Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Shedding Light On The Conversion Racket! The Facts Of The "Jewish Converts" Industry - The Vast Majority Do It For Personal Reasons Totally Unrelated To Becoming Jews!

 photos of a woman from the adult film industry very recently converted to "Orthodox Judaism"

 We must take a hard look at the 2 rabbis that have made conversions their top priority as rabbis. Leib Tropper & Barry Freundel (among many others). Google these two perverts and you'll understand what motivates them!
....."Where questions of religion are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanour".....Sigmund Freud; The Future Of An Illusion.

 Conversion to Judaism: Denomination by Denomination

From JTA's special series on conversion: Do you want a Reform, Orthodox or Conservative conversion — and what does each entail? Compare the denominations.


Number of converts: Unknown. Over the last seven years, approximately 1,275 conversions have been certified by conversion courts affiliated with the Rabbinical Council of America, but plenty of Orthodox conversions take place outside the RCA’s system.

Ritual: Approval by a three-judge religious court comprised of three Orthodox men (usually rabbis), male circumcision (or, for circumcised men, symbolic drawing of blood at the place of circumcision) and ritual immersion in a mikvah.

Requirements: Commitment to performing all the Torah’s commandments according to Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law. (Practically never happens)

Preparation: In most cases, regular study with a rabbi and/or religious mentor. The only rabbi known to offer an Orthodox conversion class in the United States, Rabbi Maury Kellman of New York, has a yearlong curriculum for his Manhattan Mechina L’Giyur that covers Jewish philosophy, law, history and ethics; field trips to places like Brooklyn and Israel; and occasional Shabbaton weekends. Prospective converts are expected to adopt Jewish practices, join an Orthodox Jewish community and regularly attend synagogue.

Who’s converting?

 Spiritual seekers, non-Jews dating Jews, gentiles drawn to Judaism through friends and those who converted through other Jewish denominations. The latter category includes individuals raised as Jews in non-Orthodox households who subsequently realized they don’t count as Jewish according to Orthodox Jewish law (usually because their mother isn’t halachically Jewish), as well as individuals who previously converted Reform or Conservative and then decided they wanted an Orthodox conversion. This usually happens because they became more observant or want their Jewish status to be unimpeachable. Kellman estimates the breakdown of students at his Orthodox conversion course in Manhattan as 30-35 percent converts who already converted outside of Orthodoxy, 30 percent relationship converts, 15 percent seekers and 15 percent drawn to Judaism for social reasons. (That makes it 60% are invalid converts out the gate) The vast majority of Kellman’s students are women, mostly aged 25 to 40.

Attitude toward conversions performed by other denominations: Not good enough. Orthodox conversion is the only acceptable path to becoming a Jew.

Problems: Only in 2007 did the Rabbinical Council of America, the country’s main centrist Orthodox rabbinic association, establish a standardized process for conversions. The system, called Geirus Policies and Standards, or GPS, constituted an attempt to “provide reasonable assurance that its converts and their offspring be accorded acceptance and recognition in other Jewish communities in the future.” But with many Orthodox conversions still taking place outside this system (perhaps most), critics say the establishment of central standards automatically casts aspersions on the Jewish credentials of anyone who does not go through the GPS process.

Who is a Jew without conversion: Anyone whose mother is Jewish according to halachah. In cases of uncertainty, such as some Ethiopian immigrants to Israel or members of so-called Lost Tribes whose Jewish ancestry is not universally accepted or known, most Orthodox authorities prefer conversion just to be on the safe side.


Number: Unknown. A ballpark estimate of 2,500-3,000 converts per year worldwide is cited by the head of the movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, a figure based on an extrapolation from the 350 people the movement says convert every year under its aegis in Los Angeles.

Ritual: Approval by a three-judge religious court, male circumcision (or symbolic drawing of blood) and mikvah immersion. The court judges ideally will be three Conservative rabbis, but it’s not a must. In smaller communities, cantors or suitable community members will do.

Preparation: Several U.S. cities have conversion institutes that run Introduction to Judaism courses. In addition — and in some places instead of classes — conversion candidates will meet with a rabbi one on one. Prospective converts are also expected to become part of the Jewish community, attend synagogue, celebrate holidays and engage with Jewish practice in some meaningful way. A sponsoring rabbi is necessary to complete the conversion.

