I was 16 years old and I was in the city of Venice, Italy on a family vacation. After having lunch with a wealthy Kuwaiti family whom I had met during my travels, I thought to myself: “I doubt anything more interesting is going to happen today.” It was with that frame of mind that I decided to walk back to the hotel where my family was staying.
As I made my way out of San Marco’s square and walked alongside the famous Doge’s palace, I noticed two men in the garb of Chassidic Jews walking past me. Despite their black hats, dark suits, and long beards and my jean-shorts and oversized t-shirt sporting an image of Bob Marley’s face sculpted out of marijuana leaves, I felt a kind a sense of Jewish connection with them. As they strode past me I gave them a subtle nod.
Suddenly the two men stopped abruptly and I found myself surrounded. “Are you Jewish?” one of them asked me excitedly in a thick accent I could not place.
I was taken aback. Why were these two men dressed in clothes from another time period hovering around me and asking if I was a member of the tribe?
“Yes…” I replied nervously.
“And is your mother Jewish?” the other Chassid asked.
“Yes…” I replied.
“Would you like to put on tefillin today?” One of them reached into a bag he was carrying and took out two small black leather boxes attached to black leather straps.
“What is that?” I asked, curiously.
The two men looked at each other incredulously before proceeding to briefly explain this classic Jewish ritual.
Tefillin is comprised of two black leather boxes. Each box is attached to a black leather strap. The boxes contain verses from the Torah that command the Jewish people to bind the Torah to their minds and to their hearts. One box is strapped to one’s arm and the other to one’s head. Tefillin is traditionally worn by Jewish men during morning prayer services.
“Were you given a Bar Mitzvah?” one of the Chassidim probed.
“Yes, I had a bar Mitzvah,” I replied.
“Really?” one of them asked me in surprise. “You had a Bar Mitzvah and you don’t know what is tefillin?”
I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. My Bar Mitzvah was on a Saturday night. I learned later that tefillin is not worn at night.
“Ok,” he said. After making sure one more time that my mother was Jewish, he asked me again if I would like to put on the ‘tefillin’. He explained that he and his friend would help me to put them on. “It will not take long,” he cajoled.
Crazy thoughts swirled around in my head. Why were these two bearded individuals so interested in my Jewishness and why did they want to wrap leather boxes around me? Maybe these two men were thieves that wanted to tie me up with the leather straps so that they could then easily go through my pockets and snatch my wallet or whatever else I had on me. After all, Venice was notorious for pickpockets. Or perhaps they were terrorists…It was a post-9/11 world so this was a notion to be taken seriously.
“A terrorist would never be caught dead dressed like that,” I naively convinced myself. I glanced around. There had to be hundreds of tourists and other people of various walks of life milling about. Not mention the swarms of pigeons. I hesitantly agreed to humor these two gentleman. I reasoned that since I was in a public place and there were many people in the vicinity, I could call out and receive assistance if I found myself in danger.
They slowly wrapped me up with the Jewish ritual prayer objects. It felt sort of awkward and uncomfortable in the hot Mediterranean sun to be having such foreign-looking objects bound tightly to my arm and head. One of the Chassidim told me that now we were going to recite a short Hebrew prayer known as the ‘Shema.’ The Shema is both a collection of verses from the Torah as well as a prayer uttered by Jews in the synagogue twice daily and recited again privately before retiring for the evening. This prayer is also inscribed on the parchment that resides in the boxes of tefillin. Shema literally means ‘hear’ and the prayer is best described as the credo or the ‘mission statement’ of the Jewish faith. Luckily, I already knew the first line by heart – something I remembered from my Hebrew school days: “Shema, Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem echad,” which translates in English as “Hear, oh Israel. The L-rd is our G-d. The L-rd is One.” I recited the paragraph that follows the first line responsively with one of the individuals who had helped me wrap the tefillin.
“Mazel tov,” the two chassidim exclaimed as they placed the tefillin back in their cases. “You just did a mitzvah! Where do you live?”
“New York, ” I replied, feeling a strange sense of accomplishment mixed with confusion about what had just taken place.
“Oh, New York,” one of the black-hatters said enthusiastically. He reached into his sport jacket pocket and handed me a card. The card displayed a photo of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory. Below the photo was printed the address: 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY. On the back of the card was the traditional Jewish prayer for travelers, in English.
I took the card, unsure of what to do with it, and placed it in my wallet. I bid the men farewell and I went on my way.
It was not until about three years later that I would come in contact with the mitzvah of tefillin again. For a long time I didn’t quite understand what had happened to me that afternoon in Venice. Nevertheless, I saved the card and whipped it out as a conversation piece when telling interested parties about my ‘random’ Jewish experience. Sometime later I began to recite the first line of the Shema prayer before going to sleep for reasons that I cannot really explain to this day.
