This article endeavours to list some notable people who have converted, or are believed to have converted, to Judaism. Their notability is based either on outside endeavors for otherwise famous people, or on circumstances which would make their conversion itself to be notable -- such as professional clergy from other religions. The article does not differentiate between the different branches of Judaism. See also
Who is a Jew? on issues related to the acceptance of conversions throughout the Jewish community.
(A number of prominent figures, such as
Madonna, have recently become followers of "new age" version of
Kabbalah, derived from the body of Jewish
mystical teaching also called Kabbalah, but do not consider themselves – and are not considered – Jewish.)
List of converts to Judaism from Christianity
Although some people notable for arts or sciences have happened to convert to Judaism, there is a small group of people who are notable because they have converted to Judaism: professional clergy from other religions. In some cases conversion meant persecution or even death. In other cases conversion simply meant a change in career.
Johann Peter Spaeth, German theologian[15] "Johann Peter Spaeth (about 1642-1701), author of an attack on Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-politicus, finally became a Jewish convert, called himself "Moses Germanus," and was even circumcised a few years before his death in 1697"
Andrew/Andreas, the
Archbishop of Bari, a city in Southern Italy, declared himself a Jew upon a journey to Constantinople in 1066 and subsequentally fled to Egypt.[16][17][9]
Wecelin, a cleric who worked for Duke
Conrad of Carinthia, the nephew of Emperor Conrad II, accepted Judaism sometime about 1005. There is written evidence that Wecelin published a brief tract against Christianity. Wecelin, who may have fled to Egypt, is only one of many 11th century converts described in the
Cairo Genizah.[17]
Former Christian clergy and Christian theologians (1970s to present)
Asher Wade an ex-Methodist pastor; he converted after studying the history of the holocaust in 1978 to Orthodox Judaism.
Official Website
Shlomo Ben Avraham "Ole" Brunell, former
Lutheran minister from Finland and Australia. Along with him, his wife Ruth (formerly Runa), two adult daughters, two teenage daughters, and a former son-in-law also converted to Orthodox Judaism.
Official book[26][27]
Geza Vermes, expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and former Catholic priest, he reverted to Judaism. [28]
JoAnn Fay, a nun converted to Orthodox Judaism in 1980.[29]
Thomas Roper, an ex-Baptist minister, he converted to Orthodox Judaism.[34]
Gavriel Sanders former Pentecostal minister and missionary in Israel, he converted to Orthodox Judaism.[35] He served on staff with
Jews for Judaism before moving to the East Coast.
Tonica Marlow, a former female evangelical minister and daughter of a Pentecostal preacher. She converted to Orthodox Judaism.
Official book[36]
Aharón Calderón, a former monk of a Catholic monastery in South America, he converted to Orthodox Judaism.[37]
Julie Galambush, a former American Baptist Minister, she converted to Judaism.[39]
Michael Flanagan, a former Baptist minister, his mother-in-law, wife and their two adult sons, grandchildren, daughter-in-law also converted to Orthodox Judaism.[40]
Ahuva Gray served as a Christian minister in the African American community both in Chicago and Los Angeles for fourteen years. She left that world in 1996 to fulfill her spiritual yearnings and become an Orthodox Jew.
Official WebsiteOfficial book[41]
Nobutaka Hattori, a former Protestant Minister of Japan, he converted to Orthodox Judaism.[42]
David N. Weiss Former Presbyterian lay minister David Weiss (born Jewish) returned to Judaism and is now a successful writer living in Los Angeles. [45]
Efraim Uba, was raised Catholic, later became a Messianic cleric in Nigeria, and then later left that Christian sect to convert to Judaism.[61]
Of Jewish descent
This section is for people who had Jewish ancestry though not matrilineally as is required by Jewish law to be considered Jewish, and so converted to Judaism, to be recognized as Jews.
Geraldine Brooks ,a Pulitzer Prize-winner, Australian-American journalist and author.
Campbell Brown, an American television news reporter, currently an anchor and political pundit for CNN and a former co-anchor of NBC's Weekend Today. (ex-Roman Catholic)
Connie Chung, an American journalist who has been an anchor and reporter for several U.S. television news networks, including
NBC,
CBS,
ABC,
CNN, and
MSNBC[73][74]
William Holmes Crosby, Jr., considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of modern hematology. He published more than 450 peer-reviewed papers in the field, as well as those of oncology, gastroenterology, iron metabolism, nutrition and general medical practice. In addition he was an inventor and published translator of poetry.
Soleil Moon Frye, American actress, director and screenwriter. Frye is best known for her childhood role as the title character in Punky Brewster, a television sitcom.[84][85]
Anthony Lake, American diplomat, political figure, and academic. He has been a foreign policy advisor to many Democratic U.S. presidents and presidential candidates, and served as National Security Advisor under U.S. President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.
