Conversion to Judaism

IDF lone soldiers mark bar and bat mitzvah at Western Wall, including some family surprises

The event was organized by Ach Gadol (Big Brother for Lone Soldiers), a nonprofit that provides one-on-one mentorship and community support for soldiers serving in Israel without immediate family.

Kidist Mengistu, a lone soldier from Ethiopia, was surprised by her mother at the Western Wall for bat mitzvah ceremony, Februrary 23, 2026.
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

A Spanish flag flutters in the air as the capital of Spain is seen from the observatory deck of Madrid's city hall August 7, 2013.

I traveled from Israel to Spain to convert new Jews. A single ‘Sababa’ made me feel safer - opinion


Are too many Germans converting to Judaism? - analysis

In a DW column titled “Why the increasing number of converts is a problem for Judaism,” Avitall Gerstetter charged that too many people in Germany convert for the wrong reasons.

The German flag is pictured at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, November 7, 2017

Conversion in Israel: The tug of war between the state, rabbinate

How did conversion to Judaism get caught in up the midst of an Israeli political controversy over the Law of Return and identifying who is a Jew?

 A WOMAN stands before the rabbinical court.

The journey from Jewish convert to accomplished artist, scribe

Neriah Israel's journey from South Africa to Dimona

 Neriah Israel writing a page of a Sefer Torah scroll.

'Covenant': Creating a Jewish conversion spectrum - review

Turning some of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s ideas toward resolving the Jewish identity crisis

 REFORM JEWS hold up broken hearts as they demonstrate outside the Knesset in 1997 against pending legislation by ultra-religious parties to tighten their grip on conversion issues.

The irony of Jewish conversion in Israel - opinion

"They want mass conversion. This won’t happen," Rabbi Yosef said about the deputy religious affairs minister.

SEPHARDI CHIEF RABBI Yitzhak Yosef speaks out at a rally in Jerusalem against conversion and kashrut reforms, in January.

An ancient Jewish curse to keep grave robbers away revealed on tomb

A convert to Judaism warned away tomb raiders by vowing to curse anybody who would dare to open his grave.

  Jacob the convert's ancient Jewish curse inscription

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.

Kahana submits Jewish conversion reform bill to Knesset

Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana called his conversion reform plan a "historic opportunity that cannot be missed."

Chief rabbis gathered to discuss reforms to the conversion and kashrut system

US Jewish convert ends hunger strike after gov’t promises citizenship by 2023

David Ben Moshe has ended his hunger strike to be recognized as an Israeli citizen after being assured he will receive full citizenship by January 2023.

 David Ben Moshe hunger strike.