The Jews brushed up on their Shakespeare, and Rebecca kowtowed!
Between becoming a Jew, celebrating it, working the back-to-school season, and trying to finish my ficathon, Rebecca's been pretty busy these past few days. I'm off work today, so I'm going to try to recap what's been happening.
Official Conversion, Baton Rouge, Wednesday, August 10, 2011
My Jewish grandparents gave me and Diane (a lady from our temple who converted with me) a ride to Baton Rouge. Neither of us asked them to do this, they just volunteered - how nice is that? They picked me up bright and early around 6:30! Mrs. G likes to leave early whenever she travels, to avoid being late. Kinda the opposite of my mom. Our meeting with the beit din was at Beth Shalom Synagogue in Baton Rouge. It's a very big and beautiful synagogue, complete with a gift shop, a daycare center, and a social hall that's almost bigger than our entire temple! Mrs. G was the only one of us who'd ever been there before. (Him: "Are you sure I missed the exit?" Her: "Would you just get off and turn around like I told you to? I know where it is!")
Converting that day were me and Diane from our temple, David from Lafayette, Aaron from Baton Rouge, and Suzette and her two sons from Egan. We waited in the social hall, and the beit din called us in one-by-one to meet with them in the library. The wait was so nerve-racking for me. I was fidgeting like crazy. At one point, a class of little kids from the daycare center came in, spread mats out on one end of the social hall, and did some tumbles and stretches. Then we watched The Jazz Singer on David's iPad to pass time.
We each had a turn with the beit din. They talked to you and asked you questions about converting. I think I answered them well, although they did ask a few things that I wasn't expecting. Then they sent you back out and deliberated amongst themselves. Then they called you back in and told you whether or not they were letting you convert. We were each told yes, of course, although it is possible to be told no if the beit din doesn't think you're ready or sincere enough. (I asked Jacob here, "Is it possible to fail the beit din?") We fell into a pattern - when one of us came out the second time, we asked them, "Did the jury reach a verdict?" and they gave a thumbs-up. Mr. and Mrs. G hugged me and just about started crying when I gave my thumbs-up.
After we each passed the beit din, we went on a tour of the Beth Shalom Synagogue. One of the rabbis on the beit din gave me silly bandz in Jewish shapes (a Star of David, a dreidel, a shoffar, a Torah scroll) as a conversion gift. They're called "meshuga bands" and you can see them here. I told the rabbi, "If I'd known I was going to get rubber bands, I would've converted sooner! What more incentive do you need?" I was joking, but it was a very appropriate gift since Maggie gave me so many silly bandz at services, and I wore them to Baton Rouge for good luck. (That way, if I failed the beit din, I could blame Maggie.)
Then we all loaded into our cars and traveled in a disorganized convoy - we kept losing people and having to wait for them to catch up - to rural Denham Springs. We drove past a sign that said "Trespassers WILL BE arrested! NO exceptions!" down a dirt road into the woods, then had to walk a narrow, winding, muddy path to the Amite River. Can you imagine - about twenty minutes each way through thick woods in a Louisiana August? At least there were no snakes or mosquitoes.
We had two group mikvahs on the river, one for the women and one for the men. In Rebecca's naive mind, she had envisioned a river bank with low-hanging live oak tree branches and Spanish moss forming a nice privacy curtain. In reality, there was a flat, sandy beach with lots of open space. Yes, I had a group mikvah with three women old enough to be my mom. (I almost said, "Never mind, I think I'm going to forget about being a Jew and convert to Mormonism instead.") I will not discuss details, except to say that the sand was so scorching-hot I could barely stand on it, and the water felt really good and cool. I love swimming in a current.
After the mikvah, we had dinner together at La Madeleine in Baton Rouge. (An audio of French lessons played in the women's restroom, teaching really simple stuff like, "I like it. Il me plait." Oh, really? It cracked me up.) I hadn't eaten since early that morning - there were refreshments in the social hall, but I was too nervous to eat much - so I was starving. Then we drove home. Or rather, Mrs. G drove us home, while Mr. G, Diane, and I all conked out. :)
Conversion Ceremony, Friday, August 12, 2011
The conversion ceremony at the temple was so beautiful. It wasn't supposed to happen until much later in the fall (after the High Holy Days) but because of the rabbi's schedule, it was decided on Wednesday that we should have it on Friday. Talk about short notice. But Mrs. G sprang into action, made some calls and sent out some e-mails, and I was moved beyond words by how many people worked to make it happen. The social hall was decorated beautifully, there were flowers and lots of food, and so many people came. Since it was my first Shabbat as an official Jew, I wore my Star of David necklace (the one Sara gave me for Christmas) to temple for the first time. Mr. and Mrs. G just about started crying again when they saw it. Then Mr. G said I tracked half the mikvah beach into his car! Haha.
