Rebecca, when you saw us over the temple wall and longed to be one of us...
I usually don't watch Sex in the City, but lately I've caught a few episodes where Charlotte is converting to Judaism. And even though I really don't like that show, it's enough to make me want to sit down and watch the whole arc in order. It's also made me think about what a hugely different experience converting would be if I lived in an area with a substantial Jewish population (i.e., in Manhattan, like Charlotte, instead of Louisiana).
I guess that's part of the reason why converting has felt kinda strange. Even though it's the religion I'm converting to, a large part of Judaism - the stereotypes, certainly - is tied into Ashkenazi culture, and that's something I feel far away from. I don't live in the Deep South, but I do identify pretty strongly with Cajun culture, which is sometimes almost at odds with Jewish culture. Things like crawfish boils and couchon-de-laits are normal down here, and they're about as un-kosher as you can get. And it's Catholic country; I'm not really exaggerating when I say that I've met all twenty Jews in town. And I've lost track of how many people didn't know there was a Jewish temple in our city, or even know what Judaism is.
It's kinda hard to believe that there are places where it's common to see men in yarmulkes and mezuzahs on doors and challah bread in stores, cities with Jewish preschools and actual classes with lessons and homework assignments for people who want to convert. I can't even imagine how different it might be.
Judaism doesn't prosletyze, and traditionally, anyone wanting to convert is supposed to be rebuked three times! But there are so few Jews here that the people at the temple are very eager to get me converted, and I'm pretty sure that none of it is being done by the books. But our temple is reform, so even if they had plenty of Jews to spare, I doubt they would've rebuked three times. But that definitely would've crushed me.
I'm not sure where all this is coming from. It's just something I've been thinking about. On a somewhat-related note, I found a Star of David dish at the second-hand store today! I thought about donating it to the temple kitchen, but it was probably given to the store by a temple member - where else would it have come from? - so we're using it as a spoonrest on the stove right now.
Rebecca's Jew books: Living a Jewish Life, by Anita Diamant; my siddur and tanakh; a Hebrew-English dictionary inherited from Dad; and my watercolor painting of G-d's name (from right to left, the letters are yud-hay-vav-hay).