tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post7182362030077018442..comments2023-11-12T20:59:55.490-05:00Comments on Building a Jewish Life: My Conversion Is CompleteKochavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11841373131402987905noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-59289723126629245682012-02-13T11:29:22.372-05:002012-02-13T11:29:22.372-05:00Congratulations, Kochava, that is wonderful. :)Congratulations, Kochava, that is wonderful. :)Cattiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04006014105940516243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-42953753754906905702012-02-13T09:09:00.576-05:002012-02-13T09:09:00.576-05:00Mazal tov! Best of luck to you and welcome home. :...Mazal tov! Best of luck to you and welcome home. :)Ayelethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02452707874685237517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-64518647489803275692012-02-10T12:41:32.160-05:002012-02-10T12:41:32.160-05:00Mazel tov!!!Mazel tov!!!Tziviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11828930310967808828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-14519093786563483832012-02-02T16:50:11.632-05:002012-02-02T16:50:11.632-05:00Mazal tov! I've been reading your blog for mon...Mazal tov! I've been reading your blog for months. As a Conservative convert (and former law student-- good luck with the job search!) leading a shomer Shabbos and shomer kashrut existence, I've heavily considered an Orthodox conversion, and I've found your blog posts to be both reflective of my own experiences and incredibly insightful. Can't wait to read about your new and Meggiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12251412502165572443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-47682824067466312932012-02-02T00:25:22.193-05:002012-02-02T00:25:22.193-05:00I don't think it would be appropriate to discu...I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss my case. There have definitely been rabbis who bullied conversion candidates (a few particularly heinous cases hit the media). Rabbis are human. I think it's theoretically possible for a bully to be on a beit din, but I think it's more likely that (if you suspect such a thing in real life) the rabbi is rude, disconnected from reality, CrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-42693129052282017872012-02-02T00:17:41.172-05:002012-02-02T00:17:41.172-05:00While the possibilities are there, they don't ...While the possibilities are there, they don't come up more than a couple of times in a lifetime for the average person (if that). I just insist on having my hand in all the pots available to me ;)CrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-79279965786430235102012-02-02T00:15:48.629-05:002012-02-02T00:15:48.629-05:00I hope to attend seminary full-time at some point,...I hope to attend seminary full-time at some point, but thankfully, being in NYC, I have access to a great deal of excellent learning. In my community, I think seminary will mostly come up as a Jewish geography discussion more than a diagnosis tool for whether someone is a proper dating candidate. For example, I don't expect to go through matchmakers. I expect informal matchmakers (friends andCrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-41142014923798160062012-02-01T23:06:02.329-05:002012-02-01T23:06:02.329-05:00B"H
Mazal tov Kochava.
I was the lady whom ...B"H<br /><br />Mazal tov Kochava.<br /><br />I was the lady whom mentioned that you should indeed attend Seminary. I'm sure many will ask you if you indeed attended seminary and (where) when the time comes for you to begin dating.<br /><br />Depending on the community you live in. You're Rabbi might tell you to hold off dating whilst others will say you are NOW ready to date. <br /><Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-30605552120415558632012-02-01T13:12:20.749-05:002012-02-01T13:12:20.749-05:00A non-exhaustive list of the people who will ask f...<i>A non-exhaustive list of the people who will ask for your "papers" includes dating websites, the rabbi in a new community, the rabbi who agrees to marry you to someone else, learning organizations (like Partners in Torah, but also brick-and-mortar yeshivas/seminaries), qualifying for services from some Jewish non-profits, Jewish schools your children want to enroll in, and the rabbi Laurahttp://crystaldecadenz.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-84932748685979686302012-02-01T05:06:14.162-05:002012-02-01T05:06:14.162-05:00This is a bit belated, but mazel tov!This is a bit belated, but mazel tov!Diplogeekhttp://www.diplogeek.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-14084846210890848262012-01-31T21:07:55.541-05:002012-01-31T21:07:55.541-05:00When you said a bully tried to make sure you finis...When you said a bully tried to make sure you finished last, who was this person? A regular individual, a Rabbi on the Beis Din.... etc? this is very interesting. it's possible they may have bullies even on the Beis Din. and what did you mean when you said that an honest mistake can add time to your conversion, and until you get someone willing to hear the story? Are some Batey Din quite Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-19294438822431324502012-01-31T14:14:21.692-05:002012-01-31T14:14:21.692-05:00Oh, yeah, I tried signing up for Frumster before m...Oh, yeah, I tried signing up for Frumster before my conversion was complete, and it wouldn't let me. But it was all the honor system; they have never asked me to prove anything.Mikewind Dale (Michael Makovi)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-88537606826757953682012-01-31T14:13:04.226-05:002012-01-31T14:13:04.226-05:00That's very interesting! I was asked by SYAS a...That's very interesting! I was asked by SYAS and Frumster when I misguidedly tried to sign up for them with my conservative conversion before I knew better. So maybe it was marking it as conservative (I don't remember if they did) or only listing one rabbi that set them off that something was "wrong." They were nice enough to actually phone call me to inform me that I was not CrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-29000955339895315562012-01-31T14:05:10.878-05:002012-01-31T14:05:10.878-05:00Well, I belong to a whole bunch of online Orthodox...Well, I belong to a whole bunch of online Orthodox Jewish dating sites, and none of them have ever asked me to verify my conversion, even though I did mark down that I am a convert. <br /><br />I also signed up with a shadkhanit here in Israel, and she did not ask me for any documentation either.