Requirements: “The prospective convert must renounce all other religious beliefs and practices and commit to living a moral life according to Jewish teaching, having a Jewish household and, if they have children, raising them as Jews,” Schonfeld says. “They must commit to adopt and grow in their observances of Shabbat and holidays and kashrut, to give tzedakah and to engage in Jewish study. The exact minimum requirements for these and other observances vary somewhat from rabbi to rabbi.” Few if any rabbis require commitment to Jewish law as defined by the Conservative movement.

Who’s converting? Two-thirds are non-Jews in an interfaith relationship with a Jew, says Rabbi Adam Greenwald, director of the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. But because intermarriage is so prevalent among Conservative Jews these days (nearly four in 10 Conservative Jews are doing it, according to Steven M. Cohen of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion), partners willing to go the extra step and convert tend to be pretty involved with Judaism, Greenwald says. The other one-third of Conservative converts include spiritual seekers, young people turned on to Judaism through friends in college, the elderly — even single moms looking for direction, according to Greenwald.

Attitude toward conversions performed by other denominations: If the conversion meets Conservative requirements, it’s kosher. That generally includes Orthodox conversions and excludes Reform ones, but not across the board. If a Reform conversion included an acceptable three-judge panel, mikvah, circumcision, and a serious course of study and commitment to Jewish life, there are Conservative rabbis who would find it acceptable.

Problems: Conservative conversions are not recognized by Orthodox institutions, including Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. So if you immigrate to Israel (the Israeli Interior Ministry accepts Conservative conversions for the purposes of immigration), you probably won’t be considered Jewish by the Rabbinate and therefore won’t be permitted to marry a Jew in Israel. You’ll either have to marry overseas, have an “unofficial” wedding in Israel that won’t be recognized by law or re-convert Orthodox style.

Who is a Jew without conversion: Anyone with a Jewish mother according to Conservative interpretations of Jewish law.


Number: Unknown, but at least 800-900 per year. The American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati keeps a record of conversion certificates but does not know what proportion of converts send them in. The Union for Reform Judaism says over 1,000 individuals took one of its 16-week conversion classes in 2013.

Ritual: Varies. All “Jews by choice” make some kind of public declaration of commitment. It may be in the rabbi’s office before a three-person religious panel, in front of the entire congregation in the synagogue sanctuary or at the mikvah. Mikvah immersion is recommended but not required. Some men also undergo circumcision or the symbolic drawing of blood, but it’s not required. In synagogue conversion ceremonies, the convert typically holds the Torah, recites the Shema, is given a Hebrew name and receives a blessing.

Preparation: A 14- to 16-week Introduction to Judaism class that meets weekly and covers such topics as basic Hebrew and prayer, holidays, Jewish history, Jewish lifecycle, Israel and how-to Judaism. These may be supplemented or substituted by individualized counseling or study sessions with rabbis.

Requirements: Broadly speaking, commitment to the Jewish people, living life as a Jew and Jewish values. Some ceremonies require affirmation of six key tenets as outlined in the conversion service published by the movement in 1988: accepting Judaism to the exclusion of all other religious; freely entering the covenant between God and the Jewish people; being loyal to Judaism and the Jewish people; establishing a Jewish home and participating actively in synagogue and communal life; pursuing Torah and Jewish knowledge; raising one’s children as Jews.

Who’s converting? Longtime non-Jewish spouses of Jews who may have raised Jewish children and long been involved in synagogue life and now want to formalize their Jewish identity; gentiles marrying Jews; spiritual seekers.

Feeling toward conversions performed by other denominations: If you have chosen to become a Jew and gone through some kind of legitimate conversion, you’re Jewish.

Problems: If you’re applying for Israeli citizenship, Reform conversions usually pass muster with the Israeli Interior Ministry but not with the Orthodox-dominated Israeli Chief Rabbinate. That means you can move to Israel but you can’t marry a Jew there. In the United States, too, Orthodox institutions don’t accept Reform conversions. Your conversion probably won’t count according to Conservative interpretations of Jewish law, either, but that depends on the specifics of your conversion and which Conservative rabbi you ask.

Who is a Jew without conversion: Anyone with a Jewish parent (mother or father) living as a Jew. Someone with a Jewish parent who identifies with another faith is not considered Jewish.

(This piece does not include conversion by other denominations or no denomination because the numbers are negligible compared with the three main American Jewish religious denominations.)



UOJ gets results said...

At least the phony rabbis are currently terrified to convert supermodels from the Victoria's Secret runway that rich baalei tayva have been bringing to them.

They KNOW that UOJ is going to take them down if they even think about it!

Kapo Hunter said...