I later discovered that my experience of being asked to wrap tefillin by a couple of strangers was not so unique. The Chassidic group, Chabad-Lubavitch, is known for stopping Jews in public and asking them if they would like to participate in certain mitzvot (commandments) such as laying tefillin, giving charity, and lighting Shabbat candles. This practice of asking Jews to put on tefillin or perform other Jewish rituals was strongly encouraged by the movement’s leader of over 40 years, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, also known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
During my college years I began to grow increasingly interested in my Jewish heritage and I attended classes and Shabbat dinners sponsored by various Jewish organizations. Initially, I did not think there was any connection between my newfound love for Judaism and my experience in Venice several years prior. However, Chassidic thought teaches that everything that happens to us in our daily lives is connected and happens for a good reason. Nothing is ‘random’. Today, I am an observant Jew. During my journey of becoming observant, I kept the card with the picture of the Rebbe in my wallet.
On occasion I will now ask a fellow Jew if he would like to put on tefillin. I never pressure, but if the other person is willing, I help him fulfill this important mitzvah. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asked his chassidim to engage in this method of Jewish outreach partly on the basis of the Talmudic principle that doing one mitzvah brings about the observance of another mitzvah. Sometimes we never know how one small act will impact another person or the world around us. Therefore, we should never think we are powerless to affect positive change. I wonder if those two rabbinical students in Venice know whatever became of that kid from New York.
@ Shy Guy:
Just for that for YOU I would be grumpy….for my own husband he gets what he deserves……..a WONDERFUL wife. He does likewise!
dove Said:
My only remaining question is which one are you?
Must run!
@ honeybee:
HB I understand where you are coming from more than you realize. I was raised catholic by my anti-Semetic parents in a Jewish community. Always had a strong bond with the Jewish people and couldn’t figure out why. I left the church when I was about 17. Married a non denominational man. He wanted to convert to Christianity just in case they were right. He wanted to make sure he had ‘hell insurance’. He since left the church and in 1997 I was being drawn to the synagogue. I found out that my mother had an affair with a Jewish man and I was the result. I don’t have proof of that but it doesn’t matter anymore anyway. For me it was a slow tender conversion to Judaism with God guiding me. It works for me but that does not mean it is for everyone. My husband is back to being agnostic. He realizes that I was actually meant to be Jewish from the start but of coarse to ‘please man’ certain protocol had to be followed. My husband is a good man and has suffered much being married to a Jewish woman. The family I came from are quite destructive.
dove Said:
@ Shy Guy:
There is that bag again. And as usual Shy Guy, yawl are UTTERLY DISGRACEFULL. Sugar
@ Shy Guy:
You are not the least bit humorous today Shy Guy. We happen to take Judaism quite seriously. On Shabbat it is not some kind of Gong Show.
Although the guy in the video is entertaining to some degree Shabbat is not SNL.
dove Said:
Thank heavens you hired a video photographer to record it!
@ Shy Guy:
Time will tell Mr Shy Guy. The only way to get to know my Jewish fam is by visiting where they reside. If you want to call that loopy…go right ahead. Actually it all happened quite interestingly and mysteriously. Seriously. At shul last week their happened to be a mixed bag group that attended (they rented space at one of the shuls). During the Kiddush that followed as we discussed the various denominations we came to the conclusion that post denominational has it’s merits. Each denomination has something to offer and something that is missing. We combined it and it was WONDERFUL!!!!
Shy Guy Said:
Takes one to know one. I live in Texas ,I have ousework to do, your’re distracking me!!!!!!!!!!!
dove Said:
You’ve just confessed to us all that you’re quite a bit loopy.
honeybee Said:
You’re a 2 percenter!
@ Shy Guy:
I am not amused.
I have now graduated from secular to agnostic to Conservative, to Orthodox, back to Conservative, to Egaltarian, to Reform, back to Conservative, back to Orthodox and I have finally arrived to POST denominational!!
Shy Guy Said:
Your droning on, as usual!!!!!!!!!!!!
honeybee Said:
They don’t make ’em like they used to.
honeybee Said:
The hubby got bloodied. You should be applauding!
Shy Guy Said:
like the cloths in this one.
Shy Guy Said:
what no blood!!!!!!they still had all their teeth!!!
Even a blind pig can an acronym!!!! yawl
dove Said:
FIFY
And now back to our regularly scheduled program, “Daze of Our Wives”.
@ dove:
@ honeybee:
Who couldn’t see this coming?!
dove Said:
Of course [coarse: rough] [course: direction]
dove Said:
I really don’t care about your opinion of me. I don’t wish for you to leave the Pundit. I believe in freedom of speech.
