Now you're in, why are you here?

[I wrote this to read at Friday's service, as part of an affirmation of this year's confirmation class and "Jews by choice", i.e. converts]

The morning I went to the mikveh, my husband drove. It was strange, but also strangely familiar. David asked what I was feeling, and it hit me – I felt that morning the way I felt the morning of my wedding. I was excited to be doing something that felt so very, very right, but also anxious. It wasn’t second guessing, but on each of those days I was aware that I was actively choosing to move in to a new place, a new relationship, that would mean things for me in ways I couldn’t, and frankly still can’t, anticipate. 

As you maybe can tell, I’m thinking a lot about relationships, and the importance of relationship in a Jewish context, right now. At our Shavuot study session earlier this week, we were speaking about G-ds 13 attributes, and something that struck me, over and over, is that each these 13 facets of G-ds merciful nature are not so much about eliminating sin, as they are about preserving the relationship between people and G-d, even when people make serious mistakes.

But Judaism doesn’t just ask us to have a relationship with G-d, it requires us to have relationships with other Jews. From the requirement of ten people to make up a minyan, to Friday night when we welcome the Sabbath at home with our families or here with our congregation, there is a communal aspect to our practice that necessitates building relationships with eachother.

My task tonight was to talk about why Judaism is my faith, and what aspects of Judaism are speaking to my heart.  Right now, what is speaking to my heart has to do with relationships. When you’re preparing for conversion, you learn that choosing Judaism commits you to a set of religious principles, but it also commits you to a people.  You are choosing to become a “member of the tribe”. From the perspective of a prospective convert, that seemed almost like wishful thinking, or something that would take years. From the other side, it’s a very different picture. Of course, I have lots to learn. I love Torah, and I know I’ve not even scratched the surface. I rely on the transliteration in the siddur more than I’d like to, my Hebrew pronunciation is pretty sad, and I’ve never made a matzoh ball.


But what I do know is that I’m doing all of this as a member of a community – my family, my congregation, my people. And tonight, that’s my favorite thing about being a Jew.