“Teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot,” said the gentile to Shamai. “No,” said Shamai and pushed him aside with his measuring stick. So the gentile went to Hillel. “All right,” said Hillel, “behave toward others as you would have them behave toward you. That is the Torah in a nutshell. The rest is an elaboration on that theme. Go now and study it.”
This story illustrates the tension our sages struggle with when it comes to conversion. All agree that Judaism is not a religion of missionaries. It is not looking for converts. As in the Hillel story, the initiative must come from the potential convert, not from the Jew. But then, how easy does Judaism make conversion? Should it be as difficult as a Fifth Avenue condominium interview or should it be as easy as joining a political party? What are the basic requirements of acceptance and what level of commitment is required?
If we recall that all Jews are converts, we just need to ask ourselves what we had to do when we left Egypt to become the Jewish nation. First, all males had to be circumcised. Then, both men and women had to purify themselves by immersing in the mikveh, the ritual bath. Finally, we had to undertake to perform unconditionally God’s commandments.
Nothing has changed. Like then, the convert has to undergo circumcision. Once fully recovered he immerses himself in the mikveh. Although the conversion ceremony involves more than circumcision and immersion, these are the two essential requirements, without which the conversion is ineffective.
The conversion ceremony itself strikes a delicate balance between Judaism’s distaste for the missionary approach and its concern to not dissuade those who genuinely desire to convert. The court of three that conducts the conversion ceremony goes about it in a gentle manner and does not overwhelm the convert with details or intimidate him with the weight of Jewish history.
Nevertheless, the court owes the potential convert the duty of full disclosure, for he is about to voluntarily accept a code of behavior that will regulate his daily life like never before. “Why do you want to convert?” asks the court. “Don’t you know the Jewish people are afflicted, downtrodden, oppressed, and harassed?” If the non-Jew responds, “Nevertheless, I would like to belong to the Jewish people,” he is accepted immediately. The court tells him about certain major and minor commandments, the punishments for their violation, and the reward for their observance. If he accepts, he is scheduled for circumcision, to be followed by immersion as soon as is medically possible.
Just before the immersion, the court reminds the conversion candidate of the commandments he will be subject to, and that he is still at liberty to change his mind. He then immerses his entire body in the mikveh. Upon resurfacing, he is now a Jew in every respect. The convert, now Jewish and subject to the mitzvot, recites the blessing required after mikveh immersion, and also, since who is now considered a newborn, the blessing of Shehecheyanu, thanking God for giving life.
Is the convert’s motive for conversion relevant? Rabbi Nechemia says the conversion is ineffective unless the motivation is solely religious. The rabbis disagree. Even where the court knows the sole motive is the desire to marry a Jewish person, the conversion is effective as long as the minimum requirements of circumcision and immersion before a court of three are fulfilled. The halacha is in accordance with the rabbis’ opinion. In the end, the court, basing itself on all the facts and circumstances of each particular case, has the discretion to decide whether or not to perform the conversion.