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Halacha dictates that a Jewish court must not convert a non-Jew if it believes it's for the purpose of marrying a Jew (H. Issurei Biah 13:14).

But what if the non-Jew is already married to a Jew, non-halachically? Would the court still refuse to convert that person? What is that person to do?

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  • I know cases where they were lenient in this regard... since hes converting not to stay married but actually wants to be jewish.. – Shlomy Mar 26 '24 at 18:13
  • Maybe it's only to satisfy the spouse. – Maurice Mizrahi Mar 26 '24 at 18:18
  • Yes, when there is an intermarriage and the non-Jew wants to convert, the Beit Din will gladly facilitate. – Rabbi Kaii Mar 26 '24 at 18:20
  • That might be true, the beis din will have to look into it.. most pple will just say thats the reason they want to convert, because they dont know these laws. – Shlomy Mar 26 '24 at 18:20
  • Also note that the London Beth Din doesn't necessarily say no to prospective converts who want to do so because they want to marry Jewish. Often people hide it, and end up converting to marry someone who is not religious, so they want to help and make sure things go properly. Often this is a catalyst for the non-frum Jew to do some teshuva – Rabbi Kaii Mar 26 '24 at 18:48
  • @RabbiKaii. How do they reconcile this with halacha? – Maurice Mizrahi Mar 26 '24 at 19:18
  • @MauriceMizrahi I can't speak for them specifically, but it is not against halacha. See the footnote on Chabad.org's Rambam: The Bayit Chadash and the Siftei Cohen 268:23 state that Hillel's example [of the non-Jew who wanted to convert for the honour of being Cohen Gadol] may be emulated and the Jewish courts have the prerogative of making a decision to accept a convert even though at the outset, he seeks to convert for ulterior motives. Happy to write this as answer if you feel it answers you – Rabbi Kaii Mar 26 '24 at 19:23
  • This parallels the teaching that you should study Torah even if it's not leshem shamayim, because after a while it will be. – Maurice Mizrahi Mar 26 '24 at 19:30
  • Related dupe?: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/96190/non-jewish-woman-converting-for-marriage/96238#96238 – יהושע ק Mar 26 '24 at 23:05
  • https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/87115/can-one-convert-for-love/87126#87126 – יהושע ק Mar 26 '24 at 23:06
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    Does this answer your question? Non-jewish woman converting for marriage – mbloch Mar 27 '24 at 04:18

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