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Does Jewish DNA Make You Jewish?

Finding out you have Jewish DNA or Jewish ancestry can bring up a lot of complicated emotions and questions very quickly. Does that make you Jewish? Should you start practicing Judaism? Do you need to convert? What if you feel connected to this part of your heritage but don’t know what to do with it? […]

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The Social Game Every Jewish Convert Eventually Loses

Most Jewish converts don’t get “outed” by a rude question. They get outed by ordinary conversation. If you’ve ever found yourself frozen mid–small talk, suddenly aware that the next question will push you into sharing something private you didn’t plan to explain, you already know how this happens. Jewish geography – the well-meaning, mildly competitive

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Is Your Dad Jewish But Not Mom? Do Patrilineal Jews Need to Convert?

Am I Jewish Enough? Let’s Talk About Patrilineal Descent and Conversion You grew up Jewish. You lit candles, you went to Hebrew school, maybe even had a bar or bat mitzvah. And then—someone told you you’re not really Jewish. Welcome to the heartbreakingly common experience of patrilineal Jews. In this video, I break down what

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Can You Really Convert to Judaism? What Does Jewish Tradition Say About Conversion?

Have you ever been told that converting to Judaism isn’t possible for you? That Judaism is closed off to converts? These myths are not only wrong — they’re rooted in antisemitism, which tries to racialize Jewish identity and deny our long history of conversion. I’m Kochava, a Jewish convert with over 15 years of experience

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7 Years, 3 Batei Din, 1 Jewish Soul

Why would someone convert to Judaism twice? It’s a question I get a lot—and honestly, it’s a fair one. But it’s also very common. The first time I converted, I thought I had found my middle path. But deep down, I knew I wasn’t done. What followed was years of wrestling, recommitting, and rebuilding. My

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Phrase of the Day: Off the Derech

Calling someone “off the derech” can mean many things, depending on who the speaker is. There are apparently many ways of categorizing someone as off the derech. But at the end of the day, it’s a judgment about someone else, which you should probably avoid when you can. It may matter to know whether someone

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What If You Don’t Like One of the Mitzvot…Can You Still Convert Orthodox?

One of the biggest disagreements about conversion is kabbalot ol mitzvot, the acceptance of the yoke of the commandments.  In case you don’t remember, yoke mean burden, not to be confused with a yolk. Fun fact: the “stock” from “being put in the stocks” is a human yoke. Criminals and slaves were put in stocks.

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Immediately After Conversion, What Needs to Be Done?

You’re in the mikvah. You have your dips in the water and officially cross over into the obligation in mitzvot. What happens once you get dressed? First mitzvah/bracha. This should not happen in the mikvah because you shouldn’t say a bracha while nude. I think some people hear about the “here, have a candy!” bracha

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Nullifying Conversions vs. Questioning Conversions

If you’re going to convert, you need to understand a key distinction. There’s a lot of talk since 2006 about nullifying conversions. While a few nullifications have occurred, the general problem is questioned conversions.  Nullified conversion: the conversion is void. It was invalid at the time the conversion was performed. The person was never halachically

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Why Not Be a Noachide?

Born Jews are very quick to throw out the advice that a conversion candidate should “try being a Noachide!” They’re very enthusiastic about this, but I find that they rarely know what it entails, much less what it is really like to be a Noachide. Most can’t even name the seven laws. Yet they are

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