Yevamot 47: Conversion

Today's daf is all about conversion.  We learn about how the rabbis respond when a person who has converted privately admits that s/he is not actually Jewish.  The rabbis debate about what we believe when that person speaks: can s/he affirm her own status?  The status of his/her children?  Grandchildren?  The idea of trust is paramount here: if a person can be believed in one circumstance, that does not mean that s/he should be believed in all circumstances.  As a Gentile, for example, this person who had participated in an incomplete conversion is not able to testify in court.  Thus his/her assertions carry different meanings.

The most interesting part of today's daf in my experience is the description of conversion. We learn that one is to be circumcised and then heal (if male) and then immerse.  At each stage of the conversion, the court of rabbis should speak with this person about conversion.  When they ask why the person is converting when Jews are persecuted and oppressed, the 'right' answer is, "I know, and I am not worthy of joining the Jewish people but I desire to do so regardless."  

The rabbis should not try too hard to discourage or to encourage this person to convert.  They should point out agricultural laws (peah) which force us to give away part of our crops.  The rabbis should not overwhelm this person with details of the mitzvot.  At the end stages of the conversion, the rabbis should speak about the stringent and lenient mitzvot.  They point out that immediately following immersion, s/he is like a born Jew in every way.

The rabbis walk us through the conversion story of Naomi and Ruth, where Naomi tells Ruth of obligations that she will face.  Ruth answers each statement with her commitment to practice as a Jew, to be a Jew.  These questions and answers serve as the model of conversion

As well as specifically speaking about the conversion of women (which is a condensed version of male conversion as the circumcision step is eliminated), we learn about the conversion of emancipated slaves.  Their immersion signifies full conversion.   We are reminded about women who are chosen as either slaves or wives from captives of a rival nation.  Those women are entitled to one month of mourning including shaving their heads and preparing their nails.  Following that ritual, they are immersed and thus converted, ready for marriage.  It is noted that if one of these women chooses to take on the mitzvot early on, she can forego the mourning process and immerse and marry immediately. 

This text is challenging.  On one level, it is incredibly helpful in understanding the origins of today's conversion rituals.  On another level, we are learning about the creation of distinct lines between "us" and "them".  The rabbis wish to define those lines with incredible precision.  Even the Torah itself allows blurry lines that we can interpret as more or less exclusionary.  Our Sages, however, choose to dive into that place of distinction and analyze it carefully, keeping track of exactly who is Jewish; who's words matter and when their words matter.  And this focus on difference is uncomfortable to me, for the Judaism that I love allows me to live in the blurry, in-between places.