Conversion — Jews by Choice

Tell Ruth’s story (‘your people shall be my people’); celebrate Jews by choice in our community.

Children wonder and discover; you facilitate more than you lecture.

• What does it mean to become Jewish by choice?
• How does someone convert?
• What is the history of conversion in Judaism?

People become Jewish by choice through study, community, and ritual. Ruth, a convert, is an ancestor of King David — Jews by choice are woven into our very heart.

• Giyur — conversion
• Ger/Giyoret — Jew by choice
• Ruth — the convert ancestor

“Are Jews by choice ‘as Jewish’ as anyone?”

Completely — tradition forbids ever pointing out that someone chose Judaism; they are fully Jewish.

• Children understand Ruth and Naomi and its link to Jews by choice.
• Children understand the conversion process and welcome Jews by choice as full community members.

A vital mirror for converts and their children; present Jews by choice with honor and as central, not marginal.

Folktale. Ruth and Naomi (Tanakh) — ‘Your people shall be my people’ — the convert who became an ancestor of kings.

Changemaker. Sammy Davis Jr. — studied for years and became Jewish while at the top of his career, and kept it up in public when it cost him work and friends.

What does it mean to choose a people? (Big question.)

“We celebrated Jews by choice and Ruth’s story. Try at home: talk about what people choose to commit to and why.”