Original story: DiCaprio May Convert to Judaism for Love.
Beside the fact that converting to a religion simply to marry a person sounds like a recipe for disaster, what do you think about this? My initial response was “DIBS!” but then I remembered that I’m not a DiCaprio fan. It was my automatic female response.
As many of us converts discover Judaism through a Jewish partner (and I’m no exception), it’s likely that he’s finding meaning in Judaism. Let’s hope that’s the case! I’d be very interested to know where he’s converting!
My other initial response? Who names a girl Bar?? Is there a meaning other than “son” that I’m not aware of?
It can mean, "pure".
As Sarah said, but the other more modern nuance is 'wild' or 'free' as in a 'wild (pure, free, undomesticated, untainted) animal.' The nature preserve that was just thoroughly burnt on the Carmel range is called חי בר, a name or designation really that is shared with several other preserves around the country. That all stems from Sarah's answer, as King David uses the term בר לבב, pure of heart, in Psalms, for instance. The 'wild animal' usage comes up in the Mishnah, for instance.
I seriously don't understand the concept of converting in order to marry someone. If you're just doing it to get married and for no other reason, that doesn't strike me as a sincere conversion.
It seems to me in order to convert sincerely you need to believe in the religion and commit to it becoming your way of life for the rest of your life, whether or not you're going to get married.
If you wouldn't convert if you weren't getting married, than I'd say don't "convert" at all. Lying to yourself is bad. Lying to God is worse.