I’m lowkey obsessed with that tiny sapphire (?) and diamond brooch on Karlie Kloss’s sweater, honestly. Karlie covers the August issue of British Vogue. I appreciate that they used a model for the cover and I honestly don’t hate this, even if I think that Karlie’s face looks a tad too Instagram-filtered. Karlie is actually promoting her non-modeling ventures, like Kode With Karlie and Project Runway but mostly Karlie talks about her marriage to Joshua Kushner, converting to Judaism for him and how she’s not politically aligned with the Trumps. Some highlights:
Her work & philanthropy: “I am deeply ambitious and driven, and there are a lot of big things I want to do – big things. But I also want to enjoy the people I love and who love me. It’s important that I have joy in my life.”
Converting to Judaism: “Changing part of who you are for someone else can be seen as weak. But you know what? Actually, if you’ve been through what I’ve experienced, it requires you to be anything but weak. It requires me to be stronger and self-loving and resilient. I really did not take this lightly. It wasn’t enough to just love Josh and make this decision for him. This is my life and I am an independent, strong woman. It was only after many years of studying and talking with my family and friends and soul searching that I made the decision to fully embrace Judaism in my life and start planning for a future with the man I chose to marry.”
On adhering to Shabbat: “I think we all have a tendency to just keep going. Some people find grounding through meditation. Some find it through exercise. And to each their own, but for me, Shabbat has brought so much meaning into my life. It helps me reconnect to the actual world.”
Why she quit working for Victoria’s Secret in 2015. “The reason I decided to stop working with Victoria’s Secret was I didn’t feel it was an image that was truly reflective of who I am and the kind of message I want to send to young women around the world about what it means to be beautiful. I think that was a pivotal moment in me stepping into my power as a feminist, being able to make my own choices and my own narrative, whether through the companies I choose to work with, or through the image I put out to the world.”
She & Joshua are Democrats: “It’s been hard [to have the Trump association]. But I choose to focus on the values that I share with my husband, and those are the same liberal values that I was raised with and that have guided me throughout my life.”
Honestly, I find that her conversion is the most interesting thing about her. I want to know more about it! I want to know if she took lessons from a rabbi and I want to know if she eschews Christmas celebrations now and I want to know if she goes to temple every week. I’d much rather hear about that than anything else. Anyway, I believe her to a certain extent – I think BOTH Joshua and Jared Kushner would have refused to marry their blonde shiksas unless Karlie and Ivanka converted. Both women did. If I was crazy-in-love with someone awesome and he wanted me to convert to Judaism, I probably would do it too. But I wouldn’t do it for a Kushner. Gross.
Photo and cover courtesy of British Vogue.
I’m guessing she is trying to persuade her Jewish relatives that her conversion was real! One up Ivanka in Jewish stakes?
Right, she is trying to score points with the Kushner family, as it has been reported that they are not crazy about her and actually refused to acknowledge her existence for years.
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a26862085/josh-kushner-karlie-kloss-family-tension/
Shut up about your ‘values’ Nagini 2.0. I f you really valued your values your husband wouldn’t be doing deals with the Qataris and you’d be out there with a megaphone about what’s happening at the ICE detention centers.
Exactly. Judaism is about giving back, about how you treat others. NOTHING about the Kushners is about giving back anything, and they sure as sh!t treat others abominably .
100% this!!
I don’t think I could convert for anyone–I am someone who wants to hold onto her unique beliefs and feel that that is what makes me me!
Judaism is generally viewed as more deed than creed – in other words, much less about ‘faith’ and ‘belief’ than about one’s actions in the world, toward one’s self, toward others, and the planet. There are Jewish atheists and Jewish agnostics.
Thus if she does hold fast to her liberal values, then what are her ways of demonstrating them in light of her affiliation with the Trumps?
Oy vey.
I was raised Catholic and haven’t attended church in decades. I suppose I am a Catholic agnostic at this point, but I feel like it would be hypocritical to be like I am going to convert BUT I won’t practice. This is just for show so that I can be married.
I’m agnostic and can’t imagine talking myself into believing something that I really don’t so I could marry. Or pragmatically pretending to believe something so I could marry.
Technically, in Judaism, conversion is NOT ALLOWED for the sake of marriage. Most Rabbis will reject your want to convert if it’s for marriage. It, ultimately, depends on the sect you are converting in to, but I’ve only ever met Reform Rabbis allow conversion for marriage. I’m Jewish – Modern Orthodox (meaning I wear pants, don’t cover my hair but still observe kashurt and holidays etc) and our community Rabbis would not have approved her conversion. You are supposed to do it for you, for the soul, for the want and desire to be holy. As a Convert, you are supposed to keep orthodoxy to 10000% which neither* she (nor Ivanka) do because they don’t cover their hair, they wear pants/revealing clothing etc. There really isn’t an in between to converting and keeping, which is why most conversion are rejected.
