Online Conversion to Judaism Course

email rabbi@jconversion.org or call 847 331-3584

Let us help you become Jewish, as we've done for so many

Inspirational, Gold Medal Awarded Program, Genuine Rabbis, Inexpensive

"Thorough, inspiring, fun, easy to comprehend, at your own pace, exactly what was missing!"

-It was a great course.. and so much fun! You make Judaism seem so easy. Mary from Monoco.

-Thanks again for converting me, you changed my life! amazing! I can't thank you enough! Rachel

-I checked out several alternatives in detail and yours was the most comprehensive, well structured. Rob Florida

- I was accepted for aliyah in Israel. Thank you for everythng you have done for me. Shabbat shalom and take care. Mario from Europe

Converting to Judaism

Glad you are exploring conversion

"I hope this email finds you and yours doing well. I wanted to let you know that I completed conversion in Orlando. The Rabbi spoke very highly of you. They told me I was well prepared. I can't tell you how nervous I was. I had reread my conversion essay I'd written for you and the course materials several times. Thank you for helping me be prepared! I think your course is great!! Chris, June 20

Glad you are interested! Why do people want to convert? There are many reasons. Often an inter religious marriage sparks an interest in the non-Jewish partner that can lead to a desire to share the religion of his or her spouse. Similarly, when an interfaith couple decides to raise children, the non-Jew may initially decide to explore Judaism in order to seek a religious common ground for the family. Other men and women seeking religious meaning in their lives find that Judaism offers them the best medium of religious expression. Some tell us they can't totally explain it, but have wanted to be Jewish since they were children. Some have a Jewish father or grandparent and at some point decide to commit.

Whatever your motivation, we'll help.

Michael standing with Jewish fiance, converted June 9. 2014 and beit din is reading his conversion document. From Michael

Enlightening spiritual journey!!!!

"I finished the last week session It has been an incredible enlightening spiritual journey for me and I am very blessed to have learned and studied from you with your incredible curriculum and amazing videos. I have learned so much over the course and I now have the tools and foundation to move forward. I am amazed at all the history of the Jewish people. I am so excited to convert and have found a religion that I love and agree with. Thanks again for the amazing course it was a Mitzvah reading every word that you have laid out for me! I will never forget this experience and it has changed my life for the good." Michael June 3. 2014

This website is dedicated to those who are considering becoming "Jews by choice." We want to make your journey as easy as possible. Making a decision to convert to Judaism is a very personal commitment. We hope your journey is a meaningful one and that this site will be helpful in the steps ahead of you.

STEPS TO CONVERSION

1. Initial contact: If you are interested in exploring the possibility of conversion, call or send an email, or simply email back the filled in enrollment form provided on this website. The form asks you to explain why you are interested and asks for some basic information about you.

2. Study: All Rabbis require that you study. Ours is a home schooling program to make the study as flexible for you as possible, while still offering the most inspiring and thorough background our beit din feels you need to make an informed choice. You use books, videos, a detailed curriculum and as much guidance from us as you wish. We have taught this course for decades. Now it is available as home study due to the technology of videos. Our course is a prerequisite for conversion to Judaism. The curriculum requires readings in the following books: Jewish Literacy, Basic Judaism, Complete Handbook of Jewish Living, Jewish Study Bible or Etz Hayim Torah Commentary, Emet Ve-Emunah, Siddur, and Amazing Adventures of the Jewish People. It includes a curriculum of 38 Jewish values, videos we created or selected, memorization texts for each session, an eight question essay, a 100 question exam, and terms to define. Topics covered included: theology, mitzvote, Holy Books, denominations, synagogue, prayer, history, kashrut, Holidays, Shabbat, people hood, conversion, anti-Semitism and Holocaust, Israel, Life cycle, life-after-death, messianic era etc. This course was part of Adult Education program awarded a Gold Medal by USCJ in 2009

3. Religious Practice & Observance:

Personal: In the conversion process, learning and exploration of beliefs are compiled with the creation of a life of Jewish religious practice and fulfillment of mitzvot (commandments). Through the process you to study the mitzvot/commandments and traditions and make decisions about which ones you bring into your life and home based on knowledge and commitment.

