List of converts to Judaism

This article lists nations, groups or tribes, as well as individual people, who have converted to Judaism and have a Wikipedia article about them. This article does not differentiate between the different branches of Judaism. See also Who is a Jew? on issues related to the acceptance of conversions throughout the Jewish community.

(A number of prominent figures, such as Madonna, have recently become followers of "new age" version of Kabbalah, derived from the body of Jewish mystical teaching also called Kabbalah, but do not consider themselves – and are not considered – Jewish.[1])

Converted nations, groups or tribes

Converted nations, groups or tribes from Christianity

Other converted nations, groups or tribes

Converted individuals

From Christianity

Former Christian clergy/theologians

Other Christians who converted to Judaism

Not from Christianity

From Atheism or Agnosticism

From Black Hebrew Israelitism

From Islam

From other Middle Eastern religions

From Greco-Roman religion

From Samaritanism

From Shinto

From Hinduism

List of conversions named in the Bible

Undetermined former religion

Converts who later left the faith or were expelled

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wall Street Journal 2011
  2. ↑ A History of the Abuyudaya Jews of Uganda
  3. ↑ "Rabbi backs India's 'lost Jews'". BBC News. April 1, 2005. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  4. ↑ Kulanu: Bene Ephraim of Andhra Pradesh, South India
  5. ↑ Converting Inca Indians in Peru
  6. ↑ Judaism – Reflections on Giur
  7. ↑ Kulanu: Claim Mexico playing host to a Lost Tribe
  8. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia "Obadiah was a proselyte of Edomite origin."
  9. ↑ Fordham University
  10. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia "If the contradictory and sometimes legendary accounts of the personality of Dhu Nuwas given by the Arabian writers can be trusted, he was not a Jew by birth, but embraced Judaism after ascending the throne, taking the name of "Joseph."
  11. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, art. Aquila of Sinope
  12. ↑ IMDB
  13. ↑ http://www.jewcy.com/religion-and-beliefs/jewish-actress-elizabeth-banks-discusses-her-conversion-with-marc-maron
  14. ↑ http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_352_-_elizabeth_banks
  15. ↑ Le Figaro Magazine which states "as though his conversion to Judaism in 2002 had paradoxically made him closer to his Pas-de-Calais roots".
  16. ↑ Arc Poetry review of "Jacob's Dream" which states "Brewster is fascinated with her newly adopted faith of Judaism—poems about Jewish holy days and heritage are sprinkled throughout"
  17. ↑ "May Britt Joins Jewish Faith", The New York Times, October 18, 1960, p. 46
  18. ↑ Q&A with Sarah Brown "Judaism, for me, is more a spiritual thing than a religion, but I feel that I have a Jewish soul. I didn't convert because of my marriage; I just always felt like there was a Jewish soul inside of me just dying to get out."
  19. ↑ New York Times
  20. ↑ Onetime Catholic Priest Abraham Carmel Celebrates His 25th Year as An Orthodox Jew : People.com
  21. ↑ Chicago Sun Times via "Find Articles.": Said of her conversion "I needed to know where God was, and I went back to the basics."
  22. ↑ EsMas.com
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 Converted to Judaism
  24. ↑ Happy Birthday, Connie Chung, Award-Winning Journalist
  25. ↑ Interview with Croce's Cousin http://www.netporch.com/sa/
  26. ↑ Jewish Virtual Library
  27. ↑ Shanks, Hershel. "Losing Faith: How Scholarship Affects Scholars". Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2007.
  28. ↑ A Publishers Weekly review of Jacqueline Du Pre: A Biography by Carol Easton states she was "the daughter of anti-Semitic parents who herself converted to Judaism and at age 21 married Jewish pianist-conductor Daniel Barenboim."
  29. ↑ Democratic Convention Notes: Meet Chinese Jewish candidate Hank Eng – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
  30. ↑ Gensler, Howard (November 27, 2006). "'Borat' to wed Aussie actress Isla Fisher". Retrieved November 29, 2006.
  31. ↑ Isla Fisher's wife wish – sofeminine.co.uk
  32. ↑ Luke Ford, XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without a Shul. iUniverse, Inc., 2004. ISBN 0-595-66441-5
  33. ↑ Aaron Freeman's website
  34. ↑ Convert Authors
  35. ↑ Natan Gamedze's website
  36. ↑ Compass: Compass: The Black Jew Of Royal Swaziland – Abc Tv
  37. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia
  38. ↑
  39. ↑ The movie Shalom y'all
  40. ↑ Contemporary Jewish Writing in Sweden – Lars Gustafsson Bio
  41. ↑ Hart – "Thought there are no Jewish Republicans in show biz? Well, Bush contributors include... host Mary Hart, who’s a convert to Judaism..."
  42. ↑ Her website
  43. ↑ Horlen, Joe : Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum
  44. ↑ The Big Book of Jewish Sports People by Peter Horvitz page 53
  45. ↑ IMDB
  46. ↑ El Mundo
  47. ↑ Times Online interview: She says in the interview "I converted to Judaism in 1983. I am not a deeply religious person but it is a vital part of my life. It shapes my beliefs, and how I look at the world."
