Project topics and materials
Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »
CHAPTER2 HISTORY OF CONVERSION
The subject expressly nominated is part and parcel of a parent topic. Its magnitude has been traced historically to Abraham who is referred to as the first patriarch. Geographically, the issue extends from its middle-eastern origin, across Biblical frontiers and, following the dispersion of the Jews, communities spring up in various places. Sometimes they persist. On other occasions they are transplanted elsewhere. It will be seen that there is hardly a time or place where proselytisation to Judaism does not manifest itself as a matter of import.
An aerial view of the study will reveal two principal but diverse areas where conversion has taken place. The first consists of the Biblical period and its immediate successor, the Talmudic Age. And the other is the modern era in which dimension falls the South African model.
There is also the chronology in between these major historical poles. Investigation of this time-span covering nearly 2 millennia, however, is far more complicated than the gathering of information from the scriptural accounts on the one hand and the contemporary inquiry period where data can be utilised.
Nevertheless, a synthesis of available information relating to these centuries in question will, together with the Bible and Talmud, provide an essential historical background to the central theme of this essay and the effect that the history has upon the convert in the model presented in the previous chapter.
The conversion of the Israelites : A historical turning point
Between Abraham, the progenitor of Torah based Judaism and Ruth, the epitome of the righteous proselyte, there has taken place a crucial event, which resembles a national conversion. The parties involved are direct descendants of the founding patriarch. They are a branch of his family, which are clearly identifiable as Hebrews and Israelites.
Whilst in Egypt, prior to their enslavement, they dwell there as prominent affluent citizens though in several respects culturally different from their neighbours. In contrast to Egyptian polytheism, the Hebrews have inherited the monotheistic Abrahamic tradition, though they are not immune to surrounding heathenism, even less so during the bicentennial of their bondage.
Part of their subsequent adjustment to the acceptance of Torah following their emancipation is the rejection of all traces of Egyptian religion. Moreover, the governing monotheistic legacy is only the primary foundation of the total Torah lifestyle by which they are commissioned to live.
The Midrash ascribes to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob private revelation and acceptance of the entire Torah. It is predetermined that their offspring will do likewise and the liberation from serfdom becomes the appointed opportunity, setting a scenario for the transformation about to take place. Leadership falls upon Moses but his Israelite followers have felt the degradation of servitude and are now called upon to commit themselves to the role of « a kingdom of priests and a holy nation ». r1> Just as Abraham, their forefather, initiates the « grass roots » Judaism, so are the Israelites at Mount Sinai pioneering the practice of Torah. Whilst this founding conversion of 600 000 souls is hitherto unprecedented, their mixed emotions can be likened to the psycho-sociological interaction of subsequent proselytes to the undertaking. The plight of the ancient Israelites, both in the physical journey to Sinai and their subsequent passage to Canaan, characterised the long road to conversion. Although the appointees for the Sinaitic experience were already a composite national entity, the legacy of Torah was not to be limited exclusively to their descendants but to all who would acquire the values and principles of its teachings. That the heritage of Torah was not a purely genetic phenomenon is brought down by Midrashic sources in a way explained by Rabbi Lamm (1991:104), « It is said that all Jews were there – past, present and those yet unborn. Abraham’s descendants were there, masses of Egyptians who fled with them and converted were there; Ruth, the convert, was there; Rabbi ben Bag Bag, the converted Talmudic sage of the 3rd century, was there; the king of the Khazars, who converted in the ath century, was there; Obadiah, the noted convert of the 12th century, was there; a young woman, who converted in Los Angeles last year was there. »
Ultimately, the Israelites are to possess the territory promised to Abraham. In ancient Israel, Jewish courts based on the application of Torah become functionally operative. The issue of intermarriage and conversion arise from their interaction with the neighbouring states.
During the monarchy of David and Solomon, a moratorium was placed on conversion to repel an overwhelming demand to partake of its advantages. There were, however, makeshift courts, which did admit a significant number of applicants. Legitimate courts, however, did not ostracize them but they did not endorse « pirate » conversions. Rather they gave them the opportunity to prove their sincerity over a period of time, before accepting them. It is recorded by Maimonides<2l that the wives of Samson and Solomon were amongst those who sought proselytisation during this period but he ascribes to these women ulterior motives, as compared with Ruth who is the model for sincerity.
Already the distinction in the motivation of proselytes and the issue of outmarriage was beginning to influence the policies of the juridical authorities of the time. Another significant development in this area took place when the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity in 457 BCE under the leadership of Ezra, the scribe. Ezra, however, witnessed a low religious morale present in the area. One of the major crises, which he beheld, was intermarriage. Amongst his reforms was his injunction to allow people to divorce their Gentile wives. He did not recommend conversion as a solution.
Conversion en masse
Although Judaism has established a culture of non-evangelism, the long and varied chronicle of the Jewish people has, on rare occasions, included extensions of its religious confines by mass conversion.
