Jewish for Good Information Page

Co-sponsored by the Adult Education Committee at JRC

Noa Roth is an independent documentary filmmaker working in Israel. She is visiting Durham through the end of the 2023-2024 school year as her husband is a visiting professor at Duke. At this event, one of her documentaries “Sore” will be screened followed by a panel discussion of the film. The panel will consist of Roth, Rabbi Greyber from Beth El Synagogue, and Rabbi Soffer from Judea Reform Congregation. The discussion will be moderated by David Schanzer , a professor of Jewish studies at Duke. 

“Sore” documents the conversion to Judaism by a non-Jew in Israel. Conversion, in Israel, is a complex process. By law, the only Israel-based conversions that are recognized are those that are overseen by the Orthodox community. During the panel discussion, it is expected that Roth will provide more texture to the conversion of the person followed in the film, and insights into the conversion process in Israel. Rabbis Greyber and Soffer will contrast some of the processes shown in the film with the practices followed by the Conservative and Reform movements in the US.