Q:When are you most creative?
A: Usually in the middle of the day. If I’m not too tired then love to get creative in the evening as well, but usually the middle of the day is best for me!
Q: Fav youtube channels you subscribe to?
A: The Modest Bohemian, Lulastic HippyShake, Little Kosher Lunch, Mayim Bialik.
Q: Feel free to ignore this if you’d rather keep it private, but you’d mentioned about some health concerns. What are they and how are they going?
A: Hashimotos, Hypothy, IBS and food intolerances which lead to various vitamin deficiencies etc., like Vit D, mag, zinc, selenium and maybe more I don’t know of! I also have menstrual problems which we’re in the process of solving.
Q: Why did you decide to covert to Judaism?
Q: Why did you decide to convert Orthodox & not reform or conservative?
A: It’s hard to explain if you haven’t felt it before, but basically our souls were just drawn to it. Every little ritual, tradition, and piece of wisdom just felt so right for us.
There are lots of pretty practical reasons why we’d covert – the values of Judaism align well with us, we were previously Christians, so had experience with the Bible, and the Torah – though our understanding and interpretation of it at the time was severely limited. Now we feel much more free and like a light bulb has gone off in our head to see the truth!
Q: How do you stop yourself getting overwhelmed by the conversion process?
A: I’m not very good at this!! On a practical, everyday sense, I have been practicing regular Jewish meditation, and that’s been very calming and helping to not being overwhelmed in general, and therefore with conversion stuff as well. I’ve had a few conversations with friendly lately and when explaining the changes we’re going through they liken it to doing a University degree. I whole heartedly agree with this connection, because firstly it’s quite an intellectual experience – lots of learning, memorising, learning a new language, critical thinking skills, problem solving etc., and then also because of the amount of time it takes. Really, I need to devote time to “study” every day, and take classes, etc. The reason this has helped me is because I know it’s not just ME who’s feeling overwhelmed with this, it’s actually like that for most people (or at least most people with a job – even if that’s homemaking, a spouse, kids, and a life…), and it is also a great reminder for me that there is an END in sight! One day this won’t all be new things that I’m constantly learning, these things will be habits, and natural, and my way of thinking and being will be transformed. And that’s a comfort to me when I’m feeling overwhelmed. G-D willing it won’t take as long as a University degree though!!
Q: What’s the toughest part of converting?
A: This leads on well from the last topic. I think a lot of people think that learning kashrut, or incorporating masses of daily prayers into your life, or dressing differently might be some of the toughest parts, but that’s not what we’ve found. Don’t get me wrong, there are struggles with all those things, but I think it’s the spiritual, emotional, and habitual changes you’re making that are the toughest part. It’s the constant stretching of yourself and what you believe. It’s not the physical way you interact with the world that’s hard, it’s changing your mindset about WHY you’re doing it. kashrut isn’t just a diet preference, it’s understanding G-D’s heart, and desiring him, and committing that way. And then dealing with transgressions you make along the way. A lot of that internal stuff it’s so explicitly taught either, so this is your own personal work you have to do on top of the practical parts.
The other difficult part for me is aligning my other values with Judaism. Usually it’s fine, but sometimes there are cultural differences (not halacic) within Orthodox Judaism that grate against my other values like environmentalism etc.
Q: