Are your conversions accepted for all streams of Judaism?
Would Israel recognize the conversion for Aliyah purposes?

These are 2 questions that people often wonder. First, let’s talk about acceptance. There is no guarantee that any conversion will be accepted by all Jews. There have even been times when people have converted through an Orthodox Beit Din with a Rabbi approved by the Israeli Rabbinate to do conversions, but because the Rabbi is later rejected or “disapproved”, the status of his converts also comes into question.

This is not fair, nor halachic. It is against Jewish law, yet this unfair treatment of converts and potential converts is sadly common today.

The modern state of Israel was founded by secular Jews, who wanted to keep the population up to their standards as much as possible. This has permeated to the religious world as well.

Right now, there are even certain countries where Jewish converts are not accepted by Israel for aliyah. We have a friend who is from Mexico, but in order to make aliyah, he had to first move to America. This prevents many who can not afford such a move from ever converting and making aliyah.

We know of Jews in Mexico who flew over Orthodox Rabbis from Israel to do halachic conversions. They are fully Jewish according to Jewish law but because their Rabbis were not approved by the Israeli Rabbinate, they can not make aliyah.

Are these people accepted by other Jewish communities? It depends on the people there, whether they will accept you or not.

The Jewish world has a hard time accepting converts. However that doesn’t mean that you will not find acceptance at all.

Your level of acceptance will depend on several factors. How well do you reflect Judaism? How much do you understand Judaism? How observant are you? How well can you get along and abide by the ways and customs of the community you are seeking to join?

If you want to make aliyah, move to Israel, the quickest way would be to convert through a Reform congregation that is accepted by Israel, which would take just a few months. A Conservative congregation’s conversion program would be even shorter, perhaps a year long. A typical Orthodox conversion can take 3 more years on average.

Currently, you can make aliyah with a Reform or Conservative conversion, but you will be considered an Israeli, not a Jew. What this means is that you can’t legally marry another Jew in Israel. To get around this, many Israelis simply marry outside of Israel, and then come back to Israel, because the Israeli government recognizes marriages done outside of Israel. However, laws can change at any time.

Right now, if you convert through an Orthodox Beit Din approved by Israel, you can make aliyah to Israel and also be considered a Jew, and marry another Jew in Israel, probably.

Orthodox communities may or may not accept other orthodox conversions, but they typically DO NOT accept non-Orthodox conversions. Conservative usually accept Orthodox conversions, but not Reform conversions. Reform usually accept Conservative and Orthodox conversions. Conversions outside of the 3 major streams (Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform), are typically not accepted by Israel.

In the end, if you are seeking to be accepted by men, you have to find favor with each man and each community you want to be accepted by. Good luck with that.

If you want to simply convert because you know the Torah is true and you want to enter into Hashem’s Torah covenant, then we can help you.

If you want to convert to Judaism halachically, according to Jewish law, and be part of our growing, Torah-observant community that is inspired by Mashiach, get in touch with us today.

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