“It’s also important for a person preparing for conversion to take time to process what they are learning and not treat the whole thing like studying for an exam in university. We have a lifetime of learning ahead of us, and our foundation has to be based in commitment to continue learning and living what we learn. That’s the only way we can expect to live as a responsible Jew.

Miriam's Story

In the heart of the Deep South, Mary Ann was born to devout Christian parents. She was instilled with a strong faith in God and grew up as an active member of her church. In her teens, she began to ask questions and search for meaning, something more profound. At the time, she didn’t realize that what was missing in her life was related to her religious beliefs.

In college, as she became more and more disenchanted with the church, Mary Ann began to search. She decided to go to a different denomination every Sunday to see if she could find something more satisfying. Just for good measure, she included the Reform Temple on Friday night. Eventually, she eliminated the churches and settled on the Temple, becoming active in the life of that warm, welcoming congregation. The attraction to Judaism was, for Mary Ann, the unity of God, the universal brotherhood of mankind, and the importance of family life. She associated these ideas with Judaism because of her contact with a close childhood friend, a Jewish classmate. Mary Ann’s understanding of these concepts at that time were the starting point of her journey.

After some months attending the Reform Temple, Mary Ann decided to convert. She made an appointment to speak with the “Rabbi.” His way of attempting to discourage her was to tell her that if she converted to Judaism, she would never again be accepted by the Christian community, and she would never really be accepted by the Jewish community. Undaunted, she informed him that she didn’t care, she wanted to convert anyway. One Friday night, Mary Ann stood before the congregation and answered some questions. “Do you reject your former beliefs?” Yes, she did. “Do you pledge your destiny with the destiny of the Jewish people?” Yes, she did. With that she was warmly welcomed into the congregation and given a lovely certificate, suitable for framing.

Soon afterward, Mary Ann moved to Illinois. For several years, she drove to Temple every Friday night and Saturday morning, learned to eat bagels, lox, and cream cheese; borsht; and blintzes. One Passover, for the seder, Mary Ann invited guests, and even ventured to make kreplach for the soup. She couldn’t understand why it was so hard to find flour in the stores.

After moving to a city where the Reform Temple was not nearly so welcoming as the ones where she used to live, Mary Ann decided to try the Conservative synagogue. It was there that she learned that she was not really Jewish after all. With the help of the Conservadox Rabbi, she found an Orthodox rabbi and his wife who agreed to learn with her and prepare her for conversion.

When everyone felt Mary Ann was ready, the rabbi made arrangements for her to meet with a rabbi who was competent to do conversions and, after several meetings, Mary Ann became Miriam.

In time, the local rabbi and his wife were arranging Miriam’s wedding. It was a joyous affair, as weddings are, with the entire supportive community in attendance.

Unfortunately, after a few years, Miriam and her husband moved away from that community for him to accept a job offer, and after the birth of twin daughters, Miriam’s husband left her. Faced with the prospect of finding a job and raising her children alone, she became easy prey for missionaries who convinced her that she should become a “completed Jew.” When her ex-husband heard about that, he kidnapped the twins and disappeared with them.

Too traumatized for steady work, Miriam went from job to job until she was able eventually to get a decent job and get back on her feet. Little by little, that empty feeling from her youth returned. Once again she began searching. Once again, with the help of a Conservadox rabbi, she found her way to Orthodox Judaism, this time returning to a Torah community and becoming more passionately and fervently observant than ever before.

By that time, Miriam’s daughters had grown up and married and had children of their own. Once they were sure that their mother was “safe,” they made a family reunion, and Miriam was reunited with her children and met her grandchildren for the first time. It was an emotional meeting with tears of pain mixed with tears of joy.

Today, Miriam reflects on those difficult, challenging years, on her journey to where she is today.

