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A review by skylarkochava
Becoming Jewish: The Challenges, Rewards, and Paths to Conversion by Steven Reuben, Jennifer Hanin
2.0
Disclaimer: I have had both a conservative and orthodox conversion. I blogged about conversion for two years with a fair amount of success (and my now-closed blog still attracts 17,000 views a month). I tell you this to give a basis for what I am about to say.
This book is drivel. It has pervasive factual errors. I marked over thirty as bad enough to groan at. The rabbi may be a great reconstructionist rabbi, but he appears to have a superficial (and sometimes blatantly incorrect) understanding of Jewish tradition and law.
But for those of you who have read it, you need at least two very important clarifications. Most notably, you should know that the conservative and orthodox movements do NOT require ANY actual Hebrew language knowledge. You must be able to pronounce Hebrew text aloud, that is all. Not even quickly, for that matter. You do not need to be conversational in Hebrew. Yes, you will learn Hebrew phrases and words, but you won't hold a Hebrew conversation unless you want to learn that.
Secondly, I HATED the chapter about the beit din. You are NOT a failure doomed to never convert if you go to a beit din and they say you aren't ready. It happens to a LOT of people. It is not "rare" or limited to situations where you "whip out a BLT" or profess faith in Jesus. This chapter is not just misleading, but doomed to do significant emotional to harm people who will become good Jews, if not on that day.
This book is drivel. It has pervasive factual errors. I marked over thirty as bad enough to groan at. The rabbi may be a great reconstructionist rabbi, but he appears to have a superficial (and sometimes blatantly incorrect) understanding of Jewish tradition and law.
But for those of you who have read it, you need at least two very important clarifications. Most notably, you should know that the conservative and orthodox movements do NOT require ANY actual Hebrew language knowledge. You must be able to pronounce Hebrew text aloud, that is all. Not even quickly, for that matter. You do not need to be conversational in Hebrew. Yes, you will learn Hebrew phrases and words, but you won't hold a Hebrew conversation unless you want to learn that.
Secondly, I HATED the chapter about the beit din. You are NOT a failure doomed to never convert if you go to a beit din and they say you aren't ready. It happens to a LOT of people. It is not "rare" or limited to situations where you "whip out a BLT" or profess faith in Jesus. This chapter is not just misleading, but doomed to do significant emotional to harm people who will become good Jews, if not on that day.