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Rabbinic Status and Essential Disclaimer
This is a structured educational cycle, not a self-conversion program. Completing 52 lessons does not make a person Jewish, guarantee acceptance, or set the date of conversion. Orthodox conversion requires sincere acceptance of the mitzvot, sustained observance, integration into an Orthodox community, and the judgment and procedures of a qualified Beit Din. Many recognized batei din expect substantially longer than one year; this syllabus may therefore be repeated, slowed, or extended.
Once a conversion has been completed validly according to halakhah, the convert is fully Jewish; the course and community must never treat a ger as a provisional or lesser Jew. All practical rulings—especially Shabbat, kashrut, family purity, personal status, medical questions, brit milah or hatafat dam brit, and mikveh—belong to the sponsoring rabbi and Beit Din. Local minhag and the receiving Beit Din’s written standards control.
Purpose
The course converts a large question bank into a coherent formation process. Its aim is not merely recall, but a Jewish life: faithfulness to Torah, competent daily practice, one full cycle of the Jewish year, growing Hebrew literacy, ethical maturity, and durable belonging in an Orthodox congregation.
Roles
Candidate: Studies, practices, reports honestly, asks before acting when unsure, and builds real communal relationships. Sponsoring rabbi: Teaches or supervises instruction, sets halakhic practice, meets regularly, observes growth, and communicates with the Beit Din. Mentor household: Models Shabbat, kashrut, festivals, synagogue etiquette, and ordinary Jewish family life without replacing the rabbi.
Beit Din: Sets jurisdictional requirements, supervises the halakhic process, and alone determines whether and when a candidate may proceed to conversion.
Recommended Weekly Rhythm
90-minute class or chavruta session
Daily prayer/Hebrew practice and assigned reading
Shabbat and festival participation in the Orthodox community
Written answers from the assigned question range
Monthly sponsoring-rabbi meeting; quarterly progress review Mandatory Safeguards and Parallel Instruction These requirements run throughout the year and are not replaced by the numbered lessons:
Receiving Beit Din: Establish the intended Beit Din and its jurisdiction as early as practicable. Its current written requirements supersede this handbook; no course provider may promise recognition or a conversion date.
Community life: Live in, or relocate to, a viable Orthodox community with regular access to an Orthodox synagogue, kosher food, learning, and mikveh facilities, as required by the receiving Beit Din.
Pre-conversion practice: Prayer, blessings, Shabbat, Yom Tov, ritual objects, and other practices are undertaken only as directed by the sponsoring rabbi. The rabbi must address the halakhic status of a non-Jew’s Sabbath observance and avoid presenting practice as an independent religious rite.
Marriage and family life: Provide private, gender-appropriate instruction in tzniut, yichud, Jewish marriage, and taharat hamishpachah. A spouse or serious partner participates whenever the Beit Din requires.
Yom Tov law: Before each Yom Tov, teach its prayer additions, positive mitzvot, prohibited melachot, permitted food preparation, candle transfer, eruv tavshilin when applicable, and the local second-day practice.
Professional boundaries: Protect confidentiality, use appropriate teacher-candidate boundaries, and refer medical, mentalhealth, legal, or safeguarding concerns to qualified professionals while keeping the rabbi and Beit Din appropriately informed.
Course Outcomes
State the foundations of Orthodox Jewish faith, including Torah miSinai and the authority of the Oral Torah.
Navigate weekday, Shabbat, and festival prayer in the community’s siddur and machzor.
Develop reliable Shabbat and kashrut practice according to the sponsoring rabbi and receiving Beit Din, including their directions for observance before conversion.
Live the Jewish calendar, explain its themes, and learn the practical requirements of Shabbat, Yom Tov, festivals, and fasts under rabbinic direction.
Read basic vocalized Hebrew and recognize recurring liturgical language.
Demonstrate ethical reliability, tzniut and interpersonal boundaries, chesed, and respect for every person—including special care for the ger.
Locate major biblical and rabbinic figures in the chain of transmission and articulate a responsible relationship to Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.
Show sustained community participation and an honest, durable acceptance of mitzvot.
Assessment and Evidence
Evidence Cadence Suggested standard Question-bank responses Weekly Complete, accurate, own words; corrections retained Practice log Weekly Consistent, candid, includes questions and mistakes Hebrew check Every 4 weeks Progress against the benchmarks in this handbook Oral review End of each unit Explains principles and applies them to cases Community report Quarterly Attendance, relationships, reliability, chesed Portfolio Weeks 51–52 Evidence of an integrated Jewish life Using the Jewish Calendar Weeks 40–48 are thematic rather than a license to study festivals only out of season.
The teacher should overlay the live calendar throughout the year: prepare each holy day before it arrives, observe it in community, and debrief it afterward. If the cohort begins midyear, reorder festival weeks while preserving the numbered question ranges.
Festival Overlay
Four to six weeks before Pesach: kitchen inventory, chametz plan, Haggadah skills.
From Elul: daily teshuvah practice and preparation for the Days of Awe.
Before Sukkot: sukkah and arba minim workshop.
Before Chanukah and Purim: practical mitzvah planning, giving, and public/community participation.
During the Omer and Three Weeks: count, study memory and mourning customs, and connect history to current Jewish responsibility.
Before every Yom Tov: complete a practical lab on melachah, food preparation, candle lighting from an existing flame, eruv tavshilin when applicable, and the community’s one-day or two-day observance.
Hebrew Benchmarks
By Week 13: identify all letters and vowels; sound out short words.
By Week 23: find and read recurring blessings, Shema, and basic service headings.
By Week 34: follow core Shabbat prayers and ritual texts with a bilingual siddur.
By Week 48: follow festival services and the Haggadah; recognize common liturgical roots.
By Week 52: demonstrate functional synagogue literacy. Fluency is encouraged but is not reduced to a single speed test.
Conversion Procedure: Knowledge Only
Candidates must understand the elements of Orthodox conversion, but the receiving Beit Din controls every detail: informed acceptance of the mitzvot before a qualified three-member Beit Din; for a male candidate, brit milah or, when halakhically required after prior circumcision, hatafat dam brit; and valid immersion in a kosher mikveh. These steps occur only when authorized and supervised by the Beit Din.