My name is Barbara Greenblatt.  I am a Jew by Choice and so very proud a member of this congregation.  I would like to take just a few minutes to tell you my story.

I had been a non-practicing “anything” for over 40 years and wasn’t looking to change that.  But things WERE about to change and in a most profound way.   Judaism found me and I found Judaism when I saw the letter Shin for the first time.  Although I was not Jewish – my husband is –   we received a mezuzah as a wedding present.  I was alone when I opened the gift wrap.  I had never been ‘up close’ to a mezuzah and I saw the letter Shin as I peeked through the glass.

I have to tell you it was quite a moment for me, and as I looked at the letter Shin I felt incredibly emotional, like it was awakening my inner soul.  I had never experienced anything like that in my life and it brought me to my knees in tears.  I immediately went online and looked for the prayer and how-to affix a mezuzah.  I printed off the page, said the prayer and put up my first mezuzah.  I was still so moved and tearful that I called my husband at work and said “I think I want to convert.”  He said, “that’s nice.”

I went online to see if it was even possible for someone like me to convert, how would I do it, and who had gone before me.  I spent the afternoon reading the most incredible and moving stories of conversion.  From priests to nuns, to non-believers, and those who wanted to replace souls lost in the Holocaust.  I cried some more.

I called the rabbi who married Sam and I a few years earlier and said, “Rabbi, I had this inexplicable emotional experience with a mezuzah that really moved me.  What happened to me!!?”  He said “you literally fell into T’filah.”  I asked him if he would teach me all I needed to know to convert.  He said, “that’s nice.”  Why do you want to join a religious minority that has been persecuted for thousands of years?”  I explained that I had no choice but to do so.  He said, “that’s nice.  Let’s eat, meet me at Milton’s Deli and we’ll discuss.”  I formally converted several years ago and had my first mikvah.  It was one of the most moving and beautiful moments of my life.

My mother passed many years ago.   She had told me she thought there was Jewish blood in her family, but after the expulsion of the Jews from England and France many had become crypto-Jews.  Since my mother was a full blooded Scot, I had no way to get to any records as this was before the internet and most of her family had passed.  So, many years passed and the thought of pursuing validation of this faded away, it was a curiosity.

Several years after I converted, Sam and I caught the ‘get your DNA tested’ bug and we had our DNA analyzed.  Indeed, I do have Jewish blood – diaspora Jewish blood from Poland!  It really was fun to discover this, but it didn’t change one thing for me.  Whether I had Jewish blood or not, I knew I was a Jew through and through.

I love the Jewish faith.  I am blessed to be accepted by our community and encouraged to learn, laugh, and give of myself.  I choose to write this last chapter of my life as a Jew inspired by her faith and living my life following God’s mitzvot.

Please let me conclude by letting you know that my studies, conversion and participation in the Beth Israel Community have led me to become a member of our congregation’s B’nai Mitzvah class of 2016 and you are all welcome to attend our service on April 30.

Shabbat Shalom!