Talk:Jews by Choice

I don't think Madonna should be counted here, because in a recent interview on NPR I heard her vehemently deny either being Jewish or wanting to convert. Instead, she said she understood kabbalah as a philosophical and spiritual movement, not part and parcel of Jewish religion. QuartierLatin1968 07:59, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Madonna Comments

This article is far too biased. It has pejorative undertones towards 'Jews By Choice' and does not maintain a neutral attitude towards non-ethnic Jews who choose to become religiously Jewish. Although Gentiles clearly become Jewish for a plethora of reasons, it is always done through a religious conversion. Individuals who assume a Jewish identity without a conversion should not be included in this section - they are not Jews by Choice, but rather cultural appropriators. Cultural appropriation should not be the undertone of this article. Secondly, Madonna is NOT a Jew by Choice - she did not convert and instead chose to simply practice/observe kabbalah. While kabbalah is of course Jewish, Madonna has stated several times that she is not a convert. If we need to include celebrity converts, why don't we include Ruth from the Book of Ruth, who is the central convert in the Hebrew Bible. "Your people shall be my people." This is much more appropriate. We could also include Marilyn Monroe, who famously converted when she married Arthur Miller. Other famous converts also include Sammy Davis Jr, who chose to observe Yom Kippour instead of filming a movie that day. A rabbi once told me that a convert wrote the best translation of the Torah. I could research this and enter it into the article. Let me know your thoughts.

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This article is also missing a discussion about the MAJOR issue of the Reform/Conservative vs. Orthodox war over who is a Jew and how only an Orthodox conversion is recognized by the state of Israel. This is very relevant.