Judaism Unbound Episode 400: Becoming Jewish, Building Judaism Together – Dan and Lex
Conversion to Judaism is a process dating back to roughly the 2nd century BCE, but even with this long history, mainstream Jewish institutions often fail to wholly welcome these individuals into their communities. In this conversation, Dan and Lex discuss attitudes towards conversion and explore the future of integrating the beauty and brilliance that people who convert bring to the Jewish community and beyond. This episode is the 10th and final episode in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism.
We recorded this episode, along with a number of our upcoming episodes, before October 7th, when war broke out in Israel and Gaza. We, and we’re sure many of our listeners, are holding feelings of deep despair, anger, and frustration as we pray for the healing of our world. If now is not the time for you to listen to something that feels separated from the tragedy of our moment, just save this episode for later – you can always come back to it. If now feels like precisely the time to take a second and consider the Jewish future in a conversation that does not tie directly to Israel/Palestine, we invite you to listen in.
[1] For previous episodes from the series, see:
Episode 386: Converting to Judaism – Becoming Ger-ish – Katie Kaestner-Frenchman
Episode 387: Conversion to Judaism – Beyond Blood Quantum – Juan Mejia
Episode 388: Conversion to Judaism – But… You’re Already Jewish – David A.M. Wilensky
Episode 390: Converting to Judaism – Thanks Madonna! – Marques Hollie
Episode 391: Converting to Judaism – Jewish-Adjacent – Chris Bartlett
Episode 392: Becoming Jewish, Then Becoming a Rabbi – Lisa Rappaport
Episode 394: Becoming Jewish – Integration – Tivona Reith, Holly Smith
Episode 396: Becoming Jewish, But Not a ‘Jew-By-Choice’ – Amelia Dornbush
[2] Interested in our new course, Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels: Exploring Big Jewish Questions Through Roleplaying with Shawn Harris? Visit JudaismUnbound.com/classes to learn more and register!
[3] Dan mentions this TED Talk with Benjamin Zander on classical music, drawing an analogy between Zander’s attitude towards getting more people interested in classical music and Jewish institutions’ approach bringing people closer to Judaism.
[4] During his and Lex’s conversation about cultural appreciation vs. appropriation, Dan celebrates Casper ter Kuile’s practice of refraining from technology on Saturdays (a common practice for Jews who observe Shabbat) as a non-Jewish person. To listen to our past episodes with ter Kuile, check out: How We Gather: Judaism Unbound Episode 18 – Angie Thurston and Casper ter Kuile and The Power of Ritual: Judaism Unbound Episode 227 – Casper ter Kuile.
[5] Dan and Lex discuss how digital Judaism, with its lack of physical “lock and key,” creates space for those who are in the process of converting to or have converted to Judaism. To learn more about what, exactly, digital Judaism is, check out our page, What Is Digital Judaism?.
[6] Dan references the legendary Talmudic story in which Rabban Gamliel, the gatekeeping head of the Rabbinic study hall, is replaced by the inclusive Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who opens up the gates of the study hall and shows the benefit of making Torah available to all who seek it. Take a look at the original text via the Sefaria translation of Berakhot 28a.