A good friend of mine was raised Catholic and, as a young adult, joined a progressive non- denominational church. She was really happy, and she really felt she had found her people, plus she comes from a big Italian family, and loved celebrating Christmas with them. Then she met her now husband, a Conservative Jewish man. Conservative Judaism doesn’t allow marriage to non-jews, and up to 6 months into their relationship, she had never expressed an interest in Judaism, she was a practising Christian up to that point. Her conversion was conditioned by her desire to marry this man and appease his family, his now husband’s mother holds some important position in an org for Conservative Jewish women, so it became apparent very early in the relationship that she would have to convert . What I am trying to say is, I suppose you cannot say openly to a rabbi that you want to convert in order to get married, but many people convert to Judaism for marriage, that’s a fact, the introductory course my friend took before she started the conversion process was full of people with a Jewish fiance/fiancee who were converting in order to get married by a rabbi.
ugh I cringe whenever anyone says they converted for someone else (or to get married). It’s actually pretty offensive as it shows a lack of respect to the religion to which you are converting. Judaism is not an evangelical religion, the only reason to convert is to do it for yourself because the core tenets of the religion are what resonates with you in a way your previous religion does not.
I find the whole concept of having to change your religion to marry someone deeply offensive. If someone knows that having a spouse of the same religion is a deal-breaker, they shouldn’t date outside their religion! Perhaps because I am not religious, but I don’t see much, if any, difference between having to convert to get married and other forms of marital/relationship control, yet religion is deemed an acceptable reason to coerce someone.
Hmm. If this was truly aboutbher embracing a religion and becoming a believer I would have no issue with it. My mother converted to Islam before she married my father. BUT. She is also very much a believer and there marriage didn’t last but my mother’s faith as a Muslim endures. My mother said that and having me were the two blessings that came from that terrible marriage. When it comes to women who convert to Judaism I always question the sincerity of it. Why? Because if the man you love is giving you basically an ultimatum: convert or we don’t marry. Is the decision to convert really your own?
Also side note: my mother converting to Islam was NOT because of my father. He was a practicing Muslim when they met and introduced her to the faith. Their marriage was NOT contingent on her becoming a Muslim. She wanted to become one.
When it comes to women who convert to Judaism…
Wut?
It’s pretty obvious that I am talking about women who convert for marriage.
Judaism isn’t about becoming “a believer.” It’s about living life a certain way.
“When it comes to women who convert to Judaism…”
Isn’t it more about whether a woman is put in a “do it or else” position or not? As you say, your mother converted by choice; so do many women convert to Judaism, by choice.
On the other hand, many women are forced into religious conversions, be they to Islam, Judaism, Christianity…
Hence why I said IF THE REASON IS CONVERT OR WE DON’T MARRY.
Please read the ENTIRE comment instead of taking one sentence out of context of the entire statement I made. Thanks.
Actual, strict Judaism DOES NOT allow conversion for the sake of marriage. Only in the more reform sects do they allow it (just like performing a chuppa for a a couple where one is Jewish and the other isn’t, which also is not technically allowed).
Read the whole comment. This is still concerning: “When it comes to women who convert to Judaism I always question the sincerity of it”
Why? Why do you ALWAYS question the sincerity? Why can your mother choose for herself but Jewish women converts can’t? What is it about Judaism that has you automatically questioning a woman’s choice to join?
Kloss stated it was her choice and hers alone. Why is it less valid than your mom’s?
I was wondering the same thing. Converting to Islam, Judaism. or any other religion..what’s the difference? It should always be your OWN choice. I don’t understand his/her argument either and I read their original post 3 times.
Because in Judaism (before there was conversation, reform, orthodox etc) conversion for marriage wasn’t allowed. It’s a choice to convert, yes, but it’s not accepted to convert only to get married to a Jew. A woman can covert to Judaism if she wanted to be Jewish for HERSELF. That is now really only held for conservative/ordthodox/modern ortho sects as opposed to reform.
She may have stated that, but Kushner’s mother would not have allowed the marriage to happen. These boys are dependent on their parents.
They ignored this woman for years, so if she wanted to marry Josh, she had no choice.
With all the money in the trump family, Ivanka wanted that ring and had to convert to get it.
Jared and Josh father is one of the most dishonest real estate owners in NJ/NY.
They’re business people in both States, that don’t do business with the corrupt Kusners, one of his tricks is to put in an offer for a building and keep the owners in limbo, keep it tied up for months.
Wow… I don’t know what your beef is with Jews, Jewish marriages or conversions, but this comment was incredibly offensive. I know many women (and men – men convert too, hey) who have converted to Judaism because their partner is Jewish. Everyone has a choice – reform rabbis will marry interfaith couples, people can choose not to have a religious ceremony, people can even choose to marry knowing that their parents won’t approve (SHOCKING, I KNOW). The people I know who have converted have done so because they think Judaism is beautiful and they want to raise the kids in the Jewish faith, and have remained Jewish whether the relationship has survived or not. I also know people who have converted to other religions because of a partner and have similar feelings about it. SMH.
