When my husband read an early draft of this essay, he asked, "Why doesn't her partner have to support our daughter? After all, they agreed to raise children as Jews." What does it mean to raise a Jewish child?
Go To Parenting
If the Book of Ruth, text customarily studied on Shavuot, were written with today's interfaith couples in mind...
Go To Shavuot
What are the ethical and spiritual messages in Judaism? What are we supposed to learn? And who is Derek Eretz anyway?
Go To Spirituality
NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundation connects Birthright Israel trip alumni and their peers with meaningful Jewish living and learning opportunities nationally, locally and in Israel.
Go To All Organizations
What were you taught about your LGBTQ heritage? Kick off Boston Pride Week with a retelling of the story of LGBTQ liberation using the Passover Seder model. June 1st, Boston, MA.
Go To All Events
Supporting rabbis and cantors looking to engage interfaith couples and families in their communities and help them make a stronger connection with Judaism.
Go To RCJC
A great way for Jewish professionals and volunteers who work with and provide programming for people in interfaith relationships to locate resources and trainings to build more welcome into their Jewish communities; connect with and learn from each other; and publicize and enhance their programs and services.
Go To RCPP
Check out all the news posts by the G-dcast team! But don't forget to stop by the Network blog (written by InterfaithFamily staff) and the Parenting Blog too!
Go To BlogsDecember 30, 2009
You love Judaism, or you love Jews, or one specific Jewish person. You are thinking about becoming a Jew. There's just one problem. It's really hard to convert to Judaism. It's not a proselytizing religion. Jews did seek converts at one time, in late antiquity, but for historical reasons (mainly because the Romans made it illegal!) Jews decided not to try to recruit converts. You never get Jews going door to door trying to get non-Jews to be Jewish.
At InterfaithFamily.com we aren't an exception to this--we're not trying to ring your virtual doorbell. Though we welcome your interest, InterfaithFamily.com is not about trying to convert people to Judaism. We don't secretly hope you'll become Jewish if you aren't--in other words, no pressure. This guide is just to answer questions people have had for us, or that we think you might have. These are our answers, based on our reading, but conversion is a very complicated topic, and we direct you to additional resources, so you can get a lot of opinions on some of the more contentious questions.
For more personal stories about why and how people decide to convert to Judaism, check our article archive. You can also download this guide in PDF and Word formats, for easy emailing and printing.
InterfaithFamily is the premier resource supporting interfaith couples exploring Jewish life and inclusive Jewish communities. We offer educational content; connections to welcoming organizations, professionals and programs; resources and trainings for organizations, clergy and other program providers; and our new InterfaithFamily/Your Community initiative providing coordinated comprehensive offerings in local communities.
If you have suggestions, please contact network@interfaithfamily.com.
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