http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/477077529

Transforming Identity the Ritual Transition from Gentile to Jew - Structure and Meaning

Of all Judaic rituals, that of giyyur is arguably the most radical: it turns a Gentile into a Jew - once and for all and irrevocably. The very possibility of such a transformation is anomalous, according to Jewish tradition, which regards Jewishness as an ascriptive status entered through birth to a Jewish mother. What is the internal logic of the ritual of giyyur, that seems to enable a Gentile to acquire an ‘ascribed'' identity? It is to this question, and others deriving from it, that the authors address themselves. Interpretation of a ritual such as giyyur is linked to broad issues of.

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