity and are searching for religious meaning, perhaps they too can find the happiness and significance we find in Judaism. Perhaps they too will find joy in both our ethics and rituals and our culture and nationhood. Now Sean is fully a member of the Jewish Am, and nobody who did not know that he was born a non-Jew would think any differently. While Sean may not have an upbringing of Camp Ramah, he can appreciate all of Allen Sherman's records, and this week he'll be cheering when the Israeli athletes march in the Olympic ceremonies.

Aaron Schatz is a market research analyst, freelance writer, and former radio personality who lives in Cambridge, Mass. He can be reached at: ASchatz@zete.org