MICHAL KRAVEL-TOVI Tel Aviv University Bureaucratic gifts: Religious conversion, change, and exchange in Israel ABSTRACT Viewing religious conversion through the lens of exchange rather than change calls attention to the web of interactions, practices, and discourses that constitute conversion as a relational domain. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork that straddles the institutionalized interface of state-run Jewish conversion in Israel, I show how the conversion process constitutes a reciprocal transaction by which each party to the exchange—the state and its subjects—provides the other with national recognition while also receiving and thus validating its own national identity. I trace the historical and political circumstances that have entangled the Jewish state and a significant cohort of Jewish converts within this reciprocal relationship. In doing so, I identify the biopolitical, moral, and bureaucratic frameworks that bear on this institutional transaction. [conversion, reciprocity, exchange, biopolitics, bureaucracy, ethnography of the state, Jews, Israel] M uttering to himself and avoiding eye contact, Shlomi ner- vously pushed against the classroom door and shook the handle. 1 He must have known that we could hear him. He must have sensed that we—the 22 students and one anthro- pologist attending his Thursday evening giur (Jewish conver- sion) class—were completely focused on him, watching as he struggled to let us out of the classroom. After a few very long minutes, he turned to us and delivered the bad news: “I think we’re stuck in here.” The verdict stirred a flurry of conversation and phone calls, filling the room with a mix- ture of worry and laughter. Fiona and Yulia joked about their spouses, who they thought would appreciate a free night in front of the television; Katia jested about the possibility of observing Shabbat in the classroom together. Those among us who refused the comforts of irony focused instead on how best to disassemble the door. Finally, out of desperation, someone came up with the idea of sliding a credit card between the door and the frame. Lina was quick to respond. Handing her card to Shlomi, she offered him a deal: “Here, we can trade, I’ll give you my card and you can take care of my conversion.” To the amusement of the group, Shlomi drew his fingertips together, as if holding a stamp, and declared in a sarcastically official voice: “Mazal tov. In the name of the State of Israel, I congratulate you: You are now a Jew.” When the laughter subsided, Ina who stood next to me in the back of the room, whispered into my ear, “Don’t think they’re doing us any favors,” assuming that I knew who “they” and “we” were. “We might need a stamp, but they need it just as much.” Ten minutes later we were out—unstuck. As Lina and the other stu- dents exchanged congratulations with Shlomi about the classroom escape, our good-night routine was transformed into an illuminating, if brief, per- formance of mutual appreciation. Later that night, I wrote in my field notes, “It was one of those moments. Being stuck, getting unstuck, work- ing interdependently, and ritualizing an exchange of cards and stamps— these tense moments seemed immediately related to being stuck behind a ‘stubborn door’; but it’s more than that. They also spoke volumes about conversion.” AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 714–727, ISSN 0094-0496, online ISSN 1548-1425. C  2014 by the American Anthropological Association. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/amet.12107