all credit goes to the hAMODIA Aversion to Conversion Thursday, October 13, 2022 11:20 AM | 17 Minute Read By Ben Zion Wolff In many respects, it is the glue which holds the community together. At times, it withstood firm opposition both from within and from outside the community. Yet in the end, it has endured for over 87 years, and it is accepted as part of the fabric of the Syrian Jewish community. The Takanah, or Edict as it is sometimes called, forbids accepting converts, and children born from a marriage to a convert will be prohibited from marrying into the community. Although it may seem harsh by some measure, those who know the history of why and how it was instituted defend it as the barrier that protected their families and enabled them to eliminate intermarriage since its inception. Jewish life in Aleppo, or Aram Soba (Tzova) as the Jewish inhabitants of the city refer to it, goes back to time immemorial. For thousands of years, Jews hav...
