Conversions of Jews to Christianity
There is a long history of Jewish conversion to Christianity, both voluntarily and forced conversion. What follows is a partial history of some of the well known forced conversions.
Roman Empire
Middle Ages
Forced conversions of Jews were carried out with support of rulers during
Royal persecutions of Jews from the late eleventh century onward generally took form of expulsions, with some exceptions, such as conversions of Jews in southern Italy of the 13th century, which were carried out by
Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism before and during the
Early modern Iberian peninsula
Over a hundred thousand of Spain's Jews converted to Catholicism as a result of
Meanwhile, in Portugal, although an order for their expulsion was given in 1496, only a handful were allowed to leave, the rest being forced to convert.[2]
Eastern Europe 1600s
Between 1648 and 1649, a large-scale uprising of Cossacks and Ukrainian peasants led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky swept through the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the area of today's Ukraine. In the course of the fighting, there were many Jewish casualties, and many Jewish communities were destroyed. A large number also converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.
In the 18th century, Elizabeth of Russia launched a campaign of forced conversion of Russia's non-Orthodox subjects, including Muslims and Jews.[6]
Also, in the second half of the 18th century, a mass conversion to Catholicism occurred by followers of Jacob Frank.[citation needed]
1800s
Although forced conversions were less common in the 20th century, missionary activity remained strong, and many Jews chose to convert in order to integrate into secular society. A critical period in
Germany
Germany had three main periods of conversion, the first beginning with the
Russia
In Russia, 40,000 are believed to have been converted between 1836 and 1875.[11] while in Britain during that period, the number has been estimated at 50,000.[12]
To Roman Catholicism
Various estimates have been put forward as to the total number of conversions during the 19th century. One Catholic encyclopedia writes that the number exceeded 100,000;[13] while the Jewish Encyclopedia records approximately 190,000.[14] Other contemporary sources put the number at 130,000[15] or even as many as 250,000.[16]
As a result of the high rate of conversion, many Catholics can be found with a measure of Jewish parentage. In 1930s Germany,
United States today
Today, according to 2013 data from the
See also
References
- ^ Shiffman, Lawrence H. (2018). "How Jewish Christians Became Christians". My Jewish Learning. Archived from the original on 2018-12-17. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
- ^ OCLC 311601500.
- ^ Abraham Joshua Heschel, Joachim Neugroschel, Sylvia Heschel (1983). Maimonides: A Biography. Macmillan. p. 43.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - JSTOR 1833647.
- ^ Pérez, Joseph (2012). History of a Tragedy. p. 17.
- ^ Dominic Lieven, ed. (2006). The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 2, Imperial Russia, 1689-1917. Cambridge University Press. p. 186.
- ^ a b "CONVERTS TO CATHOLICISM, MODERN - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ Picciotto, James (1875). Sketches of Anglo-Jewish history. University of California Libraries. London : Trübner & Co.
- ^ Rabbi Abraham Geiger, "Vor Hundert Jahren," Brunswick, 1899
- ^ "Jews, Missions to the". www.ccel.org. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ “Missionsblatt des Rheinisch-Westphälischen Vereins für Israel," 1878, p. 122
- ^ Johannes Friedrich Alexander de le Roi, "Die Evangelische Christenheit und die Juden," iii. 60
- ^ Johann Jakob Herzog (1882). Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche. [With] Generalregisterband. Unter ... (in German). Oxford University. Leipzig, J.C. Hinrichs. pp. x. 114.
- ^ "STATISTICS - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ Dalman, Gustaf (1893). Kurzgefasstes Handbuch der Mission unter Israel (in German). Reuther und Reichard. p. 48.
- ^ “Divre Emeth," 1880, p. 47; 1883, p. 187
- ^ Hess, Jonathan M. (January 2009). "Review of Hertz, Deborah, How Jews Became Germans: The History of Conversion and Assimilation in Berlin". www.h-net.org. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ "How many Jews are there in the United States?". Pew Research Center. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ a b "Chapter 1: Population Estimates". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ Maltz, Judy (2013-09-30). "Survey Says American-Jewish Population Rises to 6.8 Million". Haaretz. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ "Main page project "Arena"". Non-profit research based consulting "Sreda". 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
- ^ 2012 Survey Maps. "Ogonek", № 34 (5243), 27/08/2012. Retrieved 25-09-2017.
- ^ "Jewish Americans in 2020". Pew Research Center.
That means that one-third of those raised Jewish or by Jewish parent(s) are not Jewish today, either because they identify with a religion other than Judaism (including 19% who consider themselves Christian) or because they do not currently identify as Jewish either by religion or aside from religion.