So, we found out the Mikveh was already booked full on the date our synagogue selected, so our Beit Din and Mikveh will be postponed until the end of July, just in time for my birthday!
We’re still just as excited to see a point in which our conversion journey comes to fruition and we are recognized as Jews amongst the tribe. Your “Mazel Tov’s,” have been greatly appreciated by all of our friends here and in Israel, honestly more than I think you all know. It has made us feel accepted and loved by those of my shared views and DNA. My conversion is more of a confirmation to me, while it is a transformation for my wife and kids, so it is very special to us.
There has been a small hiccup however, I was interviewed by the Jewish Exponent newspaper, and our Rabbi is concerned about how my past might be received by congregants. I am open and honest about my past, and I vehemently fight against hate and antisemitism today, so I have to be and don’t want fellow congregants who become friends to find out on their own and be afraid of me. I am a pacifist today, I have gone from sword to shield, in that I am anti-violence, but I will not stand by and let others be hurt, I will stand in front of them and take the force of other’s hate instead.
I’ve given dozens upon dozens of interviews, from podcasts to research projects, from colleges to video lectures. I am viewed as a target by my former friends, I have a target painted on my back and those on Stormfront for over a year have said I was a Jew infiltrator. I did not have to change, there was nothing imposing itself on me to do so, I changed of my own free will and worked for several years to destroy the ideology I once believed in for decades, piece by piece, little by little. I hate no one today, I love everyone without restriction, that is who I am… not my past.. and I hope my fellow congregants understand that and understand what I had to go through to leave a multi-decade life behind and become who I am today.
No matter what happens, my life will go on Baruch Hashem, I will be me, as I am today because I love myself now and love those around me regardless of societal superficialities. My journey continues, I will continue to wander the deserts and stand at Sinai’s foot, waiting and longing…