List of converts to Judaism

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This article endeavours to list some notable people who have converted, or are believed to have converted, to Judaism. The article does not differentiate between the different branches of Judaism, and doesn't list people who married a Jewish spouse without converting. Also, most of these conversions (apart from the Biblical ones) are not recognized by Orthodox Judaism because the converted did not convert under Orthodox auspices, or by Orthodox and Conservative authorities because the conversions were not done in accord with halakha. In 2005, five present and former Chief Rabbis of Israel declared: Any such conversion, under its various names such as `Reform' or `Conservative,' has no validity, and anyone who undergoes such conversion is still a gentile in every respect." [22]

(A number of prominent figures, such as Madonna, have recently become followers of Kabbalah, a body of Jewish mystical teaching, but do not consider themselves – and are not considered – Jewish.)

Contents

  • Abraham the Monk converted to Judaism in the 600's
  • Bishop Bodo, confessor to Louis the Pious[1]
  • Wecelin, a cleric who worked for Duke Conrad of Carinthia, accepted Judaism sometime about 1005. There is written evidence that Wecelin published a brief tract against Christianity. Wecelin, who may have fled to Egypt, is only one of many 11th century converts described in the Cairo Genizah.[2]
  • Andrew/Andreas, the Archbishop of Bari, a city in Southern Italy, declared himself a Jew upon a journey to Constantinople in 1066 and subsequentally fled to Egypt.[3][2][4]
  • Obadiah the Proselyte (né Johannes), priest and composer [5][4]
  • In 1222 a deacon of the Church fell in love with a Jewess and was converted to Judaism, whereupon he was handed over to the secular power and burned [6]
  • Robert Reddinge English preaching friar, of the Dominican order; converted to Judaism about 1275
  • Nicolas Antoine
  • Aleksei (former archpriest) [7]
  • Dionis (former priest) [8]
  • Juan Carrasco (former Augustin friar) [9][10]
  • Johann Peter Spaeth, German theologian[11] "Johann Peter Spaeth (about 1642-1701), author of an attack on Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-politicus, finally became a Jewish convert, called himself "Moses Germanus," and was even circumcised a few years before his death in 1697"

Yitzhak Fanger (reverted to Judaism, was a former Buddhist Monk now a Haredi rabbi) (Orthodox Judaism) [88]

  • Setzuso Kotsuji (son of a prominent Shinto priest, descended from a long-line of well-known priests.) is a convert to Orthodox Judaism)[98][99]