UOJ wrote about this shyster in 2007, the Satmar Rov's 1st cousin, the other Joel Teitelbaum who called himself Kiralyhauzer Rov.

I am trying to verify reports he was a Kapo but Yad Vashem has nothing along those lines. Was he ever reported to Allied Intelligence that there might be some military archives on that? Or how do we know that the allegations are true? I know of one old lady who screamed Kapo at the grandchild's Vort. But it is a known dirty tactic of survivor age people falsely accusing enemies of being a Kapo. Did anyone else say he was a Kapo?

On the other hand there is a family of Sefardishe Kapos who Yad Vashem does have information about one of them being arrested after liberation by British Special Forces & put on trial and the other killed during an inmate uprising. Not everyone knows about this. Someone in the family pulled a ponzi of sorts in Lakewood with a supposed start up chain of seforim stores. He later went on to behave like a Kapo himself in Monsey, helping anti-Semites persecute Jews in return for things. Not everyone knows he is Sefardi because he dresses & talks like a Hungarian chassidishe. But his name is not an Ashkenazish name.

Paul Mendlowitz said...



The vast majority of kapos were never reported for various reasons. I do know for certain that my reporting on this kapo is 100% accurate.

Kapo Hunter said...

This appeared yesterday at http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2016/12/merry-chanukah-happy-christmas-more.html:

Once I happened to date a Russian convert. She couldn't stop talking how much she loved Torah and was awaiting Moshiach's arrival (btw, although she was Orthodox, she wasn't Lubavitch). The woman was incredibly sexy and a fantastic cook, so I completely lost my head and was about to marry her. One of my Russian Jewish friends (a psychologist who had been jailed in Russia for keeping Yiddishkeit) saw my infatuation and said he wanted to talk to her. It turned out that in her mother country she was a real Jew-hater and a slut but now needed to legalize herself in the US. Becoming Orthodox and marrying a Jew seemed to be the perfect venue! ("All Jews have extramarital affairs but never divorce!") Being a very smart person, she made rabbis believe she was sincere. UOJ wrote that “Both a man who converted for the sake of a woman and a woman who converted for the sake of a man,” we read in Yevamot 24b, “they are not converts.” I wonder if there are cases like mine in the Talmud or we are entering a new era of hypocrisy?

Kapo Hunter said...

To the fellow who gets infatuated with Russian women,

Please use your own screen name.


Anonymous said...

A Scottish newspaper broke the story over 10 years ago about a Nazi war criminal who US Army Intelligence gave a new Jewish identity, complete with documentation he was a "survivor" and circumcision by an Army doctor. When they finished picking his brain for useful information he actually moved to Israel, married a Jewish woman & had children. He left Israel in search of a lucrative income. There was an executive job offer with a German company manufacturing batteries for nuclear submarines. He presented himself as a Holocaust survivor. There actually are many German companies like Deutsche Bank that are known out of guilt complex to go out of their way to hire Jews. He landed the position & was posted to their facility in Venezuela. But besides being a genocidal murderer he was also a crook. During an interrogation for money he embezzled the private corporate interrogator sent from Germany sensed this was no Jew, he is a genuine Kraut. Participating agents from Venezuelan Secret Police who were making him talk through torture got him to admit everything including his Nazi past. The German company & Venezuela did not want to deal with such a hot potato that even the United States had concealed so they knocked him off & dumped his corpse in the Sea.

Anonymous said...

To the 12:24 PM fellow:

שו"ע יורה דעה סימן רס"ח סעיף י"ב: כשיבא הגר להתגייר בודקים אחריו שמא בגלל ממון שיטול או בשביל שררה שיזכה לה או מפני הפחד בא ליכנס לדת. ואם איש הוא בודקין אחריו שמא עיניו נתן באשה יהודית, ואם אשה היא בודקין אחריה שמא עיניה נתנה בבחורי ישראל... ואם לא בדקו אחריו או שלא הודיעוהו שכר המצות ועונשן ומל וטבל בפני ג' הדיוטות ה"ז גר אפי' נודע שבשביל דבר הוא מתגייר הואיל ומל וטבל יצא מכלל העובדי כוכבים וחוששים לו עד שתתברר צדקתו, ואפילו חזר ועבד עבודת כוכבים, הרי הוא כישראל מומר שקדושיו קדושין.‏

This quotation from the Shulchan Aruch is straightforward: If money, power or passion ("infatuation" as you put it) are involved, conversion shouldn't be done. If it was done, you got a convert of uncertain type. The SA advises to wait till his/her "righteousness" becomes clear. But what should we do if this questionable convert marries a Jew, produces kids? There are no clear-cut solutions, just read Rabbi Y. Cook's rejoinder (שו"ת דעת כהן יו"ד סימן קנ"ה) and Rabbi E. Waldenberg's opinion (שו"ת ציץ אליעזר ח"ה סימן ט"ו).

