What rituals are necessary for conversion? TB Yevamot 46

For the next dappim the Gemara deals with the topic of conversion. There is of course a disagreement whether a person who wants to join the Jewish people needs both immersion and circumcision or is one of them sufficient? If only one of them is sufficient, which one? TB Yevamot 46 answers this question.

“§ During their sojourn in Egypt, the children of Israel had the halakhic status of gentiles. At the revelation at Sinai they entered into a national covenant with God in which they attained their status of the Jewish people. This transformation was essentially the mass conversion of the people, and so their preparation for the revelation provides a paradigm of the process required for conversion for all generations. The tanna’im disagree as to which aspects of that original conversion are to be derived for all generations.

The Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to a convert who was circumcised but did not immerse, Rabbi Eliezer says that this is a convert, as so we found with our forefathers following the exodus from Egypt that they were circumcised but were not immersed. With regard to one who immersed but was not circumcised, Rabbi Yehoshua says that this is a convert, as so we found with our foremothers that they immersed but were not circumcised. And the Rabbis say: Whether he immersed but was not circumcised or whether he was circumcised but did not immerse, he is not a convert until he is circumcised and he immerses.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The answer to my question above is neither circumcision nor mikvah is sufficient unto its own for the conversion process. After much discussion a story is told which highlights that a male convert needs to be circumcised, immersed in a mikvah, and come before a court of three in order to validate the conversion. Obviously a female convert only needs to immerse into a mikvah and appear before the bet din because circumcision is an impossibility.

Rabba said: There was an incident in the house of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Rabbi, and as Rav Yosef teaches it, Rabbi Oshaya bar Rabbi was also present, and as Rav Safra teaches it, a third Sage, Rabbi Oshaya, son of Rabbi Ḥiyya, was also present, in which a convert came before him who was circumcised but had not immersed. He said to the convert: Remain here with us until tomorrow, and then we will immerse you.

Rabba said: Learn from this incident three principles: Learn from it that a convert requires a court of three people to preside over the conversion, as Rav Safra taught that the case involved three Sages. And learn from it that one is not considered to be a convert until he has been both circumcised and immersed. And learn from it that the court may not immerse a convert at night, as they instructed him to remain there until the following day. The Gemara suggests: And let us say that one should also learn from it that we require a court of experts to preside over the conversion, as Rav Safra identified that three expert Sages were present. The Gemara rejects this: Perhaps they simply happened to be there, but in fact three laymen would suffice.

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: A convert requires a court of three to preside over conversion, because “judgment,” is written with regard to him, as the verse states: “And one judgment shall be both for you and for the convert that sojourns with you” (Numbers 15:16), and legal judgments require a court of three judges.

This is what happens when a Gentile wants to join the Jewish people. When I have joined a bet din, a court, for the purpose of conversion, we have investigated the person’s sincerity, his basic knowledge of Judaism, and his willingness to live a Jewish life. After immersing in the mikvah, we welcome him as a full-fledged member of the Jewish people.