Religious conversion, social inclusion and community under pressure: The South African Jewish experience

Ethnic minority groups face many pressures to adapt their unique identities, values and practices to those of their broader societies especially in circumstances of dramatic change. A range of options exist including assimilation, intermarriage, immigration, insulation or even suicide. Can religious conversion be considered as an adaptation strategy? Does conversion assist a community under pressure or in decline to expand its numbers and/or embrace diversity? Is conversion helpful to a community under threat?  This paper looks at the South African Jewish community which has declined over the years due to immigration and age. The community today is described as highly ethnocentric and although it has benefited from the transition to democracy and post-apartheid discourses of reconciliation and diversity, it has at the same time become more insular and inward-looking. The community is dominated by Ultra-Orthodox institutions and endogamy is strongly encouraged. Judaism is not a proselytising religion and therefore has always discouraged conversion. Nonetheless conversion to Judaism in post-apartheid South Africa has remained steady and the majority of conversions to Judaism are undertaken by women for marital reasons. Is this form of endogamy ‘successful’? How do the conversion authorities respond to these converts during the process and after? Converts directly contribute to the future of the Jewish community, but do they feel socially included and accepted? How does the process contribute to the survival of a community that perceives itself to be under threat? This study is based on a number of qualitative, in-depth interviews with converts and rabbinical authorities. It argues that although the current process has the opportunity to contribute positively to the community’s development and growth it can be, in many cases, self-defeating with a number of negative outcomes for the community that appear to extend beyond the current generation.