I know R' Paul Mendlowitz likes to cite Rabbi M. Feinstein (look at the sidebar) in Iggros Moshe, Yoreh De'ah, 1:157. Unfortunately, his translation is incorrect: "According to the Law, it is certain that one who converts for the sake of marriage, does not intend to keep the commandments, and is not a proselyte at all." This is the right translation: "Even if he said with his mouth that he accepted commandments, but we can testify he didn't really mean it - the conversion is void. A conversion for the sake of marriage is allowed to stand if for the sake of marriage he honestly accepted commandments. This is clear and simple." (ואף אם אמר בפיו שמקבל מצות אם אנן סהדי שאינו מקבל עליו באמת אינו כלום. וגר שמהני לשם אישות בדיעבד, איירי שבשביל האישות קבל עליו מצות באמת והוא ברור ופשוט.‏‎) Sincerity is the key factor in accepting the Torah, so if Jenna Jameson of adult movies PM cited decided to join Judaism and did it sincerely - I can only applaud. Rahab, at least according to Megilah 14b, had been a prostitute, yet Joshua married her when she converted. Then you have examples of Solomon, Samson and others marrying "bad girls."

Finally, I followed your links, 12:24 PM fellow, about Chana Smirnova. Of course, we aren't Yezidis, we accept converts: You can have a Jew who isn't a Jew in the biological sense and often they are just frauds. But that's Judaism. Leave it or live it. I think it is your mistake to run after Russian "converts" when so many beautiful Jewish American and even Russian FFB or BT women are single. Your Russian psychologist should explain this to you.

paskunyak said...

The fellow citing Shulchan Aruch is making one big mistake. It is true that (only bedieved) we accept someone who converted for the motive of marrying a Jew, but that still never works if there was no kabolas mitzvos.

All poskim agree with that. And we don't give a hoot what idiots like Angel & Weiss bring from one or two controversial figures who were never considered gedolim who claim no kabolas mitzvos needed.

You are also incorrect about Shlomo Hamelech & Shimshon. See the Chasam Sofer & others who explain that women in their lives were not even Jewish but what the cheshbon was.

Certainly many rabbis today are acting incorrectly with gerus & they should be bashed by Rabbi Mendlowitz.

Monsey said...

Has anyone figured out why Pinny Lipschutz never made a peep about Leib Tropper even though Fetter Elya knew for 30 years that Tropper is a dangerous menuvol?

Is Lipschutz covering up for the Tress shutfus with Tropper or what the heck is going on?

Tress by the way just got off with a slap on wrist despite being arrested by the FBI because Preet Bharara naively gave jurisdiction to the Rockland DA who always covers up for inzerra


I just do not believe Jenna Jameson or Chana Smirnova can be righteous converts. I just do not!! because it moved this veteran slut to want to embrace judaism. i know nothing about Shulchan Aruch but my entire jewishness screams: NO, NO, NOOOOOO! Ancient and modern rabbis have been twisting Torah so hard it became a shmate.!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jenna Jameson, Who Recently Announced Orthodox Conversion, Reveals ‘Massive Crush’ on Netanyahu
Posted: December 05, 2016, 6:06:14 PM

Anonymous said...

Jenna Jameson / Chana Smirnova:

I know someone who converted to Judaism, yet throughout the whole process was telling me personally (so I can't tell the Rabbi) that she wasn't interested in keeping Torah AT ALL but was telling the Rabbis that she was....

Brisker said...

I think UOJ should inquire about Ms Smirnova before allowing her name to be published. How do we know that the smitten romeo is not just smearing her for revenge?

This is not a case of someone outing a molester for which there is basis in halacha. A giyores's pain is worse than that of yasom & almonoh combined, ayein beSefer Hachinuch.

She has or had a job at a Toronto Bais Yaakov seminary. Surely they know something over there.

Anonymous said...

What a screwed-up world we live in!!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

I do not know anything about Ms.Smirnova, who she is and what her status is.

Monsey said...

For those of you who have been mistreated by Henoch Zaks at Bais Yaakov Chofetz Chaim Pomona when he was in the throes of one of his royal idiot fits, FYI his mother is a Kiralyhazer Teitelbaum.

