Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Why more Canadians want to convert to Judaism, especially after Oct. 7
Description: With the synagogue firebombing in Australia, Israeli soccer fans being beaten in Amsterdam, and antisemitic incidents now a daily occurrence impacting Canadian schools, houses of worship, the workplace, social media, and the streets, you might wonder why anyone who isn't already Jewish would want to join "the tribe". Yet from coast to coast, since Oct. 7, rabbis of all denominations are reporting this is exactly what they are seeing: a heightened interest from people wanting to convert.
At Toronto's largest Reform synagogue, Holy Blossom Temple, the conversion cohort this fall is 60 students–double the intake of the previous class. Meanwhile, Re...