  48. ↑ Seattle Times
  49. ↑ judaism+-wikipedia&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=25 Beth Israel
  50. ↑ Julis Lester's Home Page
  51. ↑ Baseball Almanac.com
  52. ↑ O'Toole, Lesley (December 22, 2006). "Ben Stiller : 'Doing comedy is scary'". London: The Independent. Retrieved December 22, 2006.
  53. ↑ Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco states of her marriage, "Adah was not at all interested in home or family; in fact, the only thing she shared sincerely with him was his religion–she adopted the Jewish faith and remained steadfast in it until her death."
  54. ↑ "BBC On this Day"
  55. ↑ The Independent Feb 7, 2005; online here Findarticles accessed Dec 11, 2006
  56. ↑ The Nation
  57. ↑
  58. ↑ Lawrence Jeffrey Epstein (1989). A treasury of Jewish anecdotes. p. 5,6. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  59. ↑ Interview at Book Browse "I am a Jew by choice and Italian by heritage. Shortly after I converted to Judaism, I came across a book by Alexander Stille called Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism."
  60. ↑ Zeitgeistnews (in German)
  61. ↑ Ariey Ariley (May 29, 2014). "Yosef the Holy Avreich" (in Hebrew). Jerusalem, Israel: Mishpacha. Retrieved Sep 30, 2014.
  62. ↑ Deutsch, Gloria. "Yearning for acceptance". Features (07/26/2012). Jerusalem Post. Joseph Joel Sherman has traveled a long road, from devout Christian to even more devout Jew – and in fact he has not yet arrived at his destination, to be accepted as a fully-fledged Orthodox Jew – although he is well on the way.
  63. ↑ "Intelligently and Enthusiastically Crowning Hashem". The Seymour J. Abrams Jerusalem World Center, headquarters of OU Israel. Retrieved Sep 30, 2014.
  64. ↑ Shyne To Be Released In April? « 57thave’s Blog
  65. ↑ http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/20338/edition_id/415/format/html/displaystory.html
  66. ↑ from biography "Female Brando: The Legend of Kim Stanley" by Jon Krampner, 2006
  67. ↑ New York Times book review
  68. ↑ Stilley – "...the former model, raised a Christian in Conway, S.C., recently announced that she is converting to Judaism. Even her rabbi is befuddled.... "The first thing that attracted me to Judaism was the undeniable family strength that has held Jewish people and culture together for 3,000 years. . . Jews, whether religious or not, know where they have come from and what they would wish for their future, and this certainty is based on fact, not faith.... "I will not be a perfect Jew, nor will Judaism make me perfect. But I know that Judaism will give me faith, support, knowledge, and history. I am not Jewish because I choose to be. I am Jewish because there is no other choice for me.""
  69. ↑ In her book Elizabeth Takes Off, Taylor writes, "[Conversion to Judaism] had absolutely nothing to do with my past marriage to Mike [Todd] or my upcoming marriage to Eddie Fisher, both of whom were Jewish. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time."
  70. ↑ Profile at Jewishsports.com
  71. ↑ Jewish Bulletin of Northern California:On being asked about Christmas, because of the Santa Claus related The Polar Express, he stated "We have a Jewish household. I converted when I married Lisa."
  72. ↑ Jewish Bulletin of Northern California: "After Winningham observed her first Yom Kippur that year, she knew she had to convert, and did so March 3, 2003, accompanied by an entourage of friends and relatives."
  73. ↑ Jewish Baseball Players
  74. ↑ Entertainment Weekly
  75. ↑ NIH Profile
  76. ↑ http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0748-0814(1989)7%3A1%3C247%3AFMTJCE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5
  77. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=SdwbFx9Dz8EC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=Mary+Doria+Russell+atheist+convert+to+judaism&source= web&ots=B3k3Y1x-zr&sig=V-x23lDfFw5fBjbJIhLQb1jJsEs
  78. ↑ Cohen, Mike. TV’s Lost Girl converts to Judaism, Jewish Tribune, August 23, 2011. Accessed October 18, 2011.
  79. ↑ j. – Actress-singer Mare Winningham an unlikely Jewish soul
  80. ↑ Actress Mare Winningham Sings a "Convert's Jig"
  81. ↑ Iranian Muslim converts to Judaism
  82. ↑ "A Martyr from Lebanon: Life in the Shadow of Danger"
  83. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia
  84. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia
  85. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia "He was by birth a Gentile from Pontus, and is said by Epiphanius to have been a connection by marriage of the emperor Hadrian and to have been appointed by him about the year 128 to an office concerned with the rebuilding of Jerusalem as "Ælia Capitolina." At some unknown age he joined the Christians, but afterward left them and became a proselyte to Judaism."
  86. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia
  87. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia
  88. ↑ BBC
  89. ↑ (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities xx. 7, § 3
  90. ↑ Columbia Encyclopedia