One of Henoch's shitos btw is to throw out kids if he finds out the father davened by Lipa Schmeltzer's shul, "even once" bederech mikreh.

Since the FBI made Henoch their first stop during the raids in Monsey this past year, we will see what develops from that.

Isaac said...

Brisker, I know Chana Smirnova. I have never dated her and have nothing to do with the previous critics. Really. So I'll try to stay objective.

She is about forty-five, lived close to a synagogue in Russia but knew nothing about Judaism. Then she got a visa to work in a Canadian company whose manager happened to be Jewish. (Her family lives in Russia.) Then she needed to upgrade her immigration status to permanent residency. She had relations with men but you can expect this from a convert. I agree that she is very smart. She was converted in Canada and moved to US. I honestly do not know her motives but I heard she duped some Jews back in Russia. Maybe she is a kosher convert but I would never marry her had I been single. Again, I do not want to slander a convert but you always need to be careful with this kind of people, especially Russians. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Yerushalmi Sotah 7a (and this is the approach of Smag in Lavin 116) says Delilah, Samson's mistress/wife, went through Jewish kosher conversion! The whole idea was to find out the secret of his strength and then report it to her Philistine secret service. Remember how CIA caught Russian sleeper agents back in 2010 (starring Anna Chapman)? They were all undercover agents, and we Americans couldn't even suspect them. And earlier this year authorities caught another person from the former USSR who was posing as a Pennsylvania high school student and was in the USA on an expired visa. Something is fishy about this 40+ Russian woman. Got to call KGB lieutenant colonel Vladimir Putin.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't Jenna look like your typical Bais Yaakov married graduate? Oy-vei...

paskunyak said...

The Chasam Sofer, Ben Ish Chai & others are not talking about Delayla. They are talking about many other women Shimshon had relations with including how he became the father of Golyos.

Yes, Goliath.

Anonymous said...

Read the Smag, paskunyak. You have the mareh makom.

"Just Jenna" is a story of Jenna Jameson journey to the Jewish faith and using her life experience to help others.

commenting on blogs is not dead said...

Oh, for the glory days of a UOJ comment thread!

Anonymous said...

"She had relations with men but you can expect this from a convert."

Isaac, can you explain what you mean by that?

Brisker said...

Which beis din converted Ms S? The fact that so many Russians deceive as a by-product of Communist oppression is definitely grounds for all kinds of extra scrutiny before gerus and even refusing to convert most of them. But if a sincere beis din found her to be genuine, no one wants to be in the position of causing her tzaar which each word causing pain is dozens of lavin and as Rabbeinu Bachya brings from Chazal, the Eybishter goes out of his way to personally exact vengeance.

Isaac said...

Brisker, I do not know all the details. I think they had a mixture of Toronto and NY guys. I wonder if you read the article above: "30 percent [of Orthodox converts are] relationship converts, 15 percent seekers and 15 percent drawn to Judaism for social reasons. (That makes it 60% are invalid converts out the gate)." My wife also thought Smirnova was insincere. Of course, I am not going to chase after "rabbis" yelling I believe the conversion was fake. Only G-d knows. As somebody wrote before, she may be (or may be not) a Russian spy. I honestly don't know and don't really care: We have our own life, kids and problems with phony "rabbis." Again, I do not want to slander her and this is our personal viewpoint. If someone is Russian and wants to marry Chana Smirnova - that is his choice. About the "relations with men." I know for a fact she had men in her life here and in Russia. I can't verify if she was a prostitute as someone wrote above but she claimed she was never married which is a bit strange at 45. She is good looking and men like that. As you know, Jewish boys love gentile women. If you viewed the Youtube clip someone posted (10:17 PM), Jenna Jameson too has "Judaism for Dummies" atop her own "How to... Make Love Like a Porn Star" & "Honey" (1:30 into the clip). I have to admit I am very hesitant about modern converts. I do not want to say anything bad, only G-d knows their intentions, but I am no G-d. I just think people should be warned and this is the goal of this blog.

Brisker said...

I don't know if the 60% insincere figure is accurate or not, but it is still unfair to the genuine ones.

When I ask about a legitimate beis din, I am excluding those of many out of town cities who do not follow the gedolei haposkim on kabolas mitzvos. According to my research this sometimes also means in Toronto, whether the 3 dayanim are a mixture of supposedly Charedi & modern orthodox or sometimes even when all supposedly Charedi. You have to know exactly who the dayanim are. There are batei din in Manhattan & Queens that are even weaker than that. And there are various that are compromised by Leib Tropper corruption.

