One thing people don’t talk about when it comes to Judaism/conversion enough is how life changing it is to meet and develop a deep, personal relationship with a rabbi who encourages you to honor the questions you have about G-d and embrace yourself when you don’t believe.

My favorite lesson I learned from a rabbi was that, when it comes down to it, it’s all (literally all of “it”, everything is) about 1) the choices you make every moment of every day and whether or not they are guided by a commitment to justice and 2) making sense of why.

He made sure that I knew the importance of my personal relationship to the world, the universe, other beings, and that I didn’t limit leaps of faith to the realm of spirit. We are here on earth now and there is work to be done now and what we do now is important.

Anyways, I’ve been thinking so much about the wonderful, inspiring, beautiful elements of Jewish life and my academic relationship to our religious texts. I wish people would make fewer assumptions and ask more questions. You cannot just guess the facts of someone’s Jewish life.

I’ve been struggling with this more than ever lately. Mostly with 1) non-Jewish friends who *really* don’t understand what they’re talking about and base assumptions on ungrounded claims made by antisemites and 2) Christian/Catholic new family members and 3)

...people who make assumptions about “converts” as if we, especially those of us who come home to Judaism with a history of intergenerational trauma and racial violence and systemic/historical persecution, don’t belong. We do belong whether you personally welcome us or not.

Even when/if I don’t even believe in G-d I’m still guided by Jewish teachings and even if I don’t feel accepted by X amount of Jewish spaces...I’ll ultimately be at home within my heart, in the sacred spaces I create myself, and with the universe by any other name.