Conversion

Israel’s conversion crisis is becoming an aliyah crisis - opinion

The gates of aliyah and the gates of conversion were meant to stand side by side. It is time to open them both.

 New immigrants from USA and Canada arrive on a special " Aliyah Flight 2016" on behalf of Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, at Ben Gurion airport in central Israel on August 17, 2016,
Soldiers praying at the Kotel in 2013.

'I never had a bar mitzvah,' lone soldiers from Ethiopia to celebrate at the Western Wall

Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel, announces the establishment of a new political party that he will lead, in Tel Aviv, June 26, 2019.

Former Moscow rabbi says he rebuffed proposal to convert Russians discussed in Epstein recording

An Argentine oleh (new immigrant to Israel) who made aliyah 20 years ago celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in Eilat after a long period of conversion.

Argentinian oleh celebrates his Bar Mitzvah, conversion to Judaism 20 years after making aliyah


Israel’s never-ending ‘Who Is a Jew?’ saga - opinion

The “Who is a Jew” issue waxes and wanes as a communal priority; at the moment it appears to be waning.

 Haredim protest in Jerusalem against the conscription of ultra-Orthodox youth into the army.

Controversial conversion reform advances in Knesset

The goal of the legislation is to make the conversion more accessible and welcoming.

RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS Minister Matan Kahana address the Knesset plenum last month.

Religion state reforms will strengthen halacha - opinion

Modifications to kashrut and conversion systems represent a key opportunity to address critical issues in Jewish practice that demand change.

 ISRAEL’S SEPHARDI Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attends a rally against Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana’s conversion and kashrut reforms plan, at the International Convention Center, on February 1.

Basketball player who converted to Judaism with a Conservative rabbi denied Israeli citizenship

Rabbi Michael Beals who supervised Armstrong’s conversion called the decision by Israel’s government “racist” as Armstrong is Black.

 Jared Armstrong, center, appealed the Israeli Interior Ministry's denial of his application for Israeli citizenship but his appeal was denied Wednesday.

Top British Jewry group tells Smotrich to leave Europe, calls him 'disgrace'

In a tweet, in Hebrew, the Board of Deputies said that it rejected Smotrich’s “disgusting ideology that promotes hatred.”

 Head of the Religious Zionist Party MK Bezalel Smotrich  gives a press statement at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on May 26, 2021.

An accepting attitude: The real conversion reform we need - opinion

There is one key point that has been overlooked amid all the bickering: our attitude toward those who do choose to convert, which is no less in need of improvement.

 YOUNG CHINESE men study Torah in Yeshivat Hamivtar in Gush Etzion, preparing for their Orthodox conversion.

Majority of Israeli public believes conversion process needs a change

A survey was published that showed the opinions of the Israeli public regarding conversions.

PROTESTERS GATHER outside the Chief Rabbinate offices in Jerusalem, against the Rabbinate’s 2016 disqualification of American rabbis’ conversions

A Jewish convert’s hunger strike for Israeli citizenship

David Ben Moshe is Orthodox, married to an Israeli, and a father of two, but that is not enough for Israel's Interior Ministry. So he protested.

 David Ben Moshe hunger strike.

David Ben Moshe: A Hunger Strike for Israeli citizenship

I love Israel and will always defend it, but the treatment that I have received since applying for citizenship, my automatic right as a Jew, is an embarrassment.

 David Ben Moshe

Storm sparked as Tzohar rabbi recommended to head Conversion Authority

Rabbi Benayahu Brunner, a member of Tzohar and a judge in rabbinical courts, has been appointed to head the Conversion Authority.

 Rabbi Benayahu Brunner