I converted to Islam more than a decade ago, no husband or desire to marry, but before that, I was interested in Judaism. The only thing that kept me from Judaism was Jesus. So I don’t question why a woman would convert to Judaism. I can understand why she would. Perhaps you misworded your question and you didn’t mean to be offensive, but you were. No judgment on my part, we all make mistakes, but just as many people would find it “odd” that I would convert to Islam as a woman and that is disrespectful, your question was as well. Let’s try to be more respectful of one another. As the Qur’an says, “unto you your religion, unto me mine.”
This would seem much more sincere if she hadn’t married a Kushner. Gross.
Agreed.
She married bloody money, not the faith. LOL.
Try again, Little Ivanka.
It’s the height of disgusting for anyone in the Trump/Kushner sphere to talk about VALUES. If she had any, she would have run screaming
I really think the comments here are unfair. My husband’s family are hardcore Republicans – my MIL doesn’t believe gay people should marry, my BIL has a picture of Trump up on his fridge. Should I not have married my husband because we have different values and beliefs than his family? No. Karlie and her husband are Democrats and it’s long been known that they do not support Trump. Nor do they seem to spend a lot of time with Jared and Ivanka. Plus she’s been with her now-husband for a lot longer than Trump’s been president, if I recall. It’s not her fault that her BIL and SIL are terrible, awful people.
Could she be a lot more outspoken about it? Yes, sure, of course. Bleh, I dunno. I don’t think people should be calling her Nagini 2.0 though.
yes but your MIL/BIL are regular people. sure, they probably voted, but impact/influence level wise can’t be compared to the trumps/kushners.
hers are literally ruining lives and putting children in cages while wearing an ‘i don’t care, do you?’ jacket. its a totally different ballgame.
as someone said here, if she really cared, she would have ran away screaming. this is about morality and values, and i believe – and this may be controversial – that those are more important than love.
Are you MIL/FIL in the white house? No…so stop whiteknighting for Nagini 2.0.
Yeah, I read they’ve been together for 6 years, so when they met trump was just some obnoxious reality tv star. My husband’s family (his sisters) are trump supporters. My husband has nothing to do with that craziness.
Amen, @Arizona.
I understand that conversion for someone is not done as I was raised in a kosher and originally an orthodox home. My my parents would tell me about someone who converted she always was the one who converted and not Jewish from the “start.” With some of the less strict and nonorthodox community there has always been the idea of needing to preserve Judaism and wanting more people to
practice more visibly for a strong presence. Conversion has been problematic for other religions as well. But it a very hard and long process during which you gain clarity about motivation and inner beliefs and not because your boyfriends parents want him to marry a Jewish woman. Further the issue also goes to their children if the mother is converted are they accepted as Jewish or not. That depends on whether you are reformed or Orthodox in terms of acceptance into the faith. it is so long and hard it does help the person and their Rabbi to get to the root of motivation. Again my family said that no one is stricter in belief and practice than a convert.However I know the inflexabity among different levels of practice has reasons to do so.
I wouldn’t convert into any religion for anyone (I don’t practice any religion). I don’t think it’s true love when you must go through the series of some questionable steps (yes, I’m talking about all organized religions, not spirituality) to make him wanna marry you. I think customs and traditions can be beautiful, but institutions of religions have compromised themselves sooo many times
I love that she’s discussing this.
There is no end to how often we have to hear about Christianity changing people or being meaningful.
I have no idea what’s going on in these comments though
Karlie had a billion dollars reason to convert to judaism.
Karlie is already a millionaire due to her own hard work.
Yeah, but Karlie likes to roll with the big dogs. There is rich and there is super rich. Flying 1st class vs private plane kind of thing.
Another multimillionaire bragging about their philanthropy. I’d prefer it if they just paid their fair share of tax.
A-men!!!!!!!!!
it doesn’t get any more spiritual than people arguing about religion.
I could never change my faith nor would I ask anyone else to do so. But to each their own.
But her husband is up to his eyeballs in that corrupt family business, his party affiliation means nothing. He’s just as dirty as Jared.
Yeah until I see her out on the campaign trail for Trump, working for him in the Whitehouse or denying that all the sexual assaults he is accused of is not true, I’m not going to call her Ivanka 2.0
All the above is what makes Ivanka problematic.
I get that Karlie is very much on the defensive right now. I don’t blame her for her husband’s family. I do find she seems to spend a lot of interviews talking about how awesome she is. Gives me GOOP vibes.
Her PR team is working overtime. Goop? She is worse than Paltrow. At least Paltrow is being herself. Karlie sounds so fake.
Hey, I’m a feminist. Yes, I had to convert, but pleaseeeee, you have to believe I wanted to do it. I know nothing about my new religion, but I loveeee Shabbat. Oh, and I left Victoria’s Secret because I’m a feminist. Don’t forget that. I am an independent, strong woman. I am a role model.
I dated a Jewish man right before my husband. He talked at some point about us getting married and having children . He was 5 years older and ready to settle down and I was in my mid twenties enjoying my first years as junior in the working environment so not ready for marriage. At the end our paths separated but I appreciated the fact that he didn’t wanted me to convert in order to get married although he was expecting that we united under a single faith once the kids arrived.