“Before my conversion, I hadn’t read so much because the Rabbi and his wife were teaching me what I needed to learn. I think I read all of three books, A Jew and His Home by Rabbi Kitov, The Sabbath by Rabbi Grunfeld, and The Path of the Just by Rabbi Luzzato, but that was enough to whet my appetite. After my conversion, I developed a passion for learning. I read some very basic, important books and learned from a great Rav. This gave me a firm foundation. Without that, I wouldn’t have had anything to rebuild on after my fall. My biggest mistakes were separating myself from the community and the Rav, and not continuing to learn. Besides having a Rav, it’s so important to have a close confidant, someone to learn from and share with, someone of the same sex so that other agendas don’t get in the way.

“It’s also important for a person preparing for conversion to take time to process what they are learning and not treat the whole thing like studying for an exam in university. We have a lifetime of learning ahead of us, and our foundation has to be based in commitment to continue learning and living what we learn. That’s the only way we can expect to live as a responsible Jew. There are so many good books now, so many outreach organizations and possibilities for learning from reliable sources. The trick is being able to know what is a reliable source and what isn’t, what is true to our Mesorah and what is a deviation.”

“Strange as it may seem, I believe that, all things considered, my husband’s taking the children was the best thing that could have happened. They were raised in a stable family with a mother and father and other children. They were instilled with the strong Jewish values I could never have given them at that time. It was so hard for me then, but somehow, deep down inside, I knew that was best for them. I’m so grateful today that they were taken away before I could destroy their Jewish foundation. Now, thank God, they are building stable, Torah-true homes, and our relationship has been restored.

“I’m also thankful for the prayers of those who knew me in the beginning of my journey into Torah-true Judaism. If not for them, for their loving me through those difficult times and in spite of my wandering, for leaving the door open for me, my return may not have happened.”

NOTE: The account of this Personal Journey is essentially true. The unessential details may have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals. Any resemblance to any actual person, location, or situation is coincidental.

"While touring and speaking in the U.S. in the Bible-believing Christian community, I came across amazing people. Their stories vary, but the question is always in my mind. Are they also Jewish sparks waiting to be ignited, to move further along their path, or are they perhaps Righteous Gentiles?

“There are times when I feel so privileged to be counted among the Jewish people that I cry out to G-d and thank Him ~ Yes, THANK HIM ~ for counting me worthy, somehow, someway, to know that He is the G-d of Yisroel. These are some of the feelings that overwhelmed me as I stood before the beit din, weeping tears of joy.”

Michaela's Story

Michaela was born into an Army family. Her father was an Army officer and a CIA agent. She spent her young years, the youngest of 3 children, all over the U.S., Japan and Europe. Traveling was a way of life; they never spent more then 3 years at any one place. That, of course, was the Army way.

Leaving high school, Michaela decided to experience the Height Ashbury scene in San Francisco. Many in the 60's sought opportunities to express themselves in the unusual.

Quickly tiring of that, Michaela joined the U.S. Marine Corps. During those years of the Viet Nam War, she was a Top Secret Courier to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Today she still stays away from the Viet Nam movies, remembering all to well the men returning home with missing limbs and such deep sorrow.

Michaela’s first strong Jewish impression came at the birth of her son. She was married just after being discharged from 2 years of Marine Corps service. Alongside her bed in the hospital was a Jewish mother with her child and visiting husband.

Michaela remembers to this day what an impact that Jewish family made on her. She doesn’t remember exchanging any words; it was as though her eyes were seeing a replay of something so very familiar to her. Unexplainable.

Michaela began her search for G-d just after the birth of her son. At that time, she found Fundamental Christianity and became very involved in church, politics, and community. Her involvement in the Right wing political Christian movement was the highlight of the next 20 years. She became a lobbyist to the state capital and the U.S. Congress. She worked for a Moral Right organization that fought the political system on legalizing homosexuality and abortion. She was being groomed for state politics or the U.S. Congress.

Homeward Bound

THEN CAME ISRAEL. After her divorce, Michaela decided to take a trip to Israel with a friend of hers and her friend’s children. Her ten days in the LAND was filled with tears. She was confused, disoriented, and bewildered. She knew only one thing clearly. She WAS HOME. Please understand that she had traveled all her life. In a way coming to Israel was just another trip .

