The Talmud reacted to those who converted to Judaism and those who sought to identify themselves with some portion of Jewish ethics and monotheism. The recorded reactions both positive and negative reflect historic circumstances, local events and

personal experiences.

From the Council of Nicea (fourth century) and the later Fall of the Roman Empire until the middle of the nineteenth century, conversion to Judaism was rare and the subject was hardly discussed in Jewish circles. Attempts to convert us were, of course, made by the dominant Zoroastrian , Christian and Muslim communities which sought to force the Jewish minority into its fold. Jews , on the other hand, only rarely sought or succeeded in gaining converts. The most notable exception were the Khazars , a Southern Russian people whose ruling class converted to Judaism in the seventh or eighth century. This incident which seized the imagination of the oppressed and downtrodden Jewish community of Europe and North Africa was an isolated occurrence.

We did nothing to encourage conversion to Judaism during the Middle Ages as even a single convert could enrage the Christian world and bring about the destruction of a community. Some Christian and Muslim individuals nevertheless joined us; their members were very small and many of their names have, for that reason, been recorded.

The medieval codes of Jewish law dealt with converts and conversion but only briefly. There was no thorough discussion of these matters until the late nineteenth century when the Emancipation brought us into direct contact with the surrounding cultures of Europe and its inhabitants and conversion to Judaism

began to occur.