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A review by 3rdtimelucky
Not by Birth Alone: Conversion to Judaism by Walter Homolka, Esther Seidel, Walter Jacob
5.0
I'm just sad this isn't more widely available bc I want everyone to read it... I love how it integrates the question of conversion into the wider question of jewish identity bc frankly there wouldn't be much to say otherwise.
Case in point I did kind of lose interest with some of the personal stories because really the revelations here are about the myth of monolithic (&racial) Jewish identity, the incompatibility of the State's goals with the Jewish religion, and unmasking the political power struggles over halacha. Conversion is the stretched fabric where all these bones poke out but so many discussions end up treating conversion as an sort of exception-to-the-rule issue for the social justice arena & missing all the potential.
It does occasionally feel outdated but I think that would make the authors super happy. I started hackles raised at the very mention of proselytism yet I think it's interesting to reevaluate the question every now again and nudge the boundaries rather than just keeping to routine. The questions asked make sense but, none of the editors being. gerim, they look in the wrong direction for possible issues - respectful proselytising wouldn't do any harm to the gentile world, but it would to judaism; being 'too' lax with conversion doesn't do any harm to judaism but it does to conversion.
unexpectedly interesting read, thank you ash!
Case in point I did kind of lose interest with some of the personal stories because really the revelations here are about the myth of monolithic (&racial) Jewish identity, the incompatibility of the State's goals with the Jewish religion, and unmasking the political power struggles over halacha. Conversion is the stretched fabric where all these bones poke out but so many discussions end up treating conversion as an sort of exception-to-the-rule issue for the social justice arena & missing all the potential.
It does occasionally feel outdated but I think that would make the authors super happy. I started hackles raised at the very mention of proselytism yet I think it's interesting to reevaluate the question every now again and nudge the boundaries rather than just keeping to routine. The questions asked make sense but, none of the editors being. gerim, they look in the wrong direction for possible issues - respectful proselytising wouldn't do any harm to the gentile world, but it would to judaism; being 'too' lax with conversion doesn't do any harm to judaism but it does to conversion.
unexpectedly interesting read, thank you ash!