Shavuot, is a good time to talk about "belonging." The scroll read for Shavuot is the Book of Ruth. Ruth is often referred to as the first convert. In this interesting article about Ruth, Rabbi Richard Hirsch also addresses BELONGING. He describes it as being first about belonging to the Jewish people and second to believing in the Jewish view of God.
I shared this story in the URJ email news about a woman living in San Rafael with the email list. I said, this essay doesn't talk about her deciding to become Jewish, it talks about her sense of belonging before becoming Jewish. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Did you cross over a threshold from feeling like an outsider to 'belonging'? Was it related to your conversion process? Or simply your integration into your community?
Here are some replies -
Eve:
From about 8 on, thru grade school, and then into college, I had Jewish friends and in Oakland 'grandparents' -- neighbors across the street whose grandchildren lived in NY, so I became the adopted granddaughter. They weren't religious, but he read the Forward in Yiddish. Grade school bestie invited me for weekend sleepovers which always included observant Shabbat dinner. In college, I read Chaim Potok and then other pop lit like Marjorie Morningstar and others too obscure to remember, I figured out that I could study and then convert. My folks didn't have us 3 baptized, so there was nothing to renounce. They had no issues with my decision, but my dad advised me to remove my Israel solidarity bumper sticker, lest I get torched or vandalized.
Josef:
I intellectually wanted to be Jewish for a long time. I grew up in a Jewish community and felt as if I belonged.
Medical problems and other distractions precluded my conversion. I wanted to take in Shabbat Services and I found a Reform Temple. I took their Introduction to Judaism course and I wound up converting.
I'm proud and ecstatic about being Jewish!
Adir:
In my case it was when I started to share inside jokes and we all understood the references without having to explain them and without them even thinking they had to explain them to me because I was already one of the guys.
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