Well, it's over. Between the hustle of getting the conversion finished, packing everything up, and spending time with my family before leaving for Israel, I've neglected writing. General space-cadetness is also to blame. In any case, at the end of April I had my last meeting with the rabbinate and was approved to finish the…
Can We Just Passover Cancel Culture?
One of the most defining aspects of Passover happens before the holidays begins – when Jews rid their homes entirely of chametz, or foods with leavening agents. Because the Jews were forced to flee the Egyptians before their bread had time to rise, they left Egypt with only matzahon their backs – the flat, unleavened crackers that…
On Hold… Indefinitely
Waiting to hear back from your rabbi, who's waiting to hear back from the sponsoring rabbinical court, who are busy dealing with their own congregations and coronavirus, is like sitting on hold with the IRS. You have to provide very specific information, and you have to remember it because the outcomes hinges on you having…
Conversion in the time of Covid, and Making a Home Jewish (kind of)
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of weirdness. Since I last wrote, the entire United States has essentially shut down to try to slow the spread of Covid-19. Putting all political and social analysis of the virus and its impacts aside, the process of my conversion seems to have been little affected thus…
Getting Familiar with Religious Anti-Zionsim and other Opinions on the Land of Israel
I'm a few days late because I went home to Utah to visit my family over the weekend! I had a fantastic trip. I don't get to see all my brothers at the same time very often, and this was the second time in less than a year that we were all together. Mike, who…
Visiting Israel and watching Israeli Geopolitics Unfold in Real-Time
Last Sunday evening, I got back from visiting Udi in Israel. The trip back and forth is always exhausting, but I got lucky and the second flight from Lisbon to Chicago was only about half full. I was able to lay down and actually slept for about five hours, which might be a record. Usually…
How I Met My Fiancé – Part Two
Udi, according to his JSwipe profile, was 37, very tall, and a graphic designer. His profile had several photos of a man with thick black hair, big, dark eyes, and a cleft chin - and not much else in the way of information. He was quite handsome, and looked substantially younger than his age. We…
How I Met My Fiancé – Part One
In January of 2019, I was invited to visit Israel by the mother of the Jewish family for whom I used to nanny. In exchange for a plane ticket there and back, I would provide childcare hours equivalent to the price of the ticket - most importantly, childcare on the flights. There was no question…
Why Judaism?
The first question one might ask of an ex-Mormon who has spent the last ten years or so living as a debauched agnostic might be: Why Judaism? It's a fair question. It also begs the further question: Why religion at all? I don't know if there are statistics, but I'd guess that most people who…
Exodus 