@ honeybee:
HB if you took your head out of the sand once in awhile you might have a better understanding of other countries. Owly isn’t an insult at all. It’s an observation that Yamit is grumpy. That’s YOUR style (insulting) and has been since the start – with just a select few of coarse. I don’t care much for his or your style. You certainly let me know you’d like me to get lost. Don’t worry it will probably happen sooner than later…
.
dove Said:
What’s owly, some kind of odd,weird Candian insult???????? Sounds like one of the whitches in “McBeth”.
@ yamit82:
You don’t? That’s not very good. No wonder your so owly…..
yamit82 Said:
Need volunteers, yawl ??????????? [note no endereaments]
@ dove:
Men have toys? I don’t. Guess I ain’t a man according to you? 😉
yamit82 Said:
Sour grapes,Sugar. Opps I have been warned not to use endearments. Agree with you acessment of the game. Next year it’s the Cowboy turn. Stop laughing, The Texans??? Anyhow you’re still my Darlin. Opps there I go again.
honeybee Said:
Denver outplayed NE in every dept but they beat NE on the line of scrimmage offensively and defensibly allowing Denver to keep the ball in play so long it tired the defense and denied NE a chance to get into the game. Manning was great but almost any top NFL quarterback would have won with the shitty performance of NE up front on both ends. Can’t blame the weather or field conditions NE stunk. Modern football id 8o% offense oriented by design. I’m old school who believes you win on defense.
Today NE didn’t have a defense and didn’t protect Brady so they deserved the defeat. The coaches should be fired and most of the offense and defensive linemen.
NE played so bad I wonder if the game was fixed??? Naw it’s the NFL. 🙂
dove Said:
Not so you would notice,Sweetie Pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ yamit82:
Hey Mr. Football Broncos Won!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ honeybee:
That comment wasn’t meant to be. I save my originality and use it when it counts. You can drop the Sugarpie crap anything. It is not only not original but has gotten quite boring…………
yamit82 Said:
Good to hear,now where do you want me to place the pitard,Darin. Manning’s winning,beating that Yankee Boy Brady!!!!!!!!
dove Said:
That’s not very original, SugarPie!!!!!!!!!!!
@ yamit82:
No need to because I know it is actually ME!!!
Oh by the way you can tell your buddy dweller that the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys!
dove Said:
Check the archives maybe it’s my line?
Are you keeping score on who is most original? 😛
honeybee Said:
Not that old and I was the last time I checked.
@ honeybee:
That’s not until tomorrow……roasted chicken today!
dove Said:
Chicken soup?????????????/
yamit82 Said:
@ yamit82:
And that’s what makes us Jews – differences of opinion. There are much more serious issue plaguing us today that I rather focus on.
Stealing one Shy Guys lines? I thought you could be more original than that!
dove Said:
Something fishy in Bethlehem?
@ dove:
Thanks but i prefer the literal meaning of the text in this case.honeybee Said:
FIFY.
yamit82 Said:
how do you determine that?????? Another big football party to cook for, is that my price for buy up the Indian Market????????
dbdent Said:
To be exact from the bloodline of Solomon.
Shy Guy Said:
Are you hanging Yamit82 on his own Pictard???????
yamit82 Said:
Like the “rabbinical myths” you post about the harsh consequences of not dwelling in the land of Israel?
/devil’s advocate
The answer is yes but does not invalidate my statement as David came from a Non Jewish source as stated above [moabite]
@ yamit82:
Here is one take on it….could provide several more.
Print Version
Email this article to a friend
Conversion
The story of Ruth chronicles its heroine’s transformation from a Moabite maiden to the mother of Israelite monarchy. When did Ruth accept the religion of Israel? It is clear that as she arrives to Bethlehem, she is fully keeping the laws and customs of Israel. She gleans in the fields, participates in Levirite marriage, and expresses herself in the language of Israelite religious sensibilities and concepts. It is clear then that Ruth became a Jewess before her arrival to Bethlehem, but was it all teh way back before her marriage to Machlon or only on the road to Bethlehem?
