Joe's Jew

Since October of this year, I have been going to a 3 hour Thursday night Introduction to Judaism class.  In addition to class there is a load of reading, quizzes to be taken, and activities to complete before my conversion into the Jewish faith takes place.  This blog is a place where I will be sharing my conversion experience.  I hope to offer some insight for those who are considering converting to a new faith or who are just interested in what it means to live a modern Jewish life (starting from scratch)...or for those who are just curious!

Let me start back to when my interest in converting from Catholicism to Judaism occurred. On my son's first birthday, July 7th, 2010, my wonderful boyfriend asked me to marry him!  I was ecstatic!  This man was asking to not only spend the rest of his life with me, but with my son, who is not his biological child.  Before I had thoughts of my wedding dress or invitations to our wedding, I did some thinking about our religious backgrounds. I am Catholic and Joe is Jewish.  Catholicism was never that "important" to me, but it was a part of my life.  I went to Catholic school from Kindergarten through my senior year of high school.  I loved Christmas time....it beholds some of my most memorable moments with my family.  I even was my little sister's Confirmation sponsor.  But I was not much of a church goer and it was definitely not something I identified with being.  I knew that Joe, my fiance, identified with being a Jew.  He was (and is) proud to be Jewish.  As I considered the two of us raising my son, Liam, and our future children, I knew I wanted us to have one faith.  And since I was less attached to my faith and because I already liked a lot of Jewish foods, I thought I'd take an introductory class about the Jewish faith to see if it was for me. 

Within several weeks of my course and immersing myself in Jewish culture, I knew this was for me.  So here I am.   As a co-worker and friend of mine calls me, I am a J.I.T. (Jew in training)  I know no Hebrew.  I have no idea how to cook a Passover meal.  But I am 100% dedicated to becoming a true Jew! 

Why?

I want my family to have tradition. I want my family to know that we come together to celebrate our beliefs and our history.  I want my family to know that there is something greater that unifies humanity.