I Have Awesome Grandparents [PIP]

bsidebella

Today my FI and I went to my grandparents' house for a (very very late) Hanukkah gathering. They gave us a mezuzah for our new apartment!



(click to enlarge)

It's made of Dead Sea stone, silver and turquoise. If you don't know, a mezuzah is a decorative case that houses a prayer called the Sh'ma inscribed on parchment paper. It goes in your front doorway, to bless your home. However, this is just the case for now - my grandma didn't realize there was no prayer scroll! So we can't hang it up just yet.

Anyway, later on, FI told my grandma, "Did you hear I'm starting conversion classes later this month?" and my grandmother said she did. I said, "Well, you haven't signed up for them yet." My grandma asked why, and I said because we could not afford the $400 fee for the class just yet. Without hesitation, my grandmother said, "I will give you 200 right now."

We were floored! It was so unexpected! She disappeared to her office to write up the check and when she returned a few minutes later, she said (jokingly), "Your grandfather was very angry when he heard I was giving you $200 - so he decided to match it!" And she presented us with two checks, each for two hundred dollars! They gave us the entire fee! We were so surprised, and so was my mom, because she had offered to give us $200 for the class too! Now she doesn't have to.

FI is going to deposit the checks first thing tomorrow morning and is signing us up for the class as soon as they are cleared - now we just have to hope that the class isn't full or we're too late to register!

GreenPepperBurger

That's amazing. You are so lucky! BF has awesome grandparents like that too. It warms my heart.

BTW - the mezuzah is beautiful!

loves2shop4shoes

That's awesome.  Your mezuzah is beautiful.

bethsmiles

That is so generous of them! You do have awesome grandparents!

bourgehm

Wow, what sweet grandparents! And the mezuzah is sooo pretty, especially neat that it's made out of dead sea stone.

leia1979

That's awesome Bside. That is a gorgeous mezuzah! I wanted to pick one up for my friend when I was at a craft market in Israel, but the only ones I liked were really expensive.

zipis1

That's so awesome. Yay!

marleylikeair

bside, that is so wonderful of them! How sweet.

paintgirl

That is so cool! The mezuzah is gorgeous.

May I ask a question? It's out of ignorance not disrespect. How does one convert to Judaism, since being Jewish is almost as much an ethnicity as it is a religion? Let's talk hypothetically so I don't get too personal. Let's say a person is a Christian, believes in Christ as the son of God, etc. That person can't really convert to Judaism, can they? Or could they to participate in the rituals of Judaism as part of the family but retain their Christian faith? I've also wondered how this all works. Again - not meaning to be disrespectful - I just don't know.

Hazel_B

That's wonderful! Hearing stories like that makes me miss mine because they were similar to yours.

bsidebella

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_awesome-grandparents-pip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:319bac5f-b58d-4dad-afab-8175ea473c99Post:38e7d9df-9432-4b38-b50f-af3974ad70b7">Re: I Have Awesome Grandparents [PIP]</a>:
[QUOTE]That is so cool! The mezuzah is gorgeous. May I ask a question? It's out of ignorance not disrespect. <span style="font-weight:bold;">How does one convert to Judaism, since being Jewish is almost as much an ethnicity as it is a religion?</span> Let's talk hypothetically so I don't get too personal. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Let's say a person is a Christian, believes in Christ as the son of God, etc. That person can't really convert to Judaism, can they? Or could they to participate in the rituals of Judaism as part of the family but retain their Christian faith?</span> I've also wondered how this all works. Again - not meaning to be disrespectful - I just don't know.
Posted by paintgirl[/QUOTE]

Paint, in the Jewish faith, we are taught to ask questions, and we believe that part of being Jewish is educating those about the Jewish faith (but not in a scary door-knocking Mormon way). So don't worry about asking, ever! =)

So, Judaism is an ethnicity? That's news to me, since there are Jews all over the world! Ethiopia has a huge Jewish population. We have family friends who are Cuban Jews. There are Jews in Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina, France, Israel, Germany, Russia, North America, Canada...etc. ;-)

Jews with European backgrounds are known as an "Ashkenazi". Jews with Mediterranean/South American/Middle Eastern/Asian background are "Sephardic."

Anyway, yes, <span style="font-style:italic;">anyone</span> can convert to Judaism if they really believe in the religion. If you were raised Christian but you decide that being Jewish is a better fit for you and your lifestyle, you can formally renounce your Christian faith and convert. However if you truly believe in Christ, that kind of defeats the purpose of wanting to be Jewish. Because we don't believe that Jesus was the son of God and we don't believe that he performed any miracles (only God can perform miracles, according to us).

FI was raised both Catholic and Jewish, but because he was not born of a Jewish mother, he is not really considered a Jew. He never identified with a religion, which bothered him. When we started dating, I told him I didn't care what he wanted to do. But if we were to get married, I wanted to be married by a rabbi in a Jewish ceremony (my sect of Judaism allows interfaith marriages). Also, any future children were to be raised Jewish. He consented, and even began taking an interest in Judaism. After reading some books, he truly felt in his heart and soul that he was Jewish and wanted to make it official.

