Can Evil People Convert to Judaism?
Over the past couple weeks several Jewish newspapers/websites have featured a story about former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Where is the Jewish connection? Well, apparently, Taylor has converted to Judaism. His wife Victoria told the BBC that he "is now a Jew. He's practicing Judaism."
Of course, this "conversion" is in the eyes of Taylor and his family alone. Among other things, conversion to Judaism usually entails studying with a rabbi, meeting with a beit dein (rabbinic court) and immersion in a ritual bath known as a mikveh. In the case of men, circumcision (brit milah), or symbolic circumcision if the man is already circumcised, may also be required. According to reports, Taylor has done none of these things - and to top it all off, his wife claims that Taylor still believes in Jesus' divinity. As Forward writer Rebecca Daube aptly remarked: "the former warlord seems to be as unclear on the basic tenets of Judaism as he is on the principles of international human rights."
Still, Taylor's declaration does beg the question: What if he sincerely wanted to convert? Can someone be too evil to convert to Judaism?
Daube posed this question to a number of rabbis and found that the answer is not a straightforward one. Some rabbis felt that a person who has committed atrocities should not be allowed to convert to Judaism. "The Jewish community is not a recovery house," said Modern Orthodox Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg. Reform Rabbi Robert Levine felt similarly, noting that although repentance and forgiveness are important concepts in Judaism, if a person has committed horrifying acts they cannot be allowed to convert. "Judaism is an interlocking system of rituals and ethics," Levine said, "There is a small group of people whose total lack of ethics and morality would dismiss them at the outset."
Others, such as Rabbi Avi Shafran, who is the Director of Public Affairs for Agudath Israel of America, did not agree with Wohlberg or Levine. "The whole idea of conversion is that one is changing radically, [and] an intelligent beit din would have to see some evidence of him wanting to change his ways, but crime in and of itself is not a bar to conversion."
You can read the entirety of Daube's article on The Forward's website, but before you go, what are your thoughts? Can an evil person convert to Judaism?
It is not for me or any mortal or group of mortals to say.
As an ever evolving religion / value system, Judaism is but one of many forms we humans use to wrap their minds around to attemt to explain the unexplainable. Judaism is just one of many tools society uses to gain socialized acceptability of a means to establish a relationship with the power(s) that established the known in our ever evolving universe.
In the core of each Jew’s being is a personal, living definition of what the individual has, as the Jew, chosen to be presented to others.
It is not for me to question the validity of any person who claims to be a Jew at the time the claim is presented.
Are we not each and all descendents of Abraham?
How we each, personaly choose to embody and/or display the covenant birthright and responsibiliy is a matter between the individual and the power(s) that established the known in our ever evolving universe, and not that of a mortal or any group of mortals.
It’s actually happened in the past– the Forward article mentions a former member of the KKK, Larry Trapp, who ultimately renounced his hatred and became a Jew, as a result of the kindness of a rabbi who helped him through a time of personal crisis, even when he had still been in the Klan. (The rabbi wrote a very interesting book about it, btw.)
The key to becoming a Jew is teshuvah– turning away from evil, choosing to make amends and deciding to live a life in accordance with ethics and mitzvah. A person who genuinely wants to do that– to sincerely repent and spend the rest of his/her life doing good rather than evil– can certainly convert.
Btw, I am no fan of Charles Taylor, a brutal and immoral man. But I do know some people in Africa who have become interested in Judaism. I am not referring to the Abayudaya community in Uganda, who did in fact formally convert, via the Conservative (Masorti) denomination of Judaism, and who live in accordance with the tenets of the Jewish faith in their daily lives. I am talking about individuals who have found Judaism in one way or other, and with no rabbi nearby and no community to support them, have begun identifying with Judaism and even saying they are Jewish (I have a friend in Congo for whom this is the case.) Of course, these individuals have not formally converted, but the difference is they do NOT believe in Jesus and they do follow as much of Judaism as they possibly can. I see no evidence that Mr Taylor is doing any of that. SO he is still an evil man doing evil things, since he has never repented nor made amends for what he did in the past. Thus, I doubt any rabbi would consider him as a sincere proselyte.
Pat Robertson is not going to love him any more. Pat was in his corner as long as Taylor was paying him off and as long as he was a devout “born-again” Christian.
Yeah, evil people can be Jewish — look at Bernie Madoff — but they aren’t practicing Judaism without the kind of true teshuvah that means repentance and reformation of their lives.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments everyone. I’m enjoying reading them.
The following is the comment I posted on the Forward.com site in response to Rebecca Daube’s article:
To say that we have enough bad apples so we don’t need any more doesn’t make much sense. Who would be a better Jew – someone who was born Jewish, did terrible things and never repented or someone who was not born Jewish, did terrible things, repented and wanted to convert to Judaism? As many issues as I have with the ultra-Orthodox Agudath Israel of America organization, I have to agree with Rabbi Shafran on this one
If the politician is convicted, atones, and pays his debt to society, as a judge and jury decide,
_and_ shows evidence of repentence and knowledge of Judaism — as required of any convert, then why not allow him to convert? I observe that long prison terms often restore humanity. If I had to decide, he would be allowed to convert _after_ paying his debts.
