Christian Reshaping of Jewish Laws of Conversion

Christian baptismal rites evolved from Jewish purification practices. At the same time, during the following centuries the rabbis appropriated major features of Christian baptism, thereby reshaping Jewish conversion. Rabbinic sources testify to the growing role of immersion in water in the conversion procedure. Through the comparison of the two detailed versions of the rabbinic protocol of conversion, dated to the fourth and fifth centuries and incorporated in the Babylonian Talmud and in tractate Gerim, this paper reconstructs the history of this rabbinised rite. It is argued that the earlier version is to be understood as a ritual response to current forms of Christian baptism, which include two unique elements: a baptiser and a declaration over the water. Against the background of Christian invocation of the credo over the water, the presumably bizarre listing of commandments while still in the water is a rabbinic attempt to encapsulate the essence of the Jewish alternative.