Conversion to Judaism provides information, advice, and support for individuals contemplating conversion to Judaism, as well as those who have converted and the families affected by this decision. With sensitivity and compassion, Lawrence J. Epstein offers an informative volume that warmly welcomes the newcomer to Judaism.

Becoming Jewish is an engaging, accessible, all-inclusive step-by-step guide to converting to Judaism that introduces readers to finding life's meaning through the evolving religious civilization that is Judaism. Written with humor and heart, readers learn the ins and outs of becoming Jewish and discover the wonder that is the language, literature, history, rituals, food, music, and culture of contemporary Jewish life.

"This book challenges readers to consider the issues relating to halakhic conversion, and to rethink historic attitudes and policies concerning conversion. Whereas for many centuries conversion to Judaism was relatively rare, in modern times it is a significant phenomenon. This book will enable readers to better understand the phenomenon and to appreciate the need for halakhic conversions."--BOOK JACKET.

The Gerus Guide is the only book on the market that provides a step-by-step guide to Orthodox Jewish conversion. Drawing from over 25 years of experience counseling hundreds of candidates through the process, Rabbi Aryeh Moshen lays out a roadmap that's been proven successful time and again. Here, you'll find a comprehensive guide to keeping Kosher and observing the Sabbath, finding your community, Jewish prayer, and everything you need to live as an Orthodox Jew on a daily basis.

Janice Holt Giles had a life before her marriage and writing career in Kentucky. Born in Altus, Arkansas, Giles spent many childhood summers visiting her grandparents there. After the success of her historical novel The Kentuckians in 1953, she planned to write a second frontier romance. But a visit to Altus caused her imagination to drift from Kentucky in 1780 to western Arkansas in 1913. At age forty-eight -- the same age as Giles at the writing of the novel -- the heroine Katie Rogers recalls her first visit alone to her grandparent's home in Stanwick, Arkansas. Eight-year-old Katie spends her summer climbing the huge mulberry tree and walking with her wise grandfather, a veteran of bloody Shiloh. She is fascinated, not frightened, by the grave of an unknown child in the nearby plum thicket. Throughout the visit Katie helps Aunt Maggie plan her wedding and looks forward to the three-day Confederate Reunion. But the Reunion -- and the summer -- end violently, as guilt, repression, and miscegenation are unearthed. "That summer was the end of a whole way of life," Katie realizes, for she can never again dwell in the paradise of childhood. In Katie Rogers, Giles voiced her own lament for "the beautiful and the unrecoverable past." To her publisher Giles wrote, "Out of my forty-odd years of living, much of whatever wisdom I have acquired has been distilled into this book." This new edition of The Plum Thicket gives Giles's many fans a powerful, moving glimpse into the mind and heart of this beloved author. Janice Holt Giles (1905-1979), author of nineteen books, lived and wrote near Knifley, Kentucky, for thirty-four years. Her biography is told in Janice Holt Giles: A Writer's Life.

Over the years, Rabbi Bernice Kimel Weiss has shepherded hundreds of non-Jewish students into the family of the Jewish people. For most, the interest in Judaism is sparked by a decision to marry a Jewish man or woman. But that is only the beginning. In the gentle hands of a teacher who has witnessed and understands their turmoil, their conflicts, their tears, they bare their personal struggles. What emerge are amazing, powerful, soul-stirring stories of re-creation - the extraordinary adventure of becoming a Jew at the turn of the 21st century. An Asian-American whose father owns a Japanese restaurant marries a secular Jew but leads him to Orthodox Judaism; a Belgian raised by nuns meets a Jew and finds her faith in Israel; a former Sunday school teacher from a small farm town falls in love with a Jewish girl and with her faith as well; an African-American woman lawyer, a Harvard graduate, discovers Judaism and keeps kosher in a small southern town: their varied stories and eight more are revealed in these pages. The twists and turns and the direction their lives ultimately take are a source of inspiration to those contemplating Judaism, and to all in search of faith. They are a gift to the Jewish people.