I’m torn on this one. I guess the determining factor for me would be that he has not chosen Judaism for Judaism sake. It would seem to me that if he still believes in Jesus and has done nothing to right his horrible wrongs, he is just saying he is Jewish so that he can gain social acceptance. To me that in itself is evil so I would say he hasn’t got what it takes to be a faithful Jew.
I think I am agreeing with Karen’s comment,what if someone is born Jewish and becomes evil?
Do they dis-convert? Are they shunned by the community?
I have know idea who this Taylor guy is,but! Has he been studing the basic concepts of Judaism is he learning to read Hebrew, met with the rabbi, kept a journal on all the observances, historical signifcance and synagogue rituals? Who does he invite for Shabbat dinner?
What an interesting discussion! I know that Christians can be “saved” thru a few apparently simple steps and, thereafter, welcomed into the Fellowship or whatever its called. Is there such a concept as “being saved” in Judaism for a purely evil person who has knowingly broken all the laws of God and Humanity? And what would that person be “saved” for?
I often read you web pages but have never commented before Today I make an exception. As a retired police officer you may realize that I have dealt with all manner of evil men (and wom(bm)en). Taylor ranks among the worst I have heard of. What would you all say if Robert Mugabe suddenly wanted to ‘convert’ – horrible word, smacks of 16th century Spanish inquisitors – and substitute the word ‘repent’. Even the obscure Essene carpenter was clear that there are some people who should forfeit their life to atone for the evil they have done – cf: their Luke 17:2 for his comment on child molesters, and the troublesome ‘convert’ Saul of Tarsus was of the same mind. cf: their Romans 13:4. If Taylor ever had been a true ‘believer’, even in the Chrystian [sic]sense of the word he would have lived life on a higher plane than he has. He is clearly, to the end, using religion as a prop rather than embracing faith as a truth.
If we want to make a change for the better in public inter-faith relations, let’s all take a look at The Seven Laws of Noach – cf. Philip Biberfeld – 1948 – and go back (repent) to the point where the water of life was still unsullied by dogma.
am not a jew though I’d wish to be one.its better to accept a bad man with an intention to be good than to have so many lukewarm people with no intention to be better.whether or not he wants to be better is really a matter only he knows.if a rabbi can ascertain that indeed he wants to be better then i think he should not be barred especially if he can show that he understands what he into.
I agree, this discussion is wonderful. Thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts.
To answer your question, Judaism does not have a concept of being “saved” but the concept of teshuva – repentance – is a major theme. Nevertheless, as you can see from the differing rabbis opinions in my blog post, there is some debate as to whether teshuva makes it so an evil person can convert to Judaism.
Thank you for commenting for the first time Grant. I especially appreciated your reference to the 7 Laws of Noah. In case anyone is unfamiliar with them, they are:
1. Idolatry is forbidden. Man is commanded to believe in the One G-d.
2. Incestuous and adulterous relations are forbidden.
3. Murder is forbidden. Human life was created in God’s image and is therefore sacred.
4. Cursing the name of God is forbidden.
5. It is forbidden to steal.
6. Eating the flesh of a living animal is forbidden. (This law shows sensitivity about cruelty to animals and was given to Noah when he was granted permission to eat meat for the first time – beforehand, mankind had only been given dominion over plants for food.)
7. Mankind is commanded to pursue justice and to enforce the first six laws.
Thanks for the list of the Laws of Noah.
As to this stream, I do not see anyone asking ‘what is Judaism?” that one might convert to it.
If Judaism is a system created by men to worship G-d, then it IS up to men (specifically those in “charge” of Judaism – the rabbis?) to determine who can enter and who cannot. And no man may enter but by their blessing.
If Judaism is a system created by G-d for men to follow, then it is up to G-d to determine who can enter and who cannot. But if it is a system created by G-d and if G-d is unchanging (immutable), then why should the system He created change? (This is a tangent question not directly relevant to this thread.)
Either Judaism is merely an observance of rules or it is a condition of the heart that leads to the observance of rules. In the first case, it is man-made. In the second, it is G-d installed in those He chooses.
Remember: G-d chose Abram and Sarah (not Abram and Hagar), He chose Jacob and not Esau to carry His promise, and therefore it is seen that G-d chooses those that are His.
All we, as created beings can do in this regard, is to ask, is one person chosen or not? But then the question becomes … how can we tell? But more importantly … what difference does it make if all we are talking about is a moral code (as is so often the only thought for those that mention Judaism as “one of many ways” of honoring G-d).
In the final analysis … which of us can say he/she is not evil? If you have ever done evil … then you are evil (just as a murderer need only commit one murder and an adulterous only commit one act of adultery). Therefore, this question of “can an evil man convert to judaism” really becomes one of “how evil is too evil to convert?” To this, perhaps the answer is, at the boundary of G-d’s mercy.
Maybe he should call himself a Messianic Jew.
As to Charles Taylor specifically. I have lived in LIberia and i can tell you that everything there is corruption and the people will do just about anything to reach their goal. I believe that he as well as many others are not stupid and realize that IF they are Jewish they can follow the ‘law of return’ and thereby get automatic entrance into Israel and in many cases also free housing and food, and obviously saving their necks, etc. These are not serious people and should be treated as such.