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Thursday, February 11, 2021

Egyptian university "expert" says to convert to Judaism you must breastfeed 10 times from a Jewish woman

Arabic media today are quoting an interview with Dr. Ahmed Fouad Anwar, an assistant professor at Alexandria University specializing in modern Hebrew literature, Israeli society and the history of Zionism.

Speaking about the story of the Kuwaiti singer who says she converted to Judaism, Anwar correctly says that conversion is a difficult and time consuming task. 

Then he says something weird.

"[Jews] do not accept a person’s conversion to their religion except through very complicated and difficult procedures.

And Dr. Ahmad Anwar continued, saying: “The entry of the Kuwaiti actress Basma into Judaism will be rejected by the Jews themselves, because the Jews require that whoever enters Judaism be breastfed from the breast of a Jewish woman, 10 satisfying feeds.”
I admit, usually I can figure out what grain of truth these sorts of Arab rumors come from, but this one mystifies me. 

What I can say is that some ten years ago, a Saudi cleric issued a fatwa that an unrelated man and woman can be secluded in a room together if he breastfeeds from her, (perhaps five times) making him a relative. Other clerics strongly disagreed and the idea was widely lampooned in the Saudi and Arab worlds. 

That's the closest thing I can find.

One thing's for sure: if it was true, we'd have a lot more Jews.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)