Rabbi Eliana Fischel might not claim the title "The Cool Rabbi" (or think it very likely any rabbi would), but the Washington Hebrew Congregation Associate Rabbi does a lot of the fun stuff. She runs the young professionals group, works with LGBTQ and Jews of Color cohorts, and is involved in something like 40 conversions a year.
Who knew there were so many!? Well, no one, unless the convert themself chooses to talk about it. Rabbi Fischel explains why, and gives some insight into what she's witnessed in many of these deeply personal journeys. She busts some myths we grew up with (are we really turning converts away three times?), gives insight and identifies some of the trends she's seen and learned about over the years of helping people find themselves, and their Jewish soul.
Don’t worry, you won’t come out of this a shiny new Jew, or have any Sunday school flashbacks (unless you liked Sunday School?), but we’ll have a few laughs, and hit some of the nuts and bolts and basic questions you probably have about conversion....or, at least, that I had.
GLOSSARY
Minhag: A tradition that through long accepted use and custom has taken on an importance and force almost as strongly as law.
Goy/goyish: non-Jew and non-Jewish (adjective), respectively.
Israel: The word, meaning "to struggle with God," was bestowed on the biblical character Jacob as his new name after wrestling with an angel all night in a match that left him permanently injured. In Judaism, it is used to refer the Jewish people, “Am Yisrael," meaning People of Israel, and the Land, "Eretz Yisrael."
Bubbe: Also spelled "bobe," Yiddish for "grandmother."
Seder: From the Hebrew word meaning "order," the ceremonial meal that takes place at Passover and is conducted in a specific order alongside the retelling of the story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The ritual meal is believed by many to have been Jesus' Last Supper in Christianity, and Passover takes place in the spring, generally very near Easter.
Links:
https://www.reformjudaism.org/
https://www.whctemple.org/learn/adult-learning/classes/12-jewish-questions/
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