Man applying tefillin. Photo: wiki commons.

Israel announced last weekend that more than 4,000 people within the country converted to Judaism in 2011, with almost half the converts coming from the former Soviet Union (FSU).

The Conversion Authority of the Prime Minister’s Office said that among 4,239 converts, 1,936 were from FSU countries and 1,647 were from Africa.

“Anyone who converts is truly doing so in order to join the Jewish People, and not for any other reason—since new immigrants who are not [halakhically] Jewish [already] receive all the benefits that Jewish immigrants do,” said Rabbi Haim Drukman, director of the Israeli Conversion Authority, according to Israel National News.