Becoming Jewish: One Girl's Journey

Selichot - A Moving Passage

2009-09-13T08:26:16Z

Selichot - A Moving Passage - One section of our services tonight (the Selichot services to start the reflections before Rosh Hashanah, the High Holy Days, also considered the New Year) touched me very poignantly, close to home, in my heart. I felt compelled to write it down and share it with you. (read more...)

The Balm of Music, Ceremonies, and Epiphanies

2009-09-04T01:06:57Z

The Balm of Music, Ceremonies, and Epiphanies - I had a nightmare, and conquered it with music--with Hebrew! *giggle* There's a couple of ceremonies coming up, in my friends' lives. And I ponder the nature of what matters to me, in relationships, and have an epiphany about one of my "non-negotiables." (read more...)

Returning Home Again

2009-08-10T14:00:09Z

Returning Home Again - A little about food at Pennsic, how the itchies are lately, and looking forward to traveling to FL this weekend. (read more...)

Kosher, Weddings, and Things

2009-07-29T21:27:13Z

Kosher, Weddings, and Things - So, hi. I'm still here. *waves* Let's see, some updates on relaxing the rules for myself about what is "kosher enough," based on health concerns. Three of the four weddings this summer had Jewish elements to them. And I've plans to be in another Hebrew class next month, and visit services with a friend in FL in 2+ weeks. (read more...)

The Yanov Torah, and Some New Found Security

2009-05-04T06:55:18Z

The Yanov Torah, and Some New Found Security - I got to hold a Torah scroll that had been smuggled into a Nazi camp in Poland, smuggled out into Soviet-occupied Poland, and then smuggled into America. And then, I found that some things are either more invisible or actually easier to incorporate with some friends and family than I thought they were... which just means I'm feeling more secure about my Jewish identity than I'd previously been feeling. (read more...)

Thinking About Integration

2009-02-24T21:16:42Z

Thinking About Integration - It's time to head into a new phase: Finishing this conversion process. Yup, I wanna see the light at the end of the tunnel someday. (read more...)

Retreats, Food, and "Caught Between Dialects"

2009-02-20T21:48:10Z

Retreats, Food, and "Caught Between Dialects" - I spend a weekend retreat with my synagogue in December, have a small struggle with food and health (but I'm well now), read several good books and one annoying one, listen to lots of music, and ponder the nature of figuring out where I fit in this language acquistion. Oh, and my family rocks. (read more...)

More Music, Family, and Friends

2008-11-25T08:43:57Z

More Music, Family, and Friends - The Really Good: I'm finding a ton of leads for more music (some I love, some I don't, but I won't exhaust the material for a while now). The Mostly Fantastic: All the Family and Friends I've admitted to that I'm converting have been supportive so far. The Unknown: My nerves are stretching, waiting for the shoe to drop (so to speak). Not everyone is going to be supportive, hence, I'm nervous. The Extremely Nerve-Wracking: I'm starting to reconnect with old college friends from a Christian student fellowship... Reconnecting on Facebook. The transparency for this process is increasing, as is my nervousness. (read more...)

Matchmaking

2008-11-21T01:04:12Z

Matchmaking - Some thoughts that came to me as I noticed a guy in a Starbucks reading and studying his Bible. The idea that I'm going to accidentally meet someone to date seems more and more far-fetched, and some days that's hard to take. (read more...)

The Bicycle Chain

2008-11-14T08:41:06Z

The Bicycle Chain - In the course of listening to music this evening, I noticed some things about my relationship to music and language and life. And I think I have an elegant metaphor for what it feels like to have found Judaism for myself. (read more...)

Impulsive Music Hunches

2008-11-12T07:55:01Z

Impulsive Music Hunches - Every now and then I hear a single song, and impulsively buy massive quantities of music by that artist. It's probably just a well-honed hunch, but often in a single song I can find that spark that says "wow, I LOVE this music." Recently, I'm *very* pleased to say that my hunch worked again. (read more...)

Unusual Assumptions

2008-11-06T22:35:55Z

Unusual Assumptions - A lady at work suggested singing with me. Her suggestion? Let's walk around singing Christmas carols. Um, really? (read more...)