On the other hand, when someone is megayer by the beis din of Rav Nissim Karelitz, that is pretty safe.

Even a small community can have many options. Take Atlanta for instance. "Hershel Goldwasser" aka the oisvarf Michael Broyde is as Left as YCT despite his villainizing them as too Liberal. There is another no name rabbi there who seems to have the same practices as Broyde. But the Ner Yisroel rabbi in that town is a big machmir. Many candidates he rejects end up in lenient cities like Queens where almost anything goes.

Isaac said...

Brisker, I agree with you that many things depend on a rabbinical court. Unfortunately, the Toronto one is no less problematic than others. But there are issues with many modern converts as well. If someone is smart and wants to become Jewish for whatever hideous reasons, she will ultimately become Jewish. Only she and G-d know her true motives. This is a big problem today.

Thornhill said...

The Energizer Goniff Leib Pinter has a mechuton Taub who was rabbi of Joe Tannenbaum's shul in the northern suburbs of Toronto. "Was", after a scandalous affair with a woman in the shul, before that covering up for child molester Amram Bendahan and even before that covering up for child molester Baruch Lanner.

When Taub was in charge of the beis din for giyur, he was purposely converting improper women. And if the family of the man sinning with the woman would complain to Taub that she is faking & ask him to halt the giyur, Taub would arrogantly insult them about the way they raise their kids, and go ahead with the giyur regardless.

Ironic that Taub would have an issue with the way children are raised when his own son married a Pinter & is named as a defendant in Pinter's most recent bank fraud. And then Taub has another son whose wife ran away with the 6 kids, crying that Taub's son was tormenting her. The rabbis involved did not believe her until Taub's stupid shrink told him to admit to her in writing all the bad things he did to her.

Fakewood said...

Taub's shrink really is a dumb putz. It was Shimon Russell who once helped frame a Riverdale yungerman as being the "molester" at the Lakewood playgroup threatening kids about a dog when the real molester was a British fellow who is a friend of Russell's. Russell convinced Rav Matt Salomon & Schenky to gang up against the Riverdale guy. R' Avremel Ausband & R' Feivel Cohen took the Mashgiach & Schenky to a din Torah over it. The Mashgiach argued & won on the technicality that the Riverdale guy is still responsible even if he didn't know someone else was molesting the kids. So the real molester got away with it.

Now what is the REAL story many years later now why Russell suddenly shut down his jam packed practice & moved far from Lakewood?

Anonymous said...

To the man who dated Chana Smirnova, kindly email me as I have a question.

Rabbi M. Calev

Anonymous said...

I'm not very religious and I watch porn like most people, it's very normal. But I love my Judaism. But it strikes me as very odd that you can deliberately alter your live however well you please. An (ex-)porn star converting to Orthodox Judaism shouldn't be allowed...

Anonymous said...

I know Chana Smirnova. You could not find a more frum convert. She is machmir in everything she does. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for being motzei shem rah.

Anonymous said...

I also know Chana Smirnova. I know her whereabouts and other things. She has never been "a more frum convert." Did she tell you about her job at a Russian communist organization where she did a lot to make life even harder for Jews? And have you heard of the Jews whom she swindled as a shiksa? Such people never change. You should be ashamed of yourself!

I Need to Become a Jew said...

"I Need to Become a Jew"
Anthony Russell, singer, describes how he began practicing Judaism while dating a rabbi.
He then recounts the moment when he decided to officially convert.

Anonymous said...

Yael Armstrong: “Why Being Orthodox Didn’t Work For Us
A journey from a yeshivish wife-convert lifestyle back to gentile folkways. And the hubby joins too: “For they will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods.”

Hard Proselytes said...

I read the post above and then some other stuff by Yael Armstrong. For example, she writes about her stepsister: “The windows were down as we sped down the interstate and I looked at her sitting beside me, her blond hair whipping around, completely oblivious, singing a Dixie Chicks song at the top of her lungs, and I was struck with the realization that if my dad hadn’t married her mom, I wouldn’t know her.

Only then did I thoroughly and suddenly realize the wisdom of Maimonides who wrote: “[T]he Sages declared, ‘Proselytes are as hard to bear for Israel as a scab upon the skin,’ since the majority of them become proselytes for ulterior motives and subsequently lead Israel astray, and once they become proselytes, it is a difficult matter to separate from them.