Can I just convert to Judaism tomorrow and get a free vacation to Israel?
I know Jewish people are granted some special right to visit the state of Israel, and some companies organize free tours for Jewish born or living outside.
But does that apply only for people ethnically Jewish that come from Jewish families? Or also applies to new converts to Judaism?
Like, not literally converting tomorrow and demand a free vacation to Israel, but like, converting and in a few years wait and see if they offer me a free vacation to the country to visit the most iconic places of Judaism?
How does that works?
edit: I'm a hispanic atheist with no Jewish family that I know of, and I'm not interested on joining any religion, this is just a hypothetical case.
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No, they don’t mean Jews religiously. They mean Jewish through heritage, similar to the way many countries do citizenship by birthright rather than birthplace (like the US does). In Hebrew law(?) the birthright is passed down by the mother as prior to genealogy that was a surefire way of proving your parent is who they say they are.
My information is secondhand and any corrections are welcome.
Edit: read below for more accurate information.
No, it’s for all Jews.
In Judaism, there’s no proselytizing - they’re not actively seeking converts. A rabbi is supposed to reject a request for conversion three times before beginning the process. There’s a bit involved - you can find it online - but it involves time and effort and depending on your genitalia a bit of pain (basically just a pinprick even if you’re already good to go, as it were, because a medical circumcision isn’t considered to count as a religious one). Orthodox Jews don’t tend to recognize converts unless they’re also orthodox, but that doesn’t affect the Law of Return.
It’s just a lot of work for a “free” vacation. It’d be easier in the end to just travel over there, unless you’re looking for citizenship.
There are of course many Jewish atheists, but they’re definitely going to push back on that point for a convert.
Honestly, for the level of effort and given OP’s atheism, I’d just save up for a trip to Costa Rica and do jungle zip lines and hang out with sloths. The candles and the hats are nice, but there’s easier ways to tour the Middle East - and I’d include joining the Marines in that.
That gave me a nice chuckle, thanks.
So Judaism operates on the Beetlejuice rules?
I thought place was a criteria for the US, which is what was being claimed during the fake "birther" thing with Obama?
It's either or. But the Obama thing was mostly just racism.
His dad isn't an American citizen (Kenyan) and he has a couple of half brothers who aren't citizens (different mother, born in Kenya).
Obama was double fine, both because he had a US Citizen mother and because he was born in Hawaii.
The conspiracy theory at the time was that he was actually born in Kenya like his half brothers. The conspiracy mostly just ignored that his mom existed, since she died back in 1995, so she wasn't there to defend the point.