Sydney Sweeney was recently spotted attending Rosh Hashanah services with her boyfriend Scooter Braun, which naturally sent the internet down a new rabbit hole: Is Sydney Sweeney converting to Judaism?
Maybe. Maybe not.
As a Jewish convert myself, I have some thoughts about that.
Thinking about converting yourself?
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Transcript below.
Transcript:
Sydney Sweeney might be converting to Judaism for her boyfriend, Scooter Braun. And as a Jewish convert, I have thoughts.
She was spotted at synagogue this Rosh Hashanah, and now there’s a rumor that maybe she’s thinking about getting married and converting.
I first heard about her a few months ago with the whole “good jeans” eugenics debate. And now we’re talking conversion? Like, I’ve got serious Jewish whiplash.
But people get really weird about Jews “converting for marriage.”
Judaism isn’t just a religion. We’re a people, a tribe.
The structure of our tribe was designed thousands of years ago. And relationships, romantic and not, have been the key entryway for most people throughout Jewish history.
Even Ruth, the most famous convert in the Bible, she joined the Jewish people out of love for her mother-in-law, Naomi.
And usually a relationship is just the doorway.
That’s what happened to me.
I didn’t even know you could convert to Judaism. I’m from the Bible Belt. And then I dated a nice Jewish boy.
I got really into the Judaism thing. And that became one of the nails in the coffin of our relationship.
Almost a decade later, no boy in tow, I converted.
But here’s what most people get really wrong about Jewish conversion.
I’ve been helping people convert to Judaism since 2010, and I’d guess maybe 5% of the people that I talk to are in a relationship with a Jewish person.
Almost everyone found Judaism through a different doorway.
They asked a few too many questions about Jesus and his Jewish roots. Or they had a Jewish friend, usually a coworker, who answered their questions about Judaism with kindness.
And then they just kept learning.
And you know what else? Easily 50% of the people that I talk to are retirement age.
So the surprising thing isn’t that Sydney Sweeney might be converting. It’s how many ordinary people are becoming Jewish that you have no idea about.