I have always been told I was Jewish on my father’s side, but all culture and history had been lost. So after a long time of dedication, I finally declared to the Beit Din and the greater community of Israel, that I join the covenant of Israel and its ancient people. Yesterday I became Shoshanah 💖 the mikvah was the most beautiful thing I have ever done in my life . 💖💖💖🌹

Please kindly no negative comments from folks that don't accept reform conversions. I've worked very hard for this and studied a lot and got a negative message from a fake account a couple of weeks back. I accept your opinions, please accept mine.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who has congratulated me on this occasion, it was very memorable and I'm still riding the very happy wave I'm getting from it (literally, my Mikveh was in the ocean lol).

I'm so glad to be a part of such an amazing community of people and faith, my main sponsoring Rabbi stated that for him and the other members of the Beit Din was the most memorable conversion they've ever performed.

I'm using this not as a beginning or an end, but as a part of a lifelong journey. I'm committed to helping my fellow Jew and my fellow human. Besides Judaism being compatible with me on a spiritual level, I want to bring those Jewish values to individuals of all faiths on their level. I work as a social worker and the concept of tikkun olam has been the most resonating facet of Judaism to me as a person. I want to be a part of this faith as full as possible, and now I have that chance

💙

Edit 2: wow I'm actually very happy at the outpouring of congratulations and mazel tovs. This past Shabbos I was called before the bema to receive my official welcome and blessing in front of my community following my conversation day. I was even given the opportunity to hold the Torah scroll which I considered such a huge honor. I was tearing up in front of the Rabbi and the congregation. I had difficulty expressing my words in emotions, I normally get emotional, but when it's getting emotional in front of 2000 people holding a sacred text and receiving a blessing and welcome, followed by me going back to my seat and receiving hugs and congratulations from individuals I have conversed with but don't know too well, but I remember their faces and their welcoming nature. This just solidified it, I had one family member with me, I mentioned my family is scattered across the country and some couldn't make it, to which the congregation responded that we're your family now too.

I'm so blessed to be a part of the Jewish community. Especially as a convert who has only formally experienced Jewish life for a year and a half. During that time I've received excellent guidance by many community members and leaders and a Rabbi that I look up to as a strong example of Judaism. I still have more to learn, we're always learning and growing, this isn't a culmination, but rather a milestone towards a new life. I am not giving up who I am as a person, but this is an important new addition, having my cultural background and being Jewish as well and discovering what that means over the course of my life.

I see comments still coming in, from users with flairs indicating many different denominations and movements, Jews of all stripes. Seeing the community and the strength in adversity and knowing that I have a community that I've felt affinity for and being a part of it now, seeing how we've survived then and will survive now. It gives me hope on an individual level for my own growth. In my mind, Zion isn't just a physical place, but to me it feels like a mental and spiritual place to wind up to. To make Aliyah towards growth as a Jew and a person to reach that promised land inside.

Before converting and participating in Jewish life, I've had to face antisemitism a few times already, there's many things to get used to still. It's a culture shock and adjustment, but despite all the hardships that we have faced, we'll prevail and there's one more member of the tribe to assist in whatever way I can.

I apologize for the rambling, but ever since that day, I've felt renewed and emotional. I'll fulfill my obligations as a Jew as best as I can and help my fellow brothers and sisters and use this as a positive force in my life.

Thank you for everyone, from the strictly kosher, to the Jewish hippies and punks and rockers (Fat Mike and Eric Melvin from NOFX, Matisyahu, and all the Beastie Boys, we can rock out hard and being a grungy person stuck in the 90's I love these representations), and everyone in between or outside the spectrum in some way.

Gonna be my last edit since it's almost been a week, but I'll never forget this experience whether it's in Shul or on Reddit.

Writing in for some chizuk, please ❤️

After 4 very long and emotionally agonizing years, I’m approaching what should be my final meeting with the Beis Din for Orthodox conversion, BZH. For context, I grew up Jewish. My father is Jewish, and my mother had a Conservative conversion well before I was born. Although I didn’t grow up religious, I always had a strong belief in Hashem and integral sense of Jewish pride. When I was exposed to Torah observant Judaism in my teenage years, I fell in love with it immediately. Of course, as I began to dig deeper, I became plagued by the question of whether I was considered Jewish by Halacha. I have known for a long time that I want to live an observant life, but it took me some time to confront reality and pursue conversion to make it official. To say it’s been difficult is an understatement- logistical challenges aside, the experience has been emotionally excruciating unlike anything else I’ve faced. It was like my identity was stripped from me, and I was suddenly barred entry from a family I had felt a part of my whole life and grown to love dearly.

BH, after a lot of hard personal work, a ton of learning, many logistical life changes, and committing and recommitting to the journey, I’ve reached a place in my observance where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, I’m finding it a huge challenge to be excited about post-conversion life when I feel a lot of resentment toward the religious community, fueled by a build-up of hurtful comments and actions over the years. Where I went to university, I was one of only a handful of frum students, and yet I was consistently discouraged from growing in observance. Sometimes I was even flat-out refused support in tasks such as kashering my kitchen, obtaining mezuzot, etc. by the local shluchim under the premise that my mitzvot don’t yet count, and I wasn’t worth wasting the resources on. More recently, I’ve been working with a tutor who has been incredibly helpful in helping me brush up on the finer details of Halacha. Understandably, he is also critical of intermarriage, but it’s a struggle not to let some of his comments have a negative impact on how I see myself. When asked during a class if all Jews would have a share in the World to Come, this rabbi replied that he doubted most secular Jews would make the cut because so many are intermarried and likely “wouldn’t be willing to do teshuva by renouncing their non-Jewish spouses and kids.” Regardless of the fact that this view does not reflect my own, I left the class in tears over the idea that bringing me into the world was a horrible mistake/sin that my father (who I have an amazing relationship with, thank G-d) should be atoning for.

Thus far, I’ve spent my entire life feeling out of place- Jewish enough for the Nazis of the world, too Jewish to fit into the secular world, but not Jewish enough to be fully accepted by the frum world. At the end of the day, I think I’m as much at peace with my situation as I can be. I know I’m not entitled to anybody’s help, and I’m so grateful for the people who have guided and supported me along this journey. While nothing can ever deter me from my goal of completing my conversion and living as a Torah observant Jew, these experiences still linger in the back of my mind and make me a little fearful about fully integrating into the religious world as a Halachic Jew. Part of me mourns the fact that I’ve spent the better part of my young adult life making sacrifices to prove my love for a religion that hasn’t always seemed to love me back, and I want to be able to let go of that sadness. A dip in the Mikveh can remedy the spiritual conflict between my soul and my body, and I know it will be worth it to strengthen my relationship with Hashem and solidify my connection to the Jewish people once and for all. Still, I wish there was a way to get my brain and emotions on the same page. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading, and I’d appreciate any words of wisdom you have for me. If nothing else, please let my ramblings serve as a reminder that we need to be kind, not judge one another, and have empathy toward each other’s invisible struggles. ❤️

Side note- I actually tried posting this first anonymously in a Facebook group for religious Jews. I seek support from religious Jews, because that is the group that would best understand what I’m going through. Turns out my post didn’t meet community guidelines because I haven’t finished the conversion process yet and shouldn’t have been in the group in the first place. I think this perfectly encapsulates my struggle 🙃

Just went to the Mikvah ✨💖✨

It took me 6 years, but I'm a Jew as of today!

Hi! For context, I was raised as a United Pentecostal Christian and after learning that I had some Jewish ancestry, I became really interested in studying about Jewish history and traditions. I also never felt like i fit in well with the church I attended at home and had struggled to find a “home church” over the last 2 years in my college town. I visited a hebrew roots church and I loved the traditions, but it still left me with a lot of questions. I went down the Rabbi Tovia Singer rabbit hole and now i feel like my whole life is a mess😭. Something in me feels so strongly to keep pushing and work towards an orthodox conversion. I’ve began keeping kosher and shabbat, dressing more modestly, and i’m trying to teach myself hebrew so I can read the Torah in the original language-and I am loving every second of this. However, I still have SO many questions and so many fears (hell, disappointing Gd, disappointing my family) and I feel so alone. I live in the south, there’s no synagogues here, i’ve never even met a practicing Jew. I feel so connected to Judaism in this strange way, but i’m so alone in my journey. Does anyone have any advice or would be willing to help answer some questions?

Good morning/evening/afternoon wherever you may be. Hope you're all well & my apologies prior for my spelling & grammar.