  1. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  2. ^ a b http://www.convert.org/book2.htm
  3. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=RB5aWgr7l-gC&pg=PA298&lpg=PA298&dq=1066+andrew+the+archbishop+of+bari+judaism&source=web&ots=gaMjqgYwb3&sig=QwULvssrSZQTTiGDXErqzaA_bz4
  4. ^ a b http://books.google.com/books?id=SFazbG_b6ysC&pg=PT149&dq=catholic+priest+convert+judaism&ei=-a5LR5LpKI706gLG0uTzBg&sig=X-fhSpE-lOeivXyAWeFf5xMfMSs
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ ("Annales Monastici," iv. 62).
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ [3]
  9. ^ http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=45&letter=D&search=converted%20to%20judaism
  10. ^ http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=197&letter=C&search=Carrasco
  11. ^ Commentary Magazine
  12. ^ http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/Archive/rome.asp
  13. ^ http://www.wzo.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=266
  14. ^ http://www.jewishhistory.org.il/history.php?startyear=1550&endyear=1559
  15. ^ http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.morasha.it/ebrei_italia/ebrei_italia04.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=7&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DCornelio%2Bof%2BMontalcino%26hl%3Den
  16. ^ http://sunray22b.net/expulsions.htm
  17. ^ http://vwt.d2g.com:8081/2006/04/same_day_any_year_any_milleniu.html
  18. ^ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=352&letter=R
  19. ^ http://www.bejewish.org/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=31&p=21
  20. ^ [4] ,[5] , [6] [[7]] and [8]
  21. ^ http://www.derechemet.org/english/cgi-bin/show.cgi?27&luth http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/8718/edition_id/165/format/html/displaystory.html http://www.youngisrael.org/speakers/hove.htm http://www.bejewish.org/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=31&p=2
  22. ^ http://www.bejewish.org/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=31&p=51
  23. ^ http://jdstone.org/cr/files/thomasropersstory.html
  24. ^ Home Page for the Gavriel Sanders radio show
  25. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Play-Fire-Womans-Remarkable-Odyssey/dp/9657108357/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196139927&sr=1-10
  26. ^ Jerusalem Post
  27. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Strangers-No-More-Exceptional-Christianity/dp/9652293040/ref=sr_1_71?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196139486&sr=1-71
  28. ^ [9]
  29. ^ http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=156474356X&itm=5
  30. ^ http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/27450/Julie_Galambush/index.aspx
  31. ^ http://www.bejewish.org/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=31&p=7
  32. ^ http://www.mysisterthejew.com/pages/bio.htm
  33. ^ http://www.ou.org/pdf/ja/5766/summer66/24_27.pdf
  34. ^ http://www.jewishresearch.org/BL_archives/12_16_04BL.htm#rabbi
  35. ^ http://www.amazon.com/So-Strange-Path-Spiritual-Pilgrimage/dp/0819700401/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196138483&sr=1-9
  36. ^ http://www.bejewish.org/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=31&p=49
  37. ^ [10]
  38. ^ [11]
  39. ^ [12]
  40. ^ [13]
  41. ^ [14]
  42. ^ [15]
  43. ^ Noble Soul: The Life and Legend of the Vilna Ger Tzedek, Count Walenty Potocki review here
  44. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, art. Aquila of Sinope
  45. ^ IMDB
  46. ^ Arc Poetry review of "Jacob's Dream" which states "Brewster is fascinated with her newly-adopted faith of Judaism—poems about Jewish holy days and heritage are sprinkled throughout"
  47. ^ "May Britt Joins Jewish Faith", The New York Times, 18 October 1960, p. 46
  48. ^ Q&A with Sarah Brown "Judaism, for me, is more a spiritual thing than a religion, but I feel that I have a Jewish soul. I didn't convert because of my marriage; I just always felt like there was a Jewish soul inside of me just dying to get out."
  49. ^ New York Times
  50. ^ Chicago Sun Times via "Find Articles.": Said of her conversion "I needed to know where God was, and I went back to the basics."
  51. ^ Interview with Croce's Cousin http://www.netporch.com/sa/
  52. ^ Jewish Virtual Library
  53. ^ Shanks, Hershel. "Losing Faith: How Scholarship Affects Scholars". Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2007.
  54. ^ A Publishers Weekly review of Jacqueline Du Pre: A Biography by Carol Easton[16] states she was "the daughter of anti-Semitic parents who herself converted to Judaism and at age 21 married Jewish pianist-conductor Daniel Barenboim."
  55. ^ Gensler, Howard. "'Borat' to wed Aussie actress Isla Fisher", 2006-11-27. Retrieved on 2006-11-29. 
  56. ^ Luke Ford, XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without a Shul. iUniverse, Inc., 2004. ISBN 0-595-66441-5
  57. ^ Aaron Freeman's website
