A Life of Meaning: Embracing Reform Judaism's Sacred Path

by Dana Evan Kaplan

Conversion used to be different. In ancient times, converting to Judaism was a supremely organic process. One didn’t need to go to a rabbi, fill out forms, take an Introduction to Judaism course, and complete a conversion ceremony. Conversion was just something that happened.

My term of preference is the Hebrew word ger. In the Bible, ger originally meant sojourner, a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights. Slowly, over centuries, the word ger took on the meaning of one who, although not born Jewish, embraced Judaism. Gerut, deriving from the root ger, began to be understood to mean the process of conversion to Judaism.