Download or read book Transforming Identity written by Abraham Sagi and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. This book provides a close reading of primary halakhic texts as a key to the explication of meaning within the Judaic tradition.