Happy to be here :)

I'm so happy to find a forum to discuss my choice to be Jewish.

I started exploring Judaism two summers ago after discovering that my family recipe for"Fryday Bread" (my great grandma's spelling) was challah.

In the fall, I met the local Rabbi at my college at a religious discussion panel. We talked a bit after the discussion and she invited me to come visit her at the synagogue.

I told her that I was not interested in joining any religion after my experiences being raised as a Jehovah's Witness and then as a Catholic. But, I was interested in learning about Judaism because I love studying religion and everything I had read so far fit in with my personal belief system.

She told me that Judaism doesn't seek converts, so there was no pressure to join, and she was happy to meet with me whenever I had questions and her schedule was open.

I started attending services and making friends in the congregation. Our congregation is the only one in the area, so our congregants are a mix of reform and conservative. Officially, it is a reform congregation. I was invited to join the Torah study group and then the book club and meditation group.

Until this time, my kids and I had what we called family fun night every Friday night. We eat a nice dinner, our favorite rotisserie chicken and grandma's bread, by candle light and then play board games and read books for the evening. I'm not allowed to do homework or answer the phone, per my kids. The Rabbi laughed until there were tears in her eyes when I told her about our tradition. She said, "and you aren't Jewish?" We added the prayers and grape juice and we had the start of Shabbat.

A year passed and we were happy in the congregation. I joined as member and my kids started going to Hebrew school, after approval from the other parents. We were pretty comfortable in this situation. But, then I went to a memorial service at our college for some students who died over the summer. It was supposed to be a non-religious service, but it felt very xtian to me. I realized as I sat there that I was Jewish and didn't belong in that chapel. I had changed so much and didn't realize it until that moment.

I told my best friend, an atheist, that I decided to convert and she laughed. She saw it coming a mile away. When I next met with the Rabbi I told her that I wanted to convert. So we have been looking at dates for the biet din and mikveh.

I've had a lot of bumps along the road, which I will post later, especially with my JW family, but my friends have been very supportive.

So hello! I've enjoyed reading all of your posts.

Welcome!

Rocky_girl wrote:

I'm so happy to find a forum to discuss my choice to be Jewish.

I started exploring Judaism two summers ago after discovering that my family recipe for"Fryday Bread" (my great grandma's spelling) was challah.

In the fall, I met the local Rabbi at my college at a religious discussion panel. We talked a bit after the discussion and she invited me to come visit her at the synagogue.

I told her that I was not interested in joining any religion after my experiences being raised as a Jehovah's Witness and then as a Catholic. But, I was interested in learning about Judaism because I love studying religion and everything I had read so far fit in with my personal belief system.

She told me that Judaism doesn't seek converts, so there was no pressure to join, and she was happy to meet with me whenever I had questions and her schedule was open.

I started attending services and making friends in the congregation. Our congregation is the only one in the area, so our congregants are a mix of reform and conservative. Officially, it is a reform congregation. I was invited to join the Torah study group and then the book club and meditation group.

Until this time, my kids and I had what we called family fun night every Friday night. We eat a nice dinner, our favorite rotisserie chicken and grandma's bread, by candle light and then play board games and read books for the evening. I'm not allowed to do homework or answer the phone, per my kids. The Rabbi laughed until there were tears in her eyes when I told her about our tradition. She said, "and you aren't Jewish?" We added the prayers and grape juice and we had the start of Shabbat.

A year passed and we were happy in the congregation. I joined as member and my kids started going to Hebrew school, after approval from the other parents. We were pretty comfortable in this situation. But, then I went to a memorial service at our college for some students who died over the summer. It was supposed to be a non-religious service, but it felt very xtian to me. I realized as I sat there that I was Jewish and didn't belong in that chapel. I had changed so much and didn't realize it until that moment.

I told my best friend, an atheist, that I decided to convert and she laughed. She saw it coming a mile away. When I next met with the Rabbi I told her that I wanted to convert. So we have been looking at dates for the biet din and mikveh.

I've had a lot of bumps along the road, which I will post later, especially with my JW family, but my friends have been very supportive.

So hello! I've enjoyed reading all of your posts.

Nice to "meet" you Rocky Girl and thanks for sharing your journey with us!

And a great journey it is! Just remember, it is neverending. Torah study and your growth as a Jew that is!

Look forward to seeing more of your posts.

Thanks for posting your story. Did your children also convert with you?

Thanks for the welcome. My kids will be converting with me, they are 9 & 5, the 9-year-old is an avid reader and keeps the Rabbi on her toes with his questions. She began his preparation to become bar mitzvah even though we haven't quite finished the conversion process.

Welcome!

Very awesome, welcome!

Welcome to the forum!

Im new too, and I also come from a Jehovahs Witness family, so I know how that is! Good luck :)