Updates and Updates

2008-10-23T08:00:30Z

Updates and Updates - How I spent my High Holy days, and the family members I've actually told recently about my conversion process. Yup. I've started telling family. And it's been a good experience! (read more...)

Food, Philosophy, Language, and Dilemmas

2008-07-11T20:15:42Z

Food, Philosophy, Language, and Dilemmas - Some thoughts on food (and increasingly observing kosher), the religion of hospitality philosophy, my Hebrew language course, meeting with my Rabbi again, and thoughts about telling family (someday) about my conversion process. (read more...)

Musical interlude, and Future Plans

2008-06-25T20:36:21Z

Musical interlude, and Future Plans - A link to a wonderful music video with a boys choir (song in Hebrew), and some thoughts about process, experience, and Israel someday. (read more...)

Summarizing Lately, and Recent Ponderings

2008-06-23T05:10:09Z

Summarizing Lately, and Recent Ponderings - I tally where I am in my classes lately, and then share some recent ponderings which are building the foundation to my answer to "why are you Jewish?" which I anticipate having to discuss for the rest of my life. (read more...)

Passover and other chatting

2008-04-29T18:52:59Z

Passover and other chatting - My class had an early (practice) Seder together, then I hosted Seder both Saturday and Sunday, then my SCA group had a Seder together at the end of the week. I also noticed some diversity in my work environment and toured the Skirball Center over the weekend. (read more...)

Two Different Tales

2008-04-11T07:05:13Z

Two Different Tales - First, (in my opinion) a student crosses a line in class in offensiveness, and I'm the one who was given the chance to stand up to him and speak my mind, calmly yet firm. Second, I find some wonderful podcasts that excite my love of learning. (read more...)

Essay #2: How Do You Celebrate Shabbat?

2008-03-05T03:08:17Z

Essay #2: How Do You Celebrate Shabbat? - In my second assigned essay, I look at the ways I've learned to enjoy Shabbat so far, things that stick out in my memory as special, some things I might want to incorporate later, and the unique experience of enjoying a hobby that primarily meets on Saturdays and still I look for ways to "keep the Sabbath holy" in the midst of this wonderful thing I enjoy called the SCA. (read more...)

Essay #1: Describe Where You Are Now

2008-02-26T00:34:45Z

Essay #1: Describe Where You Are Now - Mon Feb 25: So, I'd been putting off doing one step in my Intro to Judaism class, and that's the "journal" assignments every week. I'm all caught up on my reading assignments (again) and I'm actually reading ahead on the syllabus. But I hadn't been doing the writing assignments, so it's probably time I start. So, I've worked on just the answer to week #1's assignment. There are 18 weeks in the course, so there are several (17) more essays to come. (read more...)

Studying, and the Ah-ha Moments

2008-01-23T08:10:05Z

Studying, and the Ah-ha Moments - My long list of books for class, and something goes "click" in my head, in an exciting way. There's something to be said for being stranded in a coffee shop with a latte, four shots of espresso, and a 58 pp. article I'd been meaning to read. (read more...)

Some Emotional Turmoil

2008-01-22T00:37:19Z

Some Emotional Turmoil - First, in administratia: I've split my journal into two, just like my other journal. So there's a summary here on LJ, and the bulk of the (long, sorry about that) writing on JournalScape [so, click the links...]

Now, to sum up: This post is about being hit on, my emotional response to the nature of marriage, being slightly depressed, my first (conversion) class, and some long heartfelt talks. (read more...)

Some of the Tough Things

2007-12-24T22:33:46Z

Some of the Tough Things - Dealing with issues like anti-semitism, the horror of Jewish persecution in history, and my heart-felt sobbing over some of the things I'm forcing myself to read and learn. How can I not call these "my people" when I feel this? (read more...)

More About Other People

2007-12-21T23:03:54Z

More About Other People - I finally spoke at some length with a close friend who happens to be Christian, and was feeling a little abandoned by me as I convert -- that he'd be the only Christian left in a certain circle of friends. And of course, I knew we needed to talk about this, because sharing something in common with him has meant a lot to me in the past. And I still need him in my life. (read more...)

Talking About It All

2007-12-15T00:03:27Z

Talking About It All - Sometimes it's easier to talk about converting, only because I keep having to re-explain myself. Other times, I find sign-posts in my past that make this conversion so darn obvious. (read more...)