Communal: We encourage you to participate in as much synagogue and broader Jewish community life as possible. We realize sometimes our students live very far from a local Jewish community and regular attendance is not possible. If possible, we recommend attending Shabbat worship services at least twice a month, as well as High Holy Day services, holiday celebrations and other religious, educational, cultural and social offerings as often as you can in order to experience the variety of Jewish religious life. Many rabbis will not convert someone unless they attend regularly. Whhile we strongly encourage that, we know many of our students live far from a Jewish community. We say "do the best you can" but that should not preclude you from being a Jew!

4. Time Line for Conversion: Each person is unique. While some may be relatively new to Judaism as they begin the conversion process, others may have been living a Jewish life for many years. Typically, the conversion student should expect 4-6 months or longer to complete the course and make an informed and emotional sound decision.

5. Concluding Rituals and Ceremonies: The rituals of conversion allow you to enter the covenant of Judaism by proclaiming your faith and commitment to the Jewish people. There are several steps to the concluding ritual once you've finished the course of study and written the essay.

Beit Din-a panel of three Rabbis we assemble to reflect on and assess your journey via skype interview and we supervise your immersion in a lake, river, ocean, stream in your home town.

or you can convert with your local rabbi, if you have a relationship with him/her and he/she will oversee the conversion, using our course as a basic prerequisite for the study

Stella Standford BA, Harvard PHD, loved our program. Converted June 9, 2014. Seven months pregnanat so baby gets converted too!

The Conservative and Orthodox denominations do not officially endorse online learning for conversion, but we do have students accepted and participating all over the world, converted with our Reform beit din

Mikeveh-immersion in a ritual bath, which can include lake, river, ocean. Our beit din occurs at the community mikvah.

Hatafat Dam Brit-this ritual, part of many men’s conversion journey, can be explained to you by the clergy. The choice of whether or not to take part in this ritual is ultimately the decision of the Jew-by-choice for Reform, required for Conservative

Public Affirmation-if you finish with us, after the mikvah we read your conversion certificate, bestow the Hebrew name you have chosen and bless you

The Course is $495

+ Books can be ordered by you from Amazon or we can ship. A couple of the books are available as ebooks if you prefer.

2 of the 75 from Indonesia

Mexican family

Our conversion program is described by our students as "thorough", "inspiring", "fun", "easy to comprehend," " a real bargain", and "exactly what was missing"!

New Jew: fiance from Boston

The instruction is organized around videos we made for the course. From one new student:
"We have made it about one third of the way through the information. The videos are just unbelievably great! He explains things in such an easy to understand manner and has influenced our family not only spiritually but politically as well! We are just loving the class and while we have much to learn, I believe we will be ready by august. My biggest obstacle will be on the memorizations: we have nearly half of that memorized but are curious if there will be a test for the Beit Din and mikveh or if we can just prove to the teacher we have retained the information (most worried about our pronunciation of the blessings). Please tell the Rabbi our family adores learning from him and we cannot say enough good about the way he teaches! What an amazing man!

MORE TESTIMONIALS

I wanted to thank you for all of the effort you have put into this course. For people like me, it is exactly what has been missing. Michael, Germany
We learned so much and you made it seem is was fun and easy. Mary, Monoco
I can't believe that I have just sent my final session. The course has been so enjoyable and informative and I cannot wait for my conversion to finalize everything." Iona from UK Jan. 2014
I'm very excited about the visit and conversion conclusion, can't wait! It has been extremely educational and I couldn't wish for a better program :) Thank you so much and see you on March 24th !! Nikita Thailand
I just want to admit that I cannot describe how I am happy. With you and the help of Hasmen a new path opened in my life. I am really delightful for everything which I am learning and becoming a Jew via conversion period day by day. Thank you very much for everything.

I was studying with a Reform Rabbi for online conversion and he charged me almost $250 a week and left me broke. I didn't think it was worth it so I found you guys and I am so glad I did."

Then you receive the documents attesting to your Jewishness, are blessed and given your Hebrew name!

For details on how this all works, see the subsequent pages.