When the Talmud Forbids Conversion

The most common reason why people convert to Judaism today, I would guess, is because they want to marry a Jewish spouse. Such conversions are a sign of the amazing acceptance that Judaism enjoys in America, compared to the stigma it labored under for most of Western history. For a Christian to marry a Jew in medieval Europe meant stigmatization, isolation, perhaps even violence, as it does in many parts of the Muslim world today. For us, it is simply a personal choice, even a laudable demonstration of spousal loyalty. It was surprising to learn in this weekâ??s Daf Yomi reading, then, that according to the Talmud, converting out of love is actually forbidden. â??Both a man who converted for the sake of a woman and a woman who converted for the sake of a man,â? we read in Yevamot 24b, â??they are not converts.â? (The Koren Talmudâ??s notes make clear, however, that this is not how conversions are actually regulated in practice today; as often, the law has evolved significantly since the Talmud was written.)