Milo and the Calf

Category: Judaism

  • Notes on Jewish Conversion

    Originally written for another website.  As someone pursuing conversion, one of the things I find it important (and difficult) to balance between enthusiasm and fetishization; between interest and hobbyism*. I’m excited about Judaism, I love diving into new areas of study and this is an area of study big enough to keep me busy for…

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    First Yom Kippur

    Monday was my first ever Yom Kippur fast, and yesterday evening was my first Yom Kippur service.  Maybe it was the hunger, but I was genuinely moved by the whole experience. We had our pre fast dinner around five o’clock so as to finish in time to go to the evening services, dinner was pasta…

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    Conversion Reading List

    Just a quick post today to note what the reading will be for the conversion I am taking and some thoughts on study: The text book is Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition and Practice The bible we’ll be using is the JPS Tanakh Other recommended reading is: Jewish Literacy Jewish Holidays…

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    Rabbi Reflections

    The meeting with the Rabbi last night went very well. He was as warm and welcoming in person as he seemed on the phone and I feel very lucky that my first experiences with conversion have been with someone like this. Sitting in his well-appointed study, we spent some time just chit chatting, E told…

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    First Rosh Hoshannah Reflections

    I went to my first Rosh Hashanah services this weekend with E. As my previous post mentions, we choose the services at Georgetown which were, I guess, conservative in nature (Mixed seating, mostly in Hebrew, no acoustic guitars). The place was packed with students and families. A couple of observations on the holiday and services:…

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    First Rosh Hoshannah

    Rosh Hoshannah starts tonight, and E and I will be celebrating it in our home. Tomorrow, we’ll be going to services at the Jewish Center at Georgetown. Much discussion went into where we’d be going for these services. In years past, E has gone to a more orthodox congregation, one that has a mehitzah. This…

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    Introducing the Ger

    As our story begins your narrator, me, the Ger, is a thirty four year old man raised in a reasonably observant Irish Catholic home. The Ger was confirmed in the Catholic Church and then basically never went to church again. For years he wasn’t very religious at all. At times, he was downright hostile to…