But this trip turned out to change her life forever. She had been seeking her path continuously all her life. She often felt like a bloodhound sniffing for the scent to follow. AT LAST! She was on to something ~ a direction. HaShem was making that crooked path straight.

When Michaela returned home, she spent two years studying the Jewish Roots of Christianity. She had no idea in her head that she would ever convert. Although a deeply committed Christian for twenty years, serving in various lay and leadership positions, unavoidable questions and desires surfaced. She saw in the Scriptures the wonderful promises G-d had given the Jewish people, the intimate and eternal relationship between G-d and His people ~ and she longed to have this relationship too.

As Michaela studied, she discovered that much of what Jesus taught was also taught by other rabbis of the time. This shocked her. She had been taught that Jesus and his teachings were original and revolutionary. This increased her desire to study Jewish roots and, ultimately, Judaism. Once she knew the source was Judaism, her journey home was inevitable.

She returned to Israel three more times, once assisting in bringing a tour group to the ICEJ event during Succot, once on a trip to Russia, and finally a visit to decide whether she should make Aliyah.

After Michaela’s third trip, she decided to convert. It was a Conservative Conversion in Los Angeles.

While working in a dental office one day as a time management consultant in dentistry, Michaela had a phone call from Senator Gordon's office in D.C. They wanted her to take a position in the Senator's office to represent their Christian Right constituency. It was the BIG STEP politically. She was soooo tempted. She had spent years hoping for this break. Michaela talked to HaShem a lot those next days. But the answers always came up the same. That was not her path. She called them back and said no. She closed that gate and chose the path less traveled.

Michaela’s fourth trip to Israel was supposed to be a pilot trip. She stayed with the encouragement of only one family. They housed her for three months. She knew no one else in this amazing land. After three months the family encouraged her to go to Jerusalem to make Aliyah. She picked up her two bags and $750 and went to seek out the whereabouts of a woman these people knew, but Michaela had never met. The woman took Michaela into her tiny apartment where she slept on a mattress on the floor for a month. She made Aliyah and started Ulpan.

Michaela’s life as a Jew had begun. Her new friend was an Orthodox Jew who started to teach Michaela how to begin this new life. After months of learning the basics of Kashrut, modesty, and Torah, Michaela converted to Orthodox Judaism. >From that day forward, she committed her life to the One G-d of Israel and the Jewish people ~ now her people.

Michaela reflects on her choice and her commitment:

“The Rabbi who encouraged me and the one man who stood with me before the Beit Din, here in Jerusalem, will always be a part of my destiny. I will be eternally grateful.”

“As I have learned and grown in the ways of the Torah these past thirteen years, I reflect back to the days before I went into the Mikvah, before making that life commitment. I was full of fear that I might not be able to keep the laws that HaShem has given His people. I poured over Devarim (Deuteronomy) 30 for days until it sunk into my head, then heart, that He promises that He has put in our hearts the ability to keep these commandments. And that we have a choice to make. HaShem gives us the two choices ~ and urges us to CHOOSE LIFE ~ which is leveling the crooked path and putting you into the Castle.

“So my path has brought me here today. After thirteen years of living an Orthodox Jewish life, I bring you something that I think is amazing: the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel during these days preceding the final redemption.

“While touring and speaking in the U.S. in the Bible Believing Christian community, I came across amazing people. Their stories vary, but the question is always in my mind. Are they also Jewish sparks waiting to be ignited, to move further along their path, or are they perhaps Righteous Gentiles?

“There are times when I feel so privileged to be counted among the Jewish people that I cry out to G-d and thank Him ~ Yes, THANK HIM ~ for counting me worthy, somehow, someway, to know that He is the G-d of Yisroel. These are some of the feelings that overwhelmed me as I stood before the beit din, weeping tears of joy.”

NOTE: The account of this Personal Journey is essentially true. The unessential details may have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals. Any resemblance to any actual person, location, or situation is coincidental.