There is, too, a record of conversion by coercion, exercised during the period of Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel, namely the proselytisation of the neighbouring ldumeans or Edomites. These were descendants of Esau, (alternatively called Edom), the twin brother of Jacob. Scripture demonstrates the arch-enmity that was to grow between the siblings, Jacob and Esau. Christian Hebraist, G.A. Smith (1941:128) writes (as quoted by Slotki), « From the far days when their ancestors wrestled in the womb of Rebekah to the … era when John Hyrcanus dragged the ldumeans beneath the yoke of the law, the two peoples scorned, hated and scourged each other with a relentlessness that finds no analogy between kindred and neighbour nations anywhere in history. »
John Hyrcanus, third son of Simon the Maccabee, ascended the throne of Israel in 134 BCE. Halpern (1948:32) describes how this monarch marched against the sizeable ldumean community, compelling them either to convert to Judaism or be expelled from the country. They opted for proselytisation and from thence were regarded as Jews but, as Halpern points out, this forcible conversion was, at a later stage, to have fatal consequences for the Jews.
In the meantime, as demonstrated by Roth (1953:77) this policy of coercive conversion was still in vogue in the reign of Hyrcanus’successor, Aristobulus. When he enlarged the boundaries even further north, the rest of the Galileans who were vanquished were likewise subjected to a decree of proselytisation.
In describing the extent of the Jewish State, Roth (1953:77) continues:
« Other parts of the country became completely Judaised, their inhabitants being counted henceforth an integral part of the Jewish people. The Edomites, hereditary enemies for untold generations, came to exercise an important, and at time preponderant, influence upon external affairs. »
The outcome of this development is summed up by Max I. Dimont (1962:96), « In 37 BCE … the final twist of irony had occurred. The ldumeans who had forcibly converted to Judaism eighty years previously … now ruled the people who had converted them. »
This was when Antipas, a descendant of the proselyte ldumeans, was appointed by the Romans as a potentate over Judea. His policy was to promote the Greek religious culture, Hellenism. This was received favourably by the Galilean converts who, in their ignorance, thought of it as part of Judaism.
Laytner (1996: 189) gives, too, as a reason, the cosmopolitan nature of Hellenism, as a vehicle for receptivity of new religious concepts.
This trend is not difficult to understand in terms of an interesting development, which found place in the centuries at the dawn of the current era. Whilst these converts to Judaism, as well as home born Jews, were attracted to Hellenism, the converse was not untrue. Dimont describes the impress.ion made by the Jewish lifestyle on hundreds and thousands of Greeks and Romans who opted for the non-sexualized symbols of Judaism and respected the dignity of the Jewish deity, as well as their scholastic ideals as compared with the paganistic materialism.
CHAPTER 1 : THE LONG ROAD TO CONVERSION PAGES
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 METHODOLOGY
1.2 THE LONG ROAD TO CONVERSION
1.3 THEORY OF CONVERSION TO JUDAISM IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT
1.6 CHAPTER OUTLINE
CHAPTER2 : HISTORY OF CONVERSION
2.1 HISTORY OF CONVERSION
2.2 THE ISRAELI SCENE
2.3 THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCENE
CHAPTER 3 : CONVERSION – THE HALAKHIC POSITION
3. INTRODUCTION
3.1 ATTITUDES TOWARDS CONVERSION -AN EXAMINATION OF CONFLICTING STATEMENTS
3.2 MOTIVES FOR CONVERSION
3.3 THE ROLE OF THE BETH DIN
3.4 KABBALA T MITZVOT (ACCEPTANCE OF THE COMMANDMENTS)
3.5 CONVERSION OF CHILDREN
3.6 THE CONVERT AND THE COHEN HS
3.7 ACT OF CONVERSION
3.8 CANCELLATION OF CONVERSION
3.9 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 4: JOHANNESBURG BETH DIN ARCHIVES
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 METHODOLOGY
4.3 DEVELOPMENT OF BETH DIN POLICY IN JOHANNESBURG
4.4. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS – CASE STUDY
4.5 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE THREE CENTRES
4.6 MAJOR SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
4.7 REASONS FOR CONVERSION
4.8 CONVERSION – PERSONS OF COLOUR
4.9 CONVERSION PROGRAMME : THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER
4.10 CASES FROM THE BETH DIN’S ARCHIVES
4.11 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 5 : DURBAN AS A MODEL
5. INTRODUCTION
5.1 KASHRUT OBSERVANCE
5.2 SHABBAT OBSERVANCE
5.3 ATTENDANCE AT SYNAGOGUE
5.4 LAWS OF FAMILY PURITY
5.5 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
5.6 DIVORCE AMONG THE CONVERTS
5.7 QUESTIONNAIRE TO COMMUNITY
5.8 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION, PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.2 RESPONSE TO QUESTIONNAIRE SENT TO RABBIS IN SOUTH AFRICA
6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
6.4 CONCLUSION
APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
