Kulp, Joshua. “The Participation of a Court in the Jewish Conversion Process.” Jewish Quarterly Review 94, no. 3 (Summer 2004): 437–70. doi:10.1353/jqr.2004.0068.

This journal article discusses the development of rabbinic laws regarding conversion into Judaism, and the involvement of the courts in the conversion process. I found this article through Academic Search Complete from our class’s subject guide on the Trexler Library website. This article will provide a perspective and context of the legal elements of converting to Judaism which will help frame the biographical stories I read about different conversions in and out of Judaism. One of the stories within the book involve the Israeli High Court so I think this article will provide useful context.

Macia, Lorena Miralles. “Conversion and Midrash: On Proselytes and Sympathisers with Judaism in Leviticus Rabbah.” Journal for the Study of Judaism XLII, no. I (2011): 58–82.

This article provides commentary on Leviticus Rabbah. It discusses a midrash that references conversion to Judaism. I found this article on the Index to Jewish Periodicals on our subject guide. I think this article will be useful but I believe it will be important to find and discusses the commentary that exists about conversion within the Torah and the Bible itself, and/or midrashs and other rabbinical commentary that exist on the topic.

“The Priest, the Woman, and the Jewish Family: Gender and Conversion Fears in 1840s France.” 2011. Jewish Quarterly Review 101 (3): 439–57. doi:10.1353/jqr.2011.0019.

This article discusses the world of the Jewish woman during 1840s France. This article also delves into the fears of priest’s converting Jewish women to Catholicism. I also found this article through Academic Search Complete. I thought this article would be interesting to read because it provides an interest backdrop for the perceptions of conversion in France. Within the book I picked their are stories of two individuals who converted in and out of Judaism during wartime France of the 1940s, 100 years after the context of this article. However, I think it is important to understand the views that predate France of the 1940s and how belief of conversion evolved overtime in this area of the world. This article also provides an interesting discussion of the role of women, and how that plays into the topic of conversion and how their was this element and fear of “seduction” by the Catholic church.