Way back when, it became known that Ivanka Trump was studying for an Orthodox conversion to Judaism under the tutelage of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein.
It is officially time to wish her mazel tov. Ivanka Trump is now officially a Member Of The Tribe. The Tablet, along with People Magazine among others, are reporting that Trump has completed her conversion, with Rabbi Lookstein's certification.
She really gets a double mazel tov, as she completed her conversion and got engaged to her Jewish Orthodox boyfriend Jared Kushner.
תזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל
Maybe Nefesh B'Nefesh should talk to them about setting up their new life together in the Land of Israel...
(As an aside, I am not one to doubt anybody's sincerity, but I thought we Orthodox Jews don't convert people for marriage purposes, which was the original intent of this....maybe it started out that way and then she really took to it regardless of her relationship with Kushner...)
it's funn we've turned into. Actually according to a very respected Rabbi here in Chicago who is not afraid of the rest of the black hats, Historically, we DID accept converts for marriage. throughout history we did, and it's only more recently that we stopped for political reasons. the voting blocks were not following the "gedolim" so they decided to stop accepting just for marriage.
ReplyDeletename of rabbi provided privatley, but he has stated this fact in public discussions many times. He is NOT in favor of the behavior of the Israeli Rabbonim who are disallowing all outside conversions.
I am dismayed and shocked that a rich person like Trump can get an Orthodox conversion w/out the promise by her and her hubby-to-be that they will live an Ortho. lifestyle when everyone else is turned away or has their conversion revoked by The Rabbis. Wait a minute, Rahm Emauel's wife and kids were just converted by a Chgo Ortho. Rabbi. I can't wait to Ivanka and Mrs. E. in a sheitel, eating at our finest kosher pizza shops, and who knows, maybe my wife will run into them at the mikva?
ReplyDeletePeople who convert to Judaism usually do it out of love for a fellow Jew. But the ulterior motive turns out in the end to be love of G-d. Even the more impure and selfish of motives turn out in the end to be a really transcendent and spiritual one. Life may be full of compromises and shortcuts but G-d leads us to be better than we think we are.
ReplyDeleteAnd there are plenty of people who don't convert for love of another Jew. Sorry, I converted for myself. And despite appearances, so did Ivanka. She didn't have to convert to Judaism. She certainly didn't have to convert to Orthodox Judaism. And I'm glad that this blog is welcoming her into the tribe. Although that bit with the parenthetical statement was just annoying. What Ivanka is doing is bringing out the biases people already have against converts.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to our tribe Aliza!! I sincerely hope you are happy and every Jew who meets you treats you with the love you deserve for the commitment you have made. But I agree with the thoughts and intentions of Norman F. Ivanka did not start the process prior to meeting her b'shert, so I doubt that she found the love of Judaism the motivating factor to convert--UNTIL, perhaps, she fell in love with a Jew from an Ortho family. Like Norman, I in the end hope she finds a love for G-d and the ways Jews worship Him. My fight is with the Ortho rabbinate that misses this point and rejects converts if they don't live by The Rabbis rules.
ReplyDeleteShaya G., what historical references did this respected Chicago rabbi give to a norm of converting for marriage?
ReplyDeleteAliza, on what facts do you base your claim that Trump converted, as we say, l'Sheim Shamayim?
Playing with fire, people, and we're already getting burned.
Aliza - I have no idea if she is sincere in her conversion or not, and it is not for me to judge, nor am I able to, even if I wanted to, from a small article in a magazine. It is clear, however, that her initial interest in Judaism at least was purely because she wanted to marry her boyfriend. Has that changed? I hope so, and I hope she became sincere during the time of her studies.
ReplyDeleteI do not know what Shay is referring to, but if you learn the halachos of geirus, it seems we are much stricter nowadays than what is actually called for. To defend that position, you can say that it is in order to weed out the insincere converts - we have more people trying to convert today than ever before, and usually it is for financial reasons or other reasons other than the desire to be Jews in every sense of the word.