Françoise Mouly is a
Paris-born
French artist and designer best known for her work with RAW, a showcase publication for cutting edge comic art, and as art editor of The New Yorker, a position she has held since 1993.
Karen Tintori, an American author of fiction and nonfiction (ex-Roman Catholic)
Andre Bernard Tippett, a former American football linebacker who played for the New England Patriots of the NFL. Currently he is the Patriots' Executive Director of Community Affairs. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. (ex-Baptist)[114]
Jackie Wilson, was an
American singer. Wilson was important in the transition of
rhythm and blues into
soul. Gaining fame in his early years as a member of the
R&B vocal group,
The Dominoes, after going solo in 1957 he went on to record over fifty hit singles over a repertoire that included
R&B,
pop,
soul,
doo-wop and
easy listening before lapsing into a
coma following a collapse on stage during a 1975 benefit concert. By the time of his death in 1984, he had become one of the most influential
soul artists of his generation.
Will Herberg, known as a social philosopher and sociologist of religion, as well as a Jewish theologian, he is also former atheist and Marxist of Jewish ancestry who was raised atheist[120]
Benny Lévy - Philosopher and last personal secretary of Jean-Paul Sartre
Hilary Putnam - Philosopher raised in a Jewish-atheist home
Eliyahu Rips - he is a member of the Department of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Rips received the Erdős prize from the Israel Mathematical Society in 1979 and was a sectional speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1994. He embraced
Orthodox Judaism.
Khazars, a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia (historical
Khazaria), many of whom converted to Judaism en masse in the 8th and 9th Centuries CE.
[31]
Dara Torres, an American swimmer. She is the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympics: 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2008. She competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in the 50 meter freestyle, 4×100 medley relay, and 4×100 freestyle relay and won the silver medal in all three of these events.
^Le Figaro Magazine which states "as though his conversion to Judaism in 2002 had paradoxically made him closer to his Pas-de-Calais roots".
^[8]Contemplating the Infinate, Jewish art at Paulina Miller Gallery
^Arc Poetry review of "Jacob's Dream" which states "Brewster is fascinated with her newly-adopted faith of Judaism—poems about Jewish holy days and heritage are sprinkled throughout"
^"May Britt Joins Jewish Faith", The New York Times, 18 October 1960, p. 46
^Q&A with Sarah Brown "Judaism, for me, is more a spiritual thing than a religion, but I feel that I have a Jewish soul. I didn't convert because of my marriage; I just always felt like there was a Jewish soul inside of me just dying to get out."
^ A
Publishers Weekly review of Jacqueline Du Pre: A Biography by Carol Easton
[9] states she was "the daughter of anti-Semitic parents who herself converted to Judaism and at age 21 married Jewish pianist-conductor Daniel Barenboim."
^Times Online interview: She says in the interview "I converted to Judaism in 1983. I am not a deeply religious person but it is a vital part of my life. It shapes my beliefs, and how I look at the world."
^Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco states of her marriage, "Adah was not at all interested in home or family; in fact, the only thing she shared sincerely with him was his religion–she adopted the Jewish faith and remained steadfast in it until her death."
^Interview at Book Browse "I am a Jew by choice and Italian by heritage. Shortly after I converted to Judaism, I came across a book by Alexander Stille called Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism."
^Stilley -
[13] "...the former model, raised a Christian in Conway, S.C., recently announced that she is converting to Judaism. Even her rabbi is befuddled.... "The first thing that attracted me to Judaism was the undeniable family strength that has held Jewish people and culture together for 3,000 years. . . Jews, whether religious or not, know where they have come from and what they would wish for their future, and this certainty is based on fact, not faith.... "I will not be a perfect Jew, nor will Judaism make me perfect. But I know that Judaism will give me faith, support, knowledge, and history. I am not Jewish because I choose to be. I am Jewish because there is no other choice for me.""
^In her book Elizabeth Takes Off, Taylor writes, "[Conversion to Judaism] had absolutely nothing to do with my past marriage to Mike [Todd] or my upcoming marriage to Eddie Fisher, both of whom were Jewish. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time."
[14]
^Jewish Bulletin of Northern California: "After Winningham observed her first
Yom Kippur that year, she knew she had to convert, and did so March 3, 2003, accompanied by an entourage of friends and relatives."
^Jewish Encyclopedia "He was by birth a Gentile from Pontus, and is said by Epiphanius to have been a connection by marriage of the emperor Hadrian and to have been appointed by him about the year 128 to an office concerned with the rebuilding of Jerusalem as "Ælia Capitolina." At some unknown age he joined the Christians, but afterward left them and became a proselyte to Judaism."
^Jewish Encyclopedia "If the contradictory and sometimes legendary accounts of the personality of Dhu Nuwas given by the Arabian writers can be trusted, he was not a Jew by birth, but embraced Judaism after ascending the throne, taking the name of "Joseph."