In the Talmud: Converts and Outsiders

Claiming a Jewish Future and a Jewish Past

Oct 17, 1996

Professor Wiesel introduces his talk on converts by looking at the complicated story of Onkelos, the nephew of General Titus and translator of the Bible into Aramaic. Professor Wiesel shows how both the Bible and the Talmud, though never encouraging conversion, honor and love the convert. From legends about converts, Professor Wiesel teaches us that racism is never an option for a Jew since a Jew is defined by his commitments, not his origins.

Selected Quotes:
Books:
Subthemes:
1) A Disturbing Legend of Onkelos and Titus
2) Introductory Remarks on the Talmud
3) Onkelos as a Proselytizer
4) Aquilas and Hadrian: Weakened by Torah
5) Loving the “Ger”—and Defining the Term Clearly
6) Understanding the "Zar"
7) Limitations to the Special Privileges of the Ger Viewpoints on Conversion and some Contradictions
8) Converts Who Became Great Rabbis
9) Extraordinary Leaders Who Converted to Judaism
10) Racism is Never an Option
11) Conversions in the Diaspora
12) What is Conversion?
13) Voluntary and Individual
14) Hillel and Shammai: Tales of Conversion
Names:
Key Words:
Categories:
Tags:

© 2026 The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association

All Rights Reserved.

All material accessed via the 92NY website (“content”) is protected by copyright under U.S. Copyright laws and is the property of The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association or the party credited as the provider of the content. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content, nor may you distribute any part of this content over any network, including a local area network, sell or offer it for sale, or use such content to construct any kind of database. You may not alter or remove any copyright or other notice from copies of the content accessed via 92NY’s website. Copying or storing any content except as provided above is expressly prohibited without prior written permission of 92NY or the copyright holder identified in the individual content’s copyright notice.

If you are a rights holder and have found your material on our website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), please contact us so that we may obtain and document accurate rights-related information. Upon email request to archive@92ny.org, we will temporarily remove material from public view while we address any rights issue and will honor takedown requests from authors who do not wish to have their work published.