Rafi's right some people may be insincere. Still a person's motives are not always easily discerned. A person deeds are more important. In the end, the issue is less why a convert became a Jew than what kind of Jew the convert will be. G-d asks that one lives one's faith and Abraham, the first Jew already set the example. Any G-d fearing person, not just a Jew, can be G-d's Friend.
ReplyDeleteIvanka's "conversion" is as phony as her face and boobs. What kind of Orthodox conversion takes only year to complete? Rabbi Lookstein, himself a convert, is known for doing express "conversions" for the sole reason of marriage. He got paid off big time by the Kushner's.
ReplyDeleteAliza is wrong about Ivanka's intentions. Ivanka at first admantly refused to convert to Judaism and that's why Jared broke-up with her last year. Ivanka only had a so-called conversion to get married to Jared. Aliza should be the last one to defend Ivanka because people like her give all converts a bad name.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteRabbi Lookstein, himself a convert
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What in the world are you talking about?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Lookstein, himself a convert
ReplyDelete-------------------------------
Let's pretend for a second that this was the case......
What relevance would this statement have been? Do only converted Rabbis perform supposed "conversions of convenience"?
I think this could have been a case of "Lo Tonu Et Ha'Ger", had it been true. I saved yah, little buddy!
OY!
ReplyDeleteOops! I was wrong about Rabbi Lookstein being a convert. Sorry about that. That still doesn't change the fact that Rabbi Lookstein performed a fraudulent conversion for Ivanka. The Rabbi is known to perform conversions for the reason of marriage which we all know is not allowed under halacha. Sadly, money can even now buy an Orthodox conversion.
ReplyDeleteConverts can't serve on Batei Din (Jewish courts of law) to perform conversions, though the conversion may be valid after the fact. If Rabbi Lookstein was a convert, Ivanka's intentions wouldn't be the only issue up for debate...let's just stick with facts and not false accusations.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a real opinion on Ivanka's "conversion" until I saw a picture of her and her fiance. Let's just put it this way - no one who practices Orthodox Judaism minimally should ever have showed up looking the way she did. This was a posed photo- she KNEW she was going to be seen! Either she's a fake, or she didn't learn a thing.
ReplyDeleteThis is all such a bunch of crap. Jewish orthodoxy is no different from that of the Christian right or even the Islam extremists.
ReplyDeleteHow can people be so stupid to actually believe in all of this??
This is all such a bunch of crap. Jewish orthodoxy is no different from that of the Christian right or even the Islam extremists.
ReplyDeleteHow can people be so stupid to actually believe in all of this??
This is all such a bunch of crap. Jewish orthodoxy is no different from that of the Christian right or even the Islam extremists.
ReplyDeleteHow can people be so stupid to actually believe in all of this??
This is all such a bunch of crap. Jewish orthodoxy is no different from that of the Christian right or even the Islam extremists.
ReplyDeleteHow can people be so stupid to actually believe in all of this??
This is such a bunch of incredible crap.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the Orthodox Jews are really no different from the Christian right or even the Islamist extremists. That is, all of these groups want to force the rest of the population (either through the threat of death or legislation) to accept their views.
All of these groups are serious impediments to a very moral secular society. Religion is the scourge of humankind. I am happy to be an atheist.
how leandersgitimate can her conversion be when she twitters "Grabbing a slice of Two Boots pizza and a fountain soda before the game... Go Jets! "
ReplyDeleteI dont know what Two Boots pizza is, but from your comment I think it is safe to assume it is not kosher. is that correct?
ReplyDeleteyes-two boots in not kosher. I just noticed today at 4:23 pm that she tweeted yesterday on shabbat "Just cooked dinner for some friends at home...now heading to a birthday party in Soho."
ReplyDeleteabout 16 hours ago from UberTwitter
would it be wrong to send her a tweet asking her about it? (issur of not troubling a ger, possibly publicly embarrass her, etc.). I assume you cannot DM her because she probably does not follow you...
ReplyDeleteIt could also be that she is taking things on in stages. Maybe a ger has to theoretically accept everything even if practically they are not yet ready to keep it, as long as they are studying and progressing towards keeping everything...