Conversion Be-di’avad
הגיור בדיעבד
We learned in the previous chapters that le-khatḥila, one is accepted for conversion if the main motive for his conversion is his desire to be Jewish and to observe the mitzvot (above 4:3-4). However, since there is no way to know with certainty what is in the convert’s heart and what the future holds – whether he will continue to identify with Judaism and whether he will have the strength to observe the mitzvot – the beit din must decide according to its discretion, as the poskim wrote: “Everything is according to the judgment of the beit din” (above 4:7). If it appears to the beit din that the convert wants to be Jewish, and it is likely that he will observe the mitzvot, he is accepted. The character of the judges and their inclination to trust or to suspect influence their decision (above 4:5-6).
However, be-di’avad, the conversion is valid even when the motive for conversion was an ulterior one, for example, if he converted in order to marry a Jewish woman, or for the sake of honor or money (Yevamot 24b; above 4:4). And even if after converting he did not observe the mitzvot and returned to his former religion, since he immersed for the sake of his conversion, he is Jewish forever. And if he betrothed a Jewish woman, their marriage is valid, like any sinful Jew who betroths a woman (Yevamot 47b).
Similarly, even if the convert was not taught the mitzvot, not even the most important mitzvot, since he immersed and accepted Judaism upon himself, his conversion is valid. We learn this as well from a Talmudic discussion (Shabbat 68a-b) about a convert who converted among the nations and did not know that it is forbidden to desecrate Shabbat or to worship idols, where the question was whether he must bring a sin-offering. Thus, even though he did not know about the most important mitzvot, such as the prohibitions of idolatry and desecrating Shabbat, the possibility that his conversion is void was not raised. Likewise it was ruled in practice: “A convert who was not investigated, or who was not informed of the mitzvot and their punishments, and was circumcised and immersed before three laymen – he is a convert” (Rambam, Issurei Bi’ah 13:17; SA 268:12).¹
Notes (1)
- According to Rav and Shmuel, once the convert learns of the prohibition of Shabbat, he will have to bring one sin-offering for all the Shabbatot he desecrated, and one sin-offering for all the times he worshipped idols. According to R. Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, only if he knew that it is forbidden to do melakha on Shabbat or forbidden to worship idols and forgot is he liable to one sin-offering, but if he did not know of these prohibitions at all, he is exempt from a sin-offering (Shabbat 68a-b). From here we learn that even though the convert was not taught the most important mitzvot, as long as the beit din accepted him on the basis of his general agreement to accept mitzvot, he is a convert, and consequently there is room to discuss whether he is liable to a sin-offering for sins he committed without knowing they were forbidden (Tosafot ad loc., s.v. “ger”).