Source: The New York Times
On June 13, 1999, a The New York Times published an article on issues of conversion in the Jewish religion. Gary A. Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco, advocates "a positive, welcoming approach to non-Jews becoming Jews." Approximately 180,000, or 3 percent, of the American Jewish population are converts, who are mostly married or engaged to Jews. Tobin believes that reaching out to non-Jews asserts the American Jewish position in a democratic, religiously pluralistic society: "We're strong enough and secure enough that we can think about growth." Jack Wertheimer, provost and professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, objects to an open campaign for converting non-Jews: "There is a deep concern about this kind of approach among people in all sectors of American Judaism" because he feels that major efforts to convert are "an expression of panic, a real lack of faith" in "traditional methods of transmitting Jewish identity."