I happen to be a sucker for conversion stories; I love hearing about people who come to Judaism, and what the pull is towards the religion that has always been part of my family. The journey to Judaiism is almost always fascinating.
I find particularlly beautiful this comment; I can see why it stunned the Rabbi's into silence.
When asked why he wished to become Jewish with all the troubles that it incurrecd he responded:
“... a pasuk,” or passage “from Tehillim: ‘For me, the closeness to Hashem is good.’ ”
The story made me want to move to Safed just so he could be my daughters' teacher.
(just a note. Most converts maintain a loving and ongoing relationship with their family of origin; I know of several converts and they are in frequent contact with their families, visit, and have their families visit them. Two books I love on personal journeys to Orthodox Judaism are: My Sister the Jew---the autobiography of a former minister who converted to Judaism, and Playing With Fire, a missionary who discovered her roots were Jewish and came back to Judaism. Both women maintain warm relationships with their families of origin. )
Posted by Rachel Ann at November 28, 2004 06:32 AMIt seems like many of my neighbors and good friends are converts. Each has a special story, and if I'm not mistaken, they're all in touch with their families.
Halachikly we're not supposed to mention/label one a convert, and I've noticed that over the years they speak more and sometimes less about it. We have to take their cue, whether to mention anything about conversion.