Hi sarah. What made you decide to convert to Judaism, and which sect did you convert to?
to be totally blunt, it was a constellation of factors, but immediately catalysed by the pittsburgh attack. the prior summer, though, I read "everything is illuminated" by jonathan safran foer. it reignited an immense desire to be jewish, one i couldn't even call desire but tug, like there was a rope around my neck pulling me there and resisting it would give me a heart attack. mixed metaphors, but you know!
when the attacks happened, i went to the open mourning /processing space at the JSU. when i left for the night, i told the person i was with "i can't keep watching this happen and pretend i'm not a jew". i began going to shabbat the following week and began organizing my conversion studies soon after.
