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Home > Ger tzedek


 

In Judaism, a ger ( Hebrew: "stranger" or "convert") or ger tzedek ("righteous convert" or "convert of righteousness") is a gentile who has undergone religious conversion (giur) to Judaism to become completely Torah-observant.

1 History

In Biblical Hebrew, the word ger can denote either a convert (and is usually interpreted as such by the Talmud) or a non-Jewish inhabitant of the Land of Israel who observes the seven Noahide Laws and has repudiated all links with idolatry. The word ger tzedek was used to denote a full convert. In post-Talmudic times, the word ger has become synonymous with ger tzedek; Ger is commonly translated by the Greek word "proselyte", and has come to mean a full convert to Judaism.

2 Traditional Judaism

A ger (literally: stanger) or a ger tzedek (righteous stranger) is someone who has become fully and Jewish according to Halakha by undergoing a process termed giur ("conversion").

2.1 The procedure

The requirements under halakha for conversion to Judaism are:

One cannot be referred to as a ger prior to the actual "day of conversion", when a Beth Din accepts the prospective ger and oversees the above halachic requirements. Only after fulfilling all criteria, the Beth Din issues a Shtar Giur ("Certficate of Conversion"), certifying that the former gentile is now a halachic Jew.

2.2 Consequences of conversion

Once undergone, a religious conversion to Judaism is irreversible, unless there are grounds to believe that the convert was insincere during the conversion process. In this case a Beth Din can reverse a conversion.

2.3 Place in religious life

Halakha forbids even reminding a convert that they were once not a Jew and hence little distinction is made in Judaism between born Jews and converts. Converts face a very small number of restrictions (e.g. they cannot become rabbinic judges), although there have been some very influential ger rabbiA Rabbi ( Classical Hebrew ''ribbi modern Ashkenazi and Israeli ''rabbi is a religious Jewish scholar who is an expert in Jewish law. The term means teacher or more literally my master (from rav which is equivalates to something between sir and Mr. in Engs).

3 Frequently asked questions



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