Word in the Israeli blogosphere is that Lindsay Lohan is converting to Judaism. On her personal Facebook page, Lohan last week said she hoped [1] that the conversion will bring her closer to her Jewish girlfriend, Samantha Ronson. Lohan and Ronson are currently in London attending a family bar mitzvah.
Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons
The announcement has been met with mixed reviews.
Dion Nissenbaum of Checkpoint Jerusalem ponders [2]:
Is tempestuous actress Lindsay Lohan preparing to covert to Judaism in the name of love?
Simply Jews asks [3]:
“The big question is: will our Chief Rabbi be happy?”
Elder of Ziyon pleads [4]:
“It is time to act… I am kicking off a fundraiser to pay any cleric from any other religion a significant amount of money if you can convince Lohan to join your religion instead of Judaism. That's right – you make her a Confucian or a Rastafarian, and you can get big bucks.”
Meanwhile, Michael Lohan, Lindsay's estranged father and a former minister, opines [5]:
“She's exploring Judaism right now. She's explored the Church of Scientology, she tried Kabbalah, and now this. I think it's just another phase. But either way, she's involving God in her life, and I'm happy about that.”
London's Daily Mail, who broke the story, reports:
Entering the synagogue, a photographer asked Lindsay if she was switching religions, to which she replied: ‘I'm trying.’
The Daily Mail also writes that Lohan and Ronson made additional visits to the synagogue while in London in order for Lohan to learn more about the conversion process. Formal conversion to Judaism [6] typically takes up to a year and is undertaken with the help of a rabbi who teaches beliefs and traditional practices.
Other famous celebrities who are reportedly contemplating conversion include Leonardo DiCaprio, whose girlfriend is Israeli supermodel Bar Rafaeli [7]. Rafaeli's family will not entertain a marriage proposal unless DiCaprio converts.
This writer says if Britney Spears can convert to Islam [8], anything is possible.