  58. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  59. ^ Hart - [17] "Thought there are no Jewish Republicans in show biz? Well, Bush contributors include... host Mary Hart, who’s a convert to Judaism..."
  60. ^ [18]
  61. ^ IMDB
  62. ^ El Mundo
  63. ^ Times Online interview: She says in the interview "I converted to Judaism in 1983. I am not a deeply religious person but it is a vital part of my life. It shapes my beliefs, and how I look at the world."
  64. ^ Natan Gamedze's website
  65. ^ The movie Shalom y'all
  66. ^ Her website
  67. ^ Seattle Times
  68. ^ Beth Israel
  69. ^ Julis Lester's Home Page
  70. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica
  71. ^ Baseball Almanac.com
  72. ^ O'Toole, Lesley. "Ben Stiller : 'Doing comedy is scary'", The Independent, 2006-12-22. Retrieved on 2006-12-22. 
  73. ^ Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco states of her marriage, "Adah was not at all interested in home or family; in fact, the only thing she shared sincerely with him was his religion–she adopted the Jewish faith and remained steadfast in it until her death."
  74. ^ "BBC On this Day"
  75. ^ The Independent Feb 7, 2005; online here Findarticles accessed 11 Dec 2006
  76. ^ The Nation
  77. ^ [19]
  78. ^ Interview at Book Browse "I am a Jew by choice and Italian by heritage. Shortly after I converted to Judaism, I came across a book by Alexander Stille called Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism."
  79. ^ New York Times book review
  80. ^ Stilley - [20] "...the former model, raised a Christian in Conway, S.C., recently announced that she is converting to Judaism. Even her rabbi is befuddled.... "The first thing that attracted me to Judaism was the undeniable family strength that has held Jewish people and culture together for 3,000 years. . . Jews, whether religious or not, know where they have come from and what they would wish for their future, and this certainty is based on fact, not faith.... "I will not be a perfect Jew, nor will Judaism make me perfect. But I know that Judaism will give me faith, support, knowledge, and history. I am not Jewish because I choose to be. I am Jewish because there is no other choice for me.""
  81. ^ In her book Elizabeth Takes Off, Taylor writes, "[Conversion to Judaism] had absolutely nothing to do with my past marriage to Mike [Todd] or my upcoming marriage to Eddie Fisher, both of whom were Jewish. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time." [21]
  82. ^ Profile at Jewishsports.com
  83. ^ Jewish Bulletin of Northern California:On being asked about Christmas, because of the Santa Claus related The Polar Express, he stated "We have a Jewish household. I converted when I married Lisa."
  84. ^ Magazine article from 1995 Commentary Magazine: Quote "Paula Buber in 1905 converted to Judaism in the Orthodox way, including a dip in the ritual bath. 'I grow in your cause,' she wrote her betrothed, like Ruth in the Bible. 'It will be mine and that of our children.' A Jewish wedding followed."
  85. ^ Jewish Bulletin of Northern California: "After Winningham observed her first Yom Kippur that year, she knew she had to convert, and did so March 3, 2003, accompanied by an entourage of friends and relatives."
  86. ^ Entertainment Weekly
  87. ^ NIH Profile
  88. ^ http://www.israelnationalnews.com/SendMail.aspx?print=print&type=6&item=2294
  89. ^ Ynet News Born 42 years ago in a Shi’ite village in eastern Lebanon, today he is an ultra-Orthodox Jew who studies in a yeshiva and is raising his seven children in Safed.
  90. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia "He was by birth a Gentile from Pontus, and is said by Epiphanius to have been a connection by marriage of the emperor Hadrian and to have been appointed by him about the year 128 to an office concerned with the rebuilding of Jerusalem as "Ælia Capitolina." At some unknown age he joined the Christians, but afterward left them and became a proselyte to Judaism."
  91. ^ Fordham University
  92. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  93. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia "If the contradictory and sometimes legendary accounts of the personality of Dhu Nuwas given by the Arabian writers can be trusted, he was not a Jew by birth, but embraced Judaism after ascending the throne, taking the name of "Joseph."
  94. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia "Obadiah was a proselyte of Edomite origin."
  95. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  96. ^ BBC
  97. ^ Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, xx.7.1
  98. ^ http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1004/japanese_convert.php3
  99. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,864048,00.html?promoid=googlep
  100. ^ (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities xx. 7, § 3
  101. ^ Columbia Encyclopedia
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_converts_to_Judaism"
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