So, if he believed in Christ, <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> believed in it, then he might not want to be Jewish to begin with. But if, say, he had an eye-opening experience and decided for himself that, well, maybe Christ isn't the son of God after all, then it would be quite easy for him to renounce and convert.

As for <span style="font-style:italic;">how</span> to convert, it's pretty simple. Since I am a Reform Jew, we are very relaxed and liberal. You start by familiarizing yourself the Jewish faith - our rituals, our culture, our history, etc. You incorporate Jewish traditions in your life, like lighting the menorah, fasting on Yom Kippur, hanging a mezuzah. You take classes with a rabbi. The class FI signed up for is the first step, it's an introduction to Judaism class, and it kick-starts your conversion. You would also study one on one with a rabbi. You would also attend synagogue services and, if the rabbi says so (it's not always mandatory), you attend a mikvah - which is a ritual bath, a symbol of "immersing yourself" into the Jewish faith.

I think I covered everything. If you have any more questions, paint, feel more than free to PM me! I love my religion and I love talkig about it even more. My friends call me the Dial A Jew because they know if they need a Judaism related question answered, all they have to do is call me!

marleylikeair

bside, thanks for the run-down! I knew some of that, but not all. I'm sort of part Jewish by heritage (if that makes sense at all). Loved reading your description, and LOL at "Dial-a-Jew." Heehee.

GreenPepperBurger

You can also be a super-duper liberal Jew like yours truly and go to a primarily LGBTQ synagogue that accepts everyone. Woot.

bsidebella

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_awesome-grandparents-pip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:319bac5f-b58d-4dad-afab-8175ea473c99Post:c7fa43bd-704c-4b92-8dd5-40a3885600d6">Re: I Have Awesome Grandparents [PIP]</a>:
[QUOTE]You can also be a super-duper liberal Jew like yours truly and go to a primarily LGBTQ synagogue that accepts everyone. Woot.
Posted by GreenPepperBurger[/QUOTE]

LOL that sounds like the most fun synagogue EVER! The one I used to belong to in my old hometown also accepted gay couples. We only had one gay couple, but we also lived in a very uptight, not very gay-friendly town. We also had a female rabbi (which is very rare, and you usually only see that in more liberal synagogues. The first woman rabbi was not ordained until 1935).

GreenPepperBurger

My synagogue has two female Rabbis and a female cantor, who sounds like Celine Dion. It is a really fun, wonderful atmosphere. Everyone is accepted - you don't even have to be Jewish.

paintgirl

Ok that's how much of a moron I am - I kind of picture all the Jews coming from Israel and those who don't currently live there have only moved to escape persecution from one group or another. I guess I tend to forget that at one point, everyone was Jewish.

An LGBTQ synagogue? Variations of traditional Jewish songs are floating through my head. The beat is somehow better at the LGBTQ synagogue in my head.

bsidebella

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_awesome-grandparents-pip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:319bac5f-b58d-4dad-afab-8175ea473c99Post:054ef0da-3fa8-47f6-8669-646897355ddd">Re: I Have Awesome Grandparents [PIP]</a>:
[QUOTE]Ok that's how much of a moron I am - I kind of picture all the Jews coming from Israel and those who don't currently live there have only moved to escape persecution from one group or another. I guess <span style="font-weight:bold;">I tend to forget that at one point, everyone was Jewish. :)</span>
Posted by paintgirl[/QUOTE]

This is very true, paint =) Also, Israel wasn't officially a country until 1948 (before that it was part of Palestine). But we practice all over the globe!

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_awesome-grandparents-pip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:319bac5f-b58d-4dad-afab-8175ea473c99Post:0d6de306-92ac-4539-9168-824c9d556cfa">Re: I Have Awesome Grandparents [PIP]</a>:
[QUOTE]My synagogue has two female Rabbis and a female cantor, who sounds like Celine Dion. It is a really fun, wonderful atmosphere. Everyone is accepted - you don't even have to be Jewish.
Posted by GreenPepperBurger[/QUOTE]

I'm coming to your shul on the high holidays this year! ;-)

GreenPepperBurger

BSide, DOOOO EEEET. There's lots of nosh afterwards and then we go out for sushi.

marleylikeair

GPB, I should have visited your synagogue while I was living in NYC! It sounds fantastic. I went to one service once that I liked, but there were zero young people around and I felt like an outsider enough as it was. Where's the synagogue?

You guys are inspiring me to check out what else might be around in my area. I do go to a Unitarian Universalist church here sometimes. Still haven't ever found a place I really feel like I belong, though.

bsidebella

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_awesome-grandparents-pip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:319bac5f-b58d-4dad-afab-8175ea473c99Post:c88237f2-e720-4067-b000-39003be758b6">Re: I Have Awesome Grandparents [PIP]</a>:
[QUOTE]BSide, DOOOO EEEET. There's lots of nosh afterwards and then we go out for sushi.
Posted by GreenPepperBurger[/QUOTE]

I bet your break fast is amazing! =D