I was touched but also very nervous during the service. Diane and I lit the candles and said the blessing, something I'd never done before. Later the rabbi called us up onto the bema, had us open the ark - two more firsts for me - said a blessing over us, and talked a little about our trip to Baton Rouge. (He felt the need to say in front of the entire congregation that we and Mrs. G had a group mikvah in the Amite River!) Then he asked us to say a few words about converting. I don't do well at speaking in front of people, but I told my joke answer about why I wanted to convert, and people laughed. I tried to thank the congregation for how welcoming they've been to me, but I literally couldn't say it without tearing up. I really hope they know how much it means to me.
For the reception after the service, I made about 40 deviled eggs the day before. I'd never made deviled eggs before, and they were a little dry, but there wasn't one left after the reception was over, which made me happy. Everyone at the temple wanted to congratulate, hug, kiss me, and/or shake my hand at least twice! Which was so sweet of them, but they kept coming between me and the food! I finally sat down next to Maggie and we ate all we could hold.
I wasn't able to attend Torah study yesterday morning because I was stuck at work, but no less than four temple members stopped by the store afterwards. First Cheryl and Maggie brought me lunch, then Mr. and Mrs. G brought me half the bouquet of flowers from last night's ceremony (Diane took the other half). I've never had lunch or flowers delivered to me at work before! I felt so blessed and special and loved. I think I'm starting to get spoiled. After work, I drove to the local theater; they were putting on performances of all the best songs from this season's show, and Mr. G did his number from Kiss Me, Kate (which he sang all the way to Denham Springs, so I knew it well).
The flowers that the G's brought me, and the Jewish-shaped silly bands from the rabbi.
Today I'm busy being lazy and finishing up my story for ncis_ficathon. Posting starts ... TOMORROW! For all the worrying I did, I think it's turned out to be a pretty good story, and I'm eager to post it and read the story that was written for me. Can you believe this is my very first time in a ficathon? It's certainly the darn longest fanfic I've ever written, if nothing else. 9750 words and counting!
Official Conversion, Baton Rouge, Wednesday, August 10, 2011
My Jewish grandparents gave me and Diane (a lady from our temple who converted with me) a ride to Baton Rouge. Neither of us asked them to do this, they just volunteered - how nice is that? They picked me up bright and early around 6:30! Mrs. G likes to leave early whenever she travels, to avoid being late. Kinda the opposite of my mom. Our meeting with the beit din was at Beth Shalom Synagogue in Baton Rouge. It's a very big and beautiful synagogue, complete with a gift shop, a daycare center, and a social hall that's almost bigger than our entire temple! Mrs. G was the only one of us who'd ever been there before. (Him: "Are you sure I missed the exit?" Her: "Would you just get off and turn around like I told you to? I know where it is!")
Converting that day were me and Diane from our temple, David from Lafayette, Aaron from Baton Rouge, and Suzette and her two sons from Egan. We waited in the social hall, and the beit din called us in one-by-one to meet with them in the library. The wait was so nerve-racking for me. I was fidgeting like crazy. At one point, a class of little kids from the daycare center came in, spread mats out on one end of the social hall, and did some tumbles and stretches. Then we watched The Jazz Singer on David's iPad to pass time.
We each had a turn with the beit din. They talked to you and asked you questions about converting. I think I answered them well, although they did ask a few things that I wasn't expecting. Then they sent you back out and deliberated amongst themselves. Then they called you back in and told you whether or not they were letting you convert. We were each told yes, of course, although it is possible to be told no if the beit din doesn't think you're ready or sincere enough. (I asked Jacob here, "Is it possible to fail the beit din?") We fell into a pattern - when one of us came out the second time, we asked them, "Did the jury reach a verdict?" and they gave a thumbs-up. Mr. and Mrs. G hugged me and just about started crying when I gave my thumbs-up.