As stated in the title, I've started working for a Jewish firm. I've worked for 3 other Jewish owned companies but this is the first one in which it's not just the owner who's Jewish, but the workers also (about 95% of the full workforce).

I'm coming to the end of my 3 month probation at work & it seems like I've really impressed everyone with my work. I'm very polite, well-spoken, smiley and do what I'm told effectively without question. I get along with 98% of my workforce.

I'm English (Based in Manchester, UK) & hold no religious views personally & I'd consider myself "unintentionally ignorant" with regards to Religion as a whole.

So my question is, does anybody have any tips/advise on getting on well with the Jewish lads/lasses at work? Or advise on things I shouldn't do also?

I know you can't sweep a certain group of people with the same brush, but as a culture, I imagine most of you hold a lot of the same values which is why I ask (I could possibly be wrong on that - please educate me if so).

Thank you everyone, wishing you all the best; always!

(And if this is the wrong sub for asking, please let me know & I'll delete it. I did have a look at the sub rules prior).

Edit: I just wanted to say Thank You to everybody who has replied, you've all been really helpful & friendly! - It's getting late here & I'm really tired after all the research & replying I've been doing. I'll still reply back to everyone, it'll just have to be tomorrow. Wishing everyone the best & again, thank you!

Hi! Here to ask my fellow Jews how you guys are mentally surviving nowadays. Honestly since October 7th I have not only just not felt the same but I literally can’t do it. Mentally it’s so hard. Physically I hide which is also hard. I don’t wear my star unless I can cover it. I make sure there’s nothing on me to suggest I’m Jewish. Everything I see is heartbreaking, scary, and fills me with anger. It’s disheartening obviously and I don’t know how to get through it honestly. I don’t remember the last time I felt okay.

This is a question that has been on my mind for a few weeks now, so I figured I would ask it here. I’m not Jewish so my knowledge is quite limited, but from what I understand you can be live a lot of different things and still be Jewish, so can you be Christian?

Edit: Hello everyone. It seems some people think I am trying to troll or be malicious with my questions so allow me to explain: despite me not being Jewish I am a massive Zionist, and for a long time have strongly believed in Israel’s right to exist. I observed a Pro-Israel demonstration at my university, spoke with some of the student , and ended up helping them run the stand for about seven hours. The Jewish students on campus appreciated this and have invited me to many Jewish events since, and I have become quite involved in the community. Attending all these events and hanging out with these students has made me curious about what Jews actually believe, not to mention I want to understand my new found friends better. I have been trying my best to research Jewish beliefs since, and this was one question I came across. I apologize if I offended anyone, as that was not my intent

My wonderful Goyfriend pt2

Hi everyone,

I had a post about my boyfriend who is wonderful but is not ok about circumcision if we were to have kids. I thinks it’s important. How do I navigate that conversation It might mean that we do not end up together but I want to have that conversation just need help navigating it This is was original Hey y’all, I just need to get this off my chest and would love any insight. So i (27F) am in a wonderful relationship (32M). He moved across the country to be with me, he loves me in the most amazing way and he is my best friend. The catch? He is not Jewish. I thought it might not be a huge deal but with everything going on and reflecting it is. I told him from jump that I want a Jewish household and I want both parents to be active in helping create and teach our children about Judaism. He is very opposed to circumcision. The reason being that he believe people should not make decisions for others regarding their bodies. He said if when the child is 18 that he would be totally fine with it. He also is willing to go to Judaism classes together to learn to help with teaching potential kids. He will not convert, which I would never force him unless he independently wanted to. He even has made Shabbat dinner for my parents. He is a hard core atheist. Which is fine.

I don’t know- he is wonderful BUT I just have this feeling. Are there people here in situations like this. ?

Question.

I did it. After 10 years of studying and building up the nerve to convert, I dunked. And I picked Boaz Vidal. In honor of my grandma Barbara that passed recently and my great grandma Verna.

I am not sure what to do. Long story short I was looking forward to attending a YJP Shabbat dinner as I share the same cultural background of others that will be in attendance. I reached out to the Rabbi to introduce myself etc etc and he may be insinuating that I am not allowed to attend. He wrote a special note stating his or their organization does not accept Reform or Conservative conversions. I’ve been to several Orthodox shuls and Shabbats and not everyone is always Orthodox.

