If you say to David A.M. Wilensky that he "converted" to Judaism, he'll provide a gentle correction: "I underwent a conversion," he'll say. This may not seem like much of a distinction, but in this episode of Judaism Unbound, we explore a group of people who -- from some frames of reference -- converted to Judaism, but from other frames of reference, were Jewish from the second they were born. In short, Wilensky was born as a patrilineal Jew (his father was Jewish, and his mother at the time was not -- though she has since converted), and he made the choice in adulthood to undergo a "conversion," even though he had lived his whole life in Jewish community. This episode explores his story, and a wide variety of inter-related topics! This episode is the third in an ongoing Judaism Unbound mini-series, exploring conversion to Judaism.

Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.

Learn more about taking courses in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva -- a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning -- by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/unyeshiva. And if you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!

Anthony Saccaro

The AI-powered Podcast Player