"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.”
בס''ד
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.