<br /><br />And when I went to Yeshivat Hesder Petah Tiqwa, they never asked me for documentation.<br Mikewind Dale (Michael Makovi)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-45413506814382897482012-01-31T13:50:04.293-05:002012-01-31T13:50:04.293-05:00Israel still requires them for marriage an divorce...Israel still requires them for marriage an divorce. At least some private schools in Israel might require them. And the English-language dating websites would still require them. I'd imagine most yeshivot/seminaries would as well. I know most seminaries ask about your Jewishness, and if you say you're a convert, they ask for the paperwork. I think the thing in Israel is that people assumeCrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-26464503875443779752012-01-31T13:11:28.437-05:002012-01-31T13:11:28.437-05:00brucha habaa'a beshem hashem - a divine welco...brucha habaa'a beshem hashem - a divine welcome to you. i think your encyclopedic blog will be classic, meriting compilation and publishing. your insights enlighten jfb's (jews from birth) . al'i vehazlichi. may you continue to ascend to meet all your goals.menashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-81208085801700887962012-01-31T12:50:31.493-05:002012-01-31T12:50:31.493-05:00"Personally, I would distrust someone who wen..."Personally, I would distrust someone who went that route as being willing to join the community. ..."<br /><br />LOL, I will readily admit I have problems with authority. My first exposure to Orthodox Judaism was via Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, and I have been scarred ever since. R' Hirsch's essay, "Jewish Communal Life" / "The Character of the Jewish Community" (Mikewind Dale (Michael Makovi)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-62064551516388788172012-01-31T12:38:52.379-05:002012-01-31T12:38:52.379-05:00"But I think it's a larger issue of wheth..."But I think it's a larger issue of whether you accept that rabbis can enact new legislation."<br /><br />Indeed. My own view on the matter was well expressed by a friend of mine, in his describing why there is no such thing as minhag ha-maqom (i.e. geographic-based, local custom) today (we take it for granted that minhag avot - i.e. ancestral custom - is something invented by Mikewind Dale (Michael Makovi)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-63843047192566049342012-01-31T12:37:47.347-05:002012-01-31T12:37:47.347-05:00Wow, I didn't realize so many were so punctili...Wow, I didn't realize so many were so punctiliously concerned with papers in America. Maybe I'm just too used to merely davening in American shuls, as opposed to actually joining them and getting married and enrolling children in day school. ... And come to think of it, perhaps Israeli associations (schools, shuls, etc.) do not ask for papers, only because they assume that the government Mikewind Dale (Michael Makovi)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-56917994441914237612012-01-31T11:19:12.394-05:002012-01-31T11:19:12.394-05:00The situation is very different in America, but I&...The situation is very different in America, but I'm still shocked no one has ever asked to see your papers. A non-exhaustive list of the people who will ask for your "papers" includes dating websites, the rabbi in a new community, the rabbi who agrees to marry you to someone else, learning organizations (like Partners in Torah, but also brick-and-mortar yeshivas/seminaries), CrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-19659456512143628412012-01-31T10:56:48.465-05:002012-01-31T10:56:48.465-05:00With all the absurd politics and corruption in Ame...With all the absurd politics and corruption in American conversions, why don't people just start getting three laymen and heading off to the ocean, to do their own conversion? The halakhah says that three laymen and a natural body of water is enough, so that's good enough for God. (For men, it would be slightly more difficult, but not insurmountable.) Nuts to the rabbis. <br /><br />In Mikewind Dale (Michael Makovi)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08590233386034506578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-89769719127103258182012-01-31T10:10:56.629-05:002012-01-31T10:10:56.629-05:00Every case is entirely different. Other people'...Every case is entirely different. Other people's cases are instructive for the generalities you can draw from them, but the specific facts are insignificant for your case. You and I are very different, have different experiences, different backgrounds, different levels of knowledge. Each beit din is different and those differences can be HUGE. Further, their personalities will mix with yours CrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-12191769241175281412012-01-31T10:03:56.358-05:002012-01-31T10:03:56.358-05:00That's a complicated question. The real answer...That's a complicated question. The real answer is almost 8 years. Made the concrete decision to go orthodox or bust 2 years ago. Had applications in with batei din for a year and a half. Once I moved and actually began meeting with the rabbis was 5 months. As for the second question, I don't know. A bully tried to make sure I finished last, but it took a long time to find someone willing CrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-6647568813674193842012-01-31T09:59:45.816-05:002012-01-31T09:59:45.816-05:00How many Beis Din meetings did you have overall wi...How many Beis Din meetings did you have overall with this new Beis Din and what did they ask after the first meeting? assuming there was more than one meeting. how long did this beis din take given that you switched Ortho Beis Din's? your help on this would be appreciated. thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292734369805726323.post-29592750262085999822012-01-31T09:49:50.530-05:002012-01-31T09:49:50.530-05:00Anonymous asking about the questions at the beit d...Anonymous asking about the questions at the beit din: Check out the How to Prepare for Your First Beit Din Meeting post: http://crazyjewishconvert.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-prepare-for-your-first-beit-din.html. My beit din meeting and mikvah were two different days that happened to be a month apart.CrazyJewishConverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06219720130466040423noreply@blogger.com