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Male converts to Judaism are traditionally required to undergo circumcision or, if already circumcised, a ritual removal of a single drop of blood.

This legal opinion from the Masorti (Conservative) movement in Israel takes the lenient opinion that a convert should not explicitly reject any Jewish law.

Rabbi Uziel holds that as long as the judges first attempt to break off a projected marriage to a non-Jew, they are obligated to convert the non-Jew, even if the motivation is marriage.

For the Israelites, acceptance of the covenant was twofold: identification with the people through circumcision in Egypt and acceptance of God at Sinai.

Kabbalat ol ha-mitzvot (acceptance of the commandments) combines faith and action with an intent to evolve as a practicing Jew.

Plan ahead to enhance the spirituality of the immersion experience; a mikveh or mikvah, a ritual bath, tends more toward the functional than the spiritual.

As with a literal newborn, the convert as a spiritual newborn selects a Hebrew name and adopts Abraham and Sarah as spiritual parents.

The different layers of the rabbinic discussion of conversion reveal the beginnings of a transformation from a citizenship ritual to a theological initiation rite.

Assimilation has created a profound disconnect between Jews and their religion that deeply disturbs the author and impels him to experiment with new solutions.

Biblical and rabbinic sources stress both divine determinism and human freedom.

The author proposes that only an active program that combines inreach to "faithless" Jews and outreach to unchurched spiritual seekers can revitalize the Jewish community.

The Bible records several problematic instances of God hardening human hearts, seemingly stripping them of free will.