The Institute continues to conduct research and write about conversion. As discussed in Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community , proactive conversion is the positive process of welcoming those who are interested into Judaism.   Proactive conversion requires Jews to open the ideological and intellectual gates and help non-Jews walk through them into Jewish life.   Being proactive means encouraging rather than discouraging non-Jews to consider Judaism. This will require changing ideology, practices, and institutional structure to better facilitate conversion to Judaism. If the Jewish community were to lower its barriers to conversion — barriers that it claims it does not have — it might find many people open to the message of Judaism.

Perceptions of stability and growth or decline can lead to self-fulfilling prophesies, in either direction. A community that is seen to be vibrant is likely to retain its members and attract others. On the other hand, a community that ages without replacing its numbers and attracting people from outside is likely to fulfill the image of being in decline. Communities that believe they are in decline can abandon institutions, cut services and plan for a more limited future, which in turn is defined through limited vision of what might be. Communities that plan for growth can often achieve that goal.

Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community Jossey Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1999. Tobin, Gary A. More information...

"The Case for Proactive Conversion." Sh'ma, A publication of Jewish Family & Life, Needham, MA, September, 1999. Download PDF

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