We’re in Los Angeles for my husband’s internship at a local synagogue. And as a perk, we get to spend time with the family. Yay, family?
My mother-in-law reminded me of a little known family fact at the last Sukkot meal. Converts usually face a lot of obstacles in family harmony when they decide to convert. My father thought it was funny. My mother would probably keel over if she knew. My sisters took it well…except for that time I told them Halloween had become a holiday I stopped celebrating. A couple of my friends stopped talking to me all together and decided that I hated Jesus.
But the person that took it the worst is someone I’ve never met. My mother-in-law’s brother decided that earlier on that my Orthodox conversion wasn’t kosher. Because it wasn’t performed by a handful of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) rabbis that he thought would perform it most appropriately. My mother-in-law and her brother have stopped talking altogether over MY conversion.
On the bright side–she sounds like a hell of a Mother-in-law, to stand by you like that.
I’m sorry you had to go through that over the chag. Your gerut is beyond reproach and anyone who would question your Jewishness shows they have no credibility!Enjoy California and keep up the good work you are doing!