After we each passed the beit din, we went on a tour of the Beth Shalom Synagogue. One of the rabbis on the beit din gave me silly bandz in Jewish shapes (a Star of David, a dreidel, a shoffar, a Torah scroll) as a conversion gift. They're called "meshuga bands" and you can see them here. I told the rabbi, "If I'd known I was going to get rubber bands, I would've converted sooner! What more incentive do you need?" I was joking, but it was a very appropriate gift since Maggie gave me so many silly bandz at services, and I wore them to Baton Rouge for good luck. (That way, if I failed the beit din, I could blame Maggie.)
Then we all loaded into our cars and traveled in a disorganized convoy - we kept losing people and having to wait for them to catch up - to rural Denham Springs. We drove past a sign that said "Trespassers WILL BE arrested! NO exceptions!" down a dirt road into the woods, then had to walk a narrow, winding, muddy path to the Amite River. Can you imagine - about twenty minutes each way through thick woods in a Louisiana August? At least there were no snakes or mosquitoes.
We had two group mikvahs on the river, one for the women and one for the men. In Rebecca's naive mind, she had envisioned a river bank with low-hanging live oak tree branches and Spanish moss forming a nice privacy curtain. In reality, there was a flat, sandy beach with lots of open space. Yes, I had a group mikvah with three women old enough to be my mom. (I almost said, "Never mind, I think I'm going to forget about being a Jew and convert to Mormonism instead.") I will not discuss details, except to say that the sand was so scorching-hot I could barely stand on it, and the water felt really good and cool. I love swimming in a current.
After the mikvah, we had dinner together at La Madeleine in Baton Rouge. (An audio of French lessons played in the women's restroom, teaching really simple stuff like, "I like it. Il me plait." Oh, really? It cracked me up.) I hadn't eaten since early that morning - there were refreshments in the social hall, but I was too nervous to eat much - so I was starving. Then we drove home. Or rather, Mrs. G drove us home, while Mr. G, Diane, and I all conked out. :)
Conversion Ceremony, Friday, August 12, 2011
The conversion ceremony at the temple was so beautiful. It wasn't supposed to happen until much later in the fall (after the High Holy Days) but because of the rabbi's schedule, it was decided on Wednesday that we should have it on Friday. Talk about short notice. But Mrs. G sprang into action, made some calls and sent out some e-mails, and I was moved beyond words by how many people worked to make it happen. The social hall was decorated beautifully, there were flowers and lots of food, and so many people came. Since it was my first Shabbat as an official Jew, I wore my Star of David necklace (the one Sara gave me for Christmas) to temple for the first time. Mr. and Mrs. G just about started crying again when they saw it. Then Mr. G said I tracked half the mikvah beach into his car! Haha.
I was touched but also very nervous during the service. Diane and I lit the candles and said the blessing, something I'd never done before. Later the rabbi called us up onto the bema, had us open the ark - two more firsts for me - said a blessing over us, and talked a little about our trip to Baton Rouge. (He felt the need to say in front of the entire congregation that we and Mrs. G had a group mikvah in the Amite River!) Then he asked us to say a few words about converting. I don't do well at speaking in front of people, but I told my joke answer about why I wanted to convert, and people laughed. I tried to thank the congregation for how welcoming they've been to me, but I literally couldn't say it without tearing up. I really hope they know how much it means to me.
For the reception after the service, I made about 40 deviled eggs the day before. I'd never made deviled eggs before, and they were a little dry, but there wasn't one left after the reception was over, which made me happy. Everyone at the temple wanted to congratulate, hug, kiss me, and/or shake my hand at least twice! Which was so sweet of them, but they kept coming between me and the food! I finally sat down next to Maggie and we ate all we could hold.
I wasn't able to attend Torah study yesterday morning because I was stuck at work, but no less than four temple members stopped by the store afterwards. First Cheryl and Maggie brought me lunch, then Mr. and Mrs. G brought me half the bouquet of flowers from last night's ceremony (Diane took the other half). I've never had lunch or flowers delivered to me at work before! I felt so blessed and special and loved. I think I'm starting to get spoiled. After work, I drove to the local theater; they were putting on performances of all the best songs from this season's show, and Mr. G did his number from Kiss Me, Kate (which he sang all the way to Denham Springs, so I knew it well).
The flowers that the G's brought me, and the Jewish-shaped silly bands from the rabbi.
Today I'm busy being lazy and finishing up my story for ncis_ficathon. Posting starts ... TOMORROW! For all the worrying I did, I think it's turned out to be a pretty good story, and I'm eager to post it and read the story that was written for me. Can you believe this is my very first time in a ficathon? It's certainly the darn longest fanfic I've ever written, if nothing else. 9750 words and counting!