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From: act@pur-phy.UUCP (Alex C. Tselis)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Knesset votes on 'Who is a Jew?'
Message-ID: <1605@pur-phy.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 22-Jan-85 03:35:13 EST
Article-I.D.: pur-phy.1605
Posted: Tue Jan 22 03:35:13 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 23-Jan-85 06:20:30 EST
References: <1207@ut-ngp.UUCP>
Reply-To: act@pur-phy.UUCP (Alex C. Tselis)
Organization: Purdue Univ. Physics Dept., IN
Lines: 29
Summary: 

In article <1207@ut-ngp.UUCP> corwin@ut-ngp.UUCP (Corwin, Lord of Amber) writes:
>.
>
>Amendment defining 'Who is a Jew' dies in Knesset
>
>UPI
>
>JERUSALEM-- Israel's parliment Wednesday killed an amendment that would
>define "who is a Jew" by strict orthodox criteria, dealing a major blow
>to the nation's Orthodox Jewish leadership.  
>
>The 62-51 vote ended at least temporarily a 15-year battle by the religious
>lobby to restrict Jews to those born of a Jewish mother or converted by 
>Orthodox rabbis.
>
>The measure would have excluded conversions by the Reform and Conservative
>Jewry--the major branches of Judaism in the United States.
>
I'd like to ask a couple of questions concerning Judaism.  Can someone
sum up what the difference is between the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform
branches of Judaism?  I think that the order I've listed them in is in
decreasing strictness of observation of the various laws.  Would someone
explain that?  Also, how does one convert into Judaism?  And how do conversions
in the different branches differ?

I'd like to see the responses posted to the net, since they may be useful to
others who would like to know.  (Also, there's something wrong with mail
reception here at Good Ol' Purdue, so if someone sent a private response,
I'd never get it.)