Journey to Judaism An Artful Exploration of Jewish concepts, people, and places Local artist, Beth Bourland, converted to Judaism in 2020. Because she is a watercolorist she chose to document her journey not through writing, but through painting. An award winning artist, Beth sought out visual Jewish elements that illuminated her learning. She visited the…
Read More »Conversion
How do I know if Judaism is the right new faith for me?
(This is a letter from my Mixed and Matched column of May 14, 2015) I was raised Christian and had terrible experiences in my church, including abuse. I am still a spiritual person and want a faith community. I married a Jewish guy who is very low-key about religious practice but does belong to a…
Read More »Can my baby have an Orthodox conversion?
(This column first appeared in the J-weekly on Feb. 10, 2021) Dear Dawn: I was raised Reform, but am now a nonpracticing Jew married to a non-Jewish woman. We were married by my Reform rabbi and are expecting a baby. My wife has no religion and has agreed to raise the child Jewish and even…
Read More »If I convert, will I be accepted as Jewish?
(This article was first published in my Mixed and Matched column for the J-weekly on August 29, 2014) Dear Dawn, My fiancé is Jewish and I was raised basically Christian but not going to church. I really like his family traditions and am attracted to Judaism. I am thinking of converting, but a Jewish co-worker…
Read More »My rabbi doesn’t understand what Christmas means to me
(This article originally appeared in my Mixed and Matched column in the J-weekly on January 23, 2019 Dear Dawn, I am single and have no Jewish relations. But I have taken years to determine that I want to be Jewish. I am working on converting. I have one problem. My rabbi tells me that I…
Read More »My mom was Jewish. Can I convert to Judaism?
(This originally appeared in my Mixed and Matched column on Oct. 28, 2019) Dear Dawn: My mom was Jewish and converted to Christianity; my dad was born Christian. They raised me and my siblings Christian. It never fit for me and now I want to be Jewish. I approached my local Reform congregation and the rabbi…
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