I’ve been considering going to a synagogue for over a year now and haven’t really been able to because I didn’t have my license and my parents definitely wouldn’t drive me to a synagogue cause they’re devout Baptists. Anyway, I reached out to a synagogue to see if I could attend a Shabbat service, but I was wary because the building itself is in a really bad part of a bad town, and the town itself is kinda far away, and the directions to get there are really convoluted (awful stretch of highway for several exits, and afterwards lots of turns and slight rights and merging in a bad part of a bad town-- keep in mind I just got my license and am not wholly comfortable driving to new places by myself).
The very next day at work a patron came up to me and asked if she could put up a flyer on our bulletin board about a lecture given at a synagogue that is in my hometown and is less than a ten minute drive from my house! I didn’t even know that my hometown had a synagogue in it because I had never had any reason to go to that part of town. The woman told me how to get there, and the directions are super simple, and she was raving about how engaging and personable the rabbi is. She told me about the other synagogue that I had considered going to, and how it’s very large and has less of a sense of community, and that she personally doesn’t seem to get as much out of the services. She asked me when I moved to town because she assumed I was Jewish if I was looking for a synagogue, and I told her I had lived here most of my life but was considering conversion (”Oh, so you’re not Jewish yet.” Yet!), and she was talking about some of the converts in the congregation, and gave me a phone number to call and people to talk to and basically I’m just really excited to start my journey.
I called my friend (Christian friend) and told her and she asked me what draws me to Judaism, especially cause “ever since i’ve known you, you’ve been interested.” We’ve known each other since 2006ish and were in middle school. I did explain myself to her (the first of I’m assuming many times), but it was also sort of nice to be able to hear from someone else that my interest wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. (Sometimes I jump into things headfirst and then come to realize I probably should have thought it through more). But I’ve been reading several books from the library and have bought some recommended by jumblr since about December.
And I finally have my license, which was really the only other thing holding me back.
One concern I have is that a lot of the books about conversion have to do with gentiles in relationships with Jews, and I’m not in a relationship at all. So, it seems like 70% of the material I have read has to do with going through the process with a spouse or fiance, and what to expect from your Jewish spouse or fiance and your in-laws... Which just doesn’t apply for me. I mean most of the information about the process and such still applies, I just wish there was more information about forming a support group when I don’t know anyone in the congregation (besides that one sweet woman I met at work).
I contacted the synagogue, and the woman on the phone said to expect an email from the rabbi in a few days about scheduling a time to meet, and that they also have a staff member whose job is to help guide and support converts (supplemental to my training with the rabbi, obviously not replacing my training with the rabbi).
Anyway, I’m super excited and am planning to go to the Shabbat service this Friday and possibly the Saturday morning one too. Excitement!