**Update (apologies this is so late)

I was refunded my Shabbat ticket and the Rabbi was very kind and did apologize if I was offended in any way. I found another YJP Shabbat to attend during my time in NYC.

Appreciate everyone’s feedback and this rich and open discussion.

Just a question. Leveticus 11:9 states that for all marine life to be kosher, they require fins and scales. The marlin fish, has both of these yet is not classified as kosher. Is there any reason for this? It’s left me pondering. Thanks very much

So I’m a recent conservative cvrt and I’ve been so happy to do Mitzvot and just live life as a Jew. But idk I feel like sometimes I have imposter syndrome bc of how a lot of orthodox don’t see me as a Jew. I actually plan in the future to try and move into orthodoxy but that won’t be for a while do to personal things. I did everything according to Halacha, I studied for months with my rabbi, did my Beit din, immersed in the mikveh, ect. Idk I just want your guy’s honest opinion on this/me.

Edit: thank you all for you kind words.

Just to get the backstory in briefly, I was raised by 2 Jewish parents, but very secular. All "American" holidays were celebrated, including Dec. 25 and Easter (Although Xmas is much more festive for them). We're estranged from all other family except for my mom's sister and her family -- my mom's sister converted to Catholicism and married a Catholic, and are raising their two girls as Catholics. They purposefully tell their girls that they aren't Jewish, and have tried to argue with me before. The whole family hates Orthodox Judaism and I am the pariah. I am a BT. My husband's family are Conservative Jews, we are Chabad.

We got married in November last year, and so a month later was going to be the Xmas celebrations when my whole family gets together. I told my husband I think we shouldn't go, but he insisted. He felt that it was more than important to connect with family, and that we will just say beforehand that we don't want to participate in Xmas. I knew that wouldn't work but whatever. We were a month out of our wedding, where my family ditched me alone for the 2 days leading up to the wedding event to party with treif at their hotel, including the day of my wedding, where I sat alone in the bridal suite with my best friend until they finally arrived right before the wedding started. So you can see why I was already wary about going back to my hometown for the holidays, lol.

Well, even though we had texted the groupchat a long time beforehand and asked specifically to not participate in gift-exchanges, and despite this already being a long battle I had fought with them for the last few years, they got us gifts. We thanked them and politely said we would wait until after the specifically X-mas gift exchange time to open them.

They FREAKED OUT. Screamed at us that "it's not Xmas, it's Hanukkah!" We said, Hanukkah was weeks ago. I thanked them for the gifts again and mentioned we would open them tomorrow. More screaming. My aunt started singing (with completely incorrect lyrics "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel" and then the Catholics tried to explain to the Jews that Hanukkah was about opening gifts and being with family. I explained Hanukkah was about not assimilating to different religions. My dad screamed at my husband to "be a man," as if I were keeping him from opening gifts/celebrating. We stayed strong.

A day or so later, my aunt spent a great deal of time trying to get my husband to eat Skyline chili. It was then that I realized they thought I was eating Kosher but he wasn't. They thought I was forcing him to observe things that he didn't want to do. Later, my dad was incredulously asking my husband, "really? So you've never eaten pork?"

So I said, we are absolutely done with this. We are not going back for the holidays, they clearly can't handle it. We have already said quite a few times at this point that we will not be there for Xmas. This has resulted in a LOT of crying from my mom and some guilt-tripping from my dad and my aunt. But we are not going.

My husband said we will have a huge Chanukah party at our house and that we can invite them all to stay with us and attend, lol. My aunt's family lives about a 10-hour drive from my fam, who live about a 5-hour drive from us. They're using the whole "but it's the one time a year we are all together!" My husband and I have flown to my aunt's family, and have driven to see my family twice this year. NO ONE from my family has come to visit us! (Except for my brother, who flew from Mississippi back in the Spring!) They still think I'm bluffing about not coming this year, but it's about time there were some proud Jews.

I’m a Christian and idk if you guys have the same chapter and verse split but in verses Genesis 1:26 and 3:22 God refers to Himself as “Us”. I know Christians generally believe this is referring to the trinity, but I’m wondering what Jews think about this as they disagree with the doctrine of the Trinity. On another note, do you guys believe worship of the Trinity qualifies as idolatry?