My Journey to Judaism It is hard to pin-point the spark that initiated my fondness for Judaism, its people, its history and its culture. Born into a French-Canadian Catholic family of Irish descent, I certainly did not have anything resembling Jewish in my environment. I had an abnormal interest in the Old Testament: this according to three of my teachers in grammar school, and I was the one with the embarrassing questions about certain rules, practices and even divinities that simply did not make sense to me. I kept asking why we went to church on Sunday, since the last day of the week was Saturday! And I [...]

I grew up in a house where what most would imagine as an ideal family life did not exist. Relationships were cold and indifferent, and holiday celebrations were nonexistent. We were without the emotional bonds during our lives that makes a family close. Even after death, when speaking of family members lost, we treated them as if they never existed. I enlisted in the military, (U.S. Navy), right after high school, and quickly became a member of a “Unit.” A family. We taught and learned from each other, were responsible for each other’s successes, failures, and our very lives. We revered those who served before us. Those whom [...]

It is hard to imagine that the word “Jewish” sounded so foreign and completely unrelated to me not too long ago. When I met my now-husband Andrew, I was fed small, delicious morsels of Jewish tradition and history. We made latkes and cholent and charoset, spun the dreidel, felt the tallit that belonged to Andrew’s great-grandfather, and he would tell me the fascinating stories he learned from Hebrew school as a child. I eventually came to realize that this was the kind of home I wanted to create for Andrew and myself. My path to becoming a Jew-by-choice was a gradual one, (as, I suppose, most life-changing journeys [...]

Converting to Judaism was one of the most important decisions of my life and came about when my mother-in-law passed away after seventeen years of marriage. Although I was not a practicing Catholic, I was brought up in a devout Roman Catholic family and strongly identified with religious traditions. Although I married a Jewish man, conversion was never a consideration even though I was firmly ensconced in Jewish life. At my mother-in-law’s funeral, it occurred to me that I could not eventually be buried with my husband in a Jewish cemetery, or sit shiva for him if he predeceased me. Conversion classes changed my attitude from being skeptical [...]

I will begin by saying that August 26, 2013, the day that I went to the Mikvah to complete my conversion, was the best day of my life after my wedding day. In 2007, I met the love of my life, and in 2008, we were married. I was never religious being a Christian growing up. I always did keep my faith in God but did not believe in a lot of what I was told, especially about being gay and that it was a sin. So I kept my faith private within myself and alone. Then, when I got married and even when we began dating, I [...]

My partner is not Jewish, and I began my path to conversion out of a sense of curiosity – I was interested in Jewish ethics and culture and wanted to learn more. At Temple, I found a great place to experience Jewish life with no pressure to convert, but a sense that I would be welcome if I ever did. I enjoyed learning about our traditions (and recipes!) and about the Hebrew alphabet, but I think the most exciting part of the official process was being welcomed to Temple in the presence of my family, who came to the service. When I became a Jew, we became “interfaith,” [...]