Opening the first page

"The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying: You have stayed long enough at this mountain."
Devarim 1.6 [JPS Tanakh, 1985]

There are beginnings and there are endings.

Sometimes it important to remember:

Today. This moment: Every moment is a new beginning... and a new ending.

I have chosen a new beginning. I choose to share it with you. Whoever you are. Where ever you come from. Wherever you are going.

This blog spot is about my choice to be a Jew.

Choose to be a Jew? Really? Really.

I will share here the things I have discovered. Some of them will be new-old things I have learned-remembered. Some will be things completely new.

But let me start with how I got here.

I will have to tell the tale in bits and pieces. I will tell the tale as I remember as it happens here and now. And flashing back to there and then.

The beginning this time started with an argument.

It was February 17, 2006.

I don't remember exactly what it was about but it was a painful one between my wife and I. We were sitting in the Garajma Hall, the brick garage behind my house we converted into a "soap studio" for my wife's hand made soap business.

She was making soap and I was helping with this and that. We drinking and were arguing. Our our relationship had become strained. Painful. Lonely. It was another round of recriminations about how we each felt. She was angry about my behavior and my unhappiness. I was angry over our painful financial straights and defensive over my various bright points of stupidity.

Somewhere in that fog I asked her a question. One that left her wide eyed and speechless.

[That's a hard thing to do to a middle aged New York - Ashkenaz Jewess.]

Out of nowhere I asked her "What if I became a Jew?"

"Are you CRAZY???!!!???" She asked. She looked in my eyes and then hers got very wide.

A moment later a curious, flirtive look of hope shown in her eyes. She asked "Do you want me to talk to Rabbi?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? You're not doing this for me are you?"

No. I'm doing this for me."

That changed everything.

Even me.

Especially me.


So she talked to the Rabbi on Monday February 20, 2006 who referred her to the Rabbi that teaches the conversion classes. Conversion Classes? There is such a thing as a Convert Jew?

What do you think Abraham was? He was the first one.

She came back and told me to send an e-mail to the Rabbi and introduce myself.

Now understand I didn't have a map or manual or even a guide for what I was supposed to say. I had not even looked on the 'Net and found this.

Taking Cynthia's words at face value I sat down and wrote him.

I'll tell you about that next time.

HaGedi