It is tempting to assume that Ruth converted before her marriage. This would explain her attachment to Naomi, her suitability for Levirite marriage to Boaz, her eagerness to leave Moab for Judea, and it would rescue Machlon, Kilyon (“two great leaders of Israel”, Rambam Kings 5:9), and Naomi from the opprobrium of participating, or condoning, an intermarriage. It is hard to imagine that faithful Naomi, on whose lips the name of Hashem dwelt, would form a relationship so genuinely close and affectionale with “the daughter of a foreign god”. To say that Intermarriage was not favorably viewed by the prophets and judges of Israel is an understatment(See Malachi 2:11, Deuteronomy 7:3-4, Ezra 10). Intermarriage is a basic betrayal of innermost religious values for it is a very basic commitment to share love, life and innermost personal sanctum with someone who thinks, hopes, longs, believes and dreams with a different sensibility – hence the appellation “daughter of a foreign god (Malachi ibid)”. Accordingly, it cannot be that Machlon, who we already established was a worthy man, intermarried. “R. Pedas asked the son of R. Yosi, man of Soko, “Since Ruth converted (from the beginning) why did they not give her a new (Jewish) name? He said to him: “ I received a tradition that that she had another name. When she married Machlon… they called her Ruth for she converted when she married Machlon and not afterwards. He responded, “But it says ‘…where you lean (your head), so I will lean, where you go, I go, your people is my people and your G-d is my G-d!’ (implying that the conversion took place only at that point)…(Zohar Ruth 79a).” According to this view, Ruth converted before marraige.
Almost the entire consensus of rabbinic commentary is, however, to the contrary. From the Aramaic Targum to Ruth to Talmud, which derives laws of conversion from the conversation between Ruth and Naomi (Yevomos 47b), it is assumed that Ruth committed to Judaism on the way to Bethlehem. Machlon and Kilyon married Moabites. “ Machlon and Kilyon were culpable of being destroyed by G-d because they took wives of another faith (Bava Bathra 91b)”.
Even if they were Moabites and did not convert, how could Naomi propose that her daughters-in-law “return to your people and your god (Ruth 1:15)”. It is , however, less of a problem than suggesting that Naomi advised her Jewish daughters-in-law to go worship idols.
How we resolve this difficulty has implication for other similar passages, the marriages of Smason and Solomon for example. Fortunately, these at first glance disparate interpetations and their Scriptural antecedents can be agreeably reconciled.
R. Moshe Shternbuch in his Moadim V’Zmanim 4, 316 suggests that Ruth converted conditionally before marriage and that the conversion took effect retroactively when she opted to abandon Moab and to go to Judea. The involved halachic discussion is beyond our purview; however, Jewish Law knows two types of conditional conversions. The first one is conversion of a minor by a parent; upon reaching the age of majority the child can choose to finalize the conversion or to withdraw from it. The other one is a conversion that may have been for ulterior motives, wealth, security, or marriage but could also possibly be sincere. Such conversions are discouraged; however, if performed by an unscrupulous or ignorant rabbinic court, they are held in probation until the circumstances change and there is no longer an ulterior gain. If the convert continues to hold on faithfully, the conversion is valid from the beginning; if he or she abandons it, it is prima facie invalid. Thus, Ruth’s premarital conversion was conditional for she may have converted solely for purposes of marriage. When she left her native land and followed Naomi to a life of hardship and loneliness, she demonstrated the purity and sincerity of her original commitment.
Although conversion takes effect with a ritual (circumcision and immersion before a court of three rabbis for men or immersion for women) its actual fulfillment is in the heart. Jewish Law knows of many such rituals. Mourning for example is effected with tearing one’s clothing or sitting on the ground but it is fulfilled through emotion that these acts engender. The commandment to rejoice on a Festival is fulfilled by eating and drinking with company at a holiday meal but its fulfillment is the feeling of joy that the meal and the company generate. Similarly, conversion involves a ritual but it primarily takes place in the heart. The convert may be sure of the purity of her intent,or she may be deluding herself. When money, marraige or status is involved, the future will tell.
One of my teachers drew this parallel on the occasion of my ordination. He sat with me and explained that the document of ordination, the passing of examinations, even the countless hours spent in study and preparation is not what makes a rabbi. “Ordination is like conversion. It requires a ritual but it is affected within. It can take many years until the original motivation becomes apparent and declares itself. May you be fortunate that your old age justify your young age (Sukka 53a)”.
Ruth completed and validated her original conversion with the decision to accompany Naomi to Bethlehem. However, her journey had started ten years earlier. They arrive at harvest time, in the spring, at the time of renewal and it is then that the new chapter begins.
@ dbdent:
Where I live here at the North Pole Chicken soup is a must have! I make a homemade batch once a week!
Let’s not put the cart before the horse. What is going to come first? Messiah or Anti-Messiah? I think there is more of a possibility that the Anti-Messiah will come from a convert lineage. Converting from Judaism to Christianity – or Catholicism. A messianic ex Jew that the world will accept as a Jew Jew.
Isn’t the Messiah suppose to be coming from the bloodline of David?
@ dove:
Of course, I know the story of Ruth!
I asked: “Exactly how was Ruth converted?” There is no description or rules mentioned in the Tanach as to how to convert non Hebrews and Israelites.
You don’t know because in fact she never converted.
Ruth never converted despite popular rabbinical myths. Many believe that she did with her statement to Naomi, “Your people is my people, and your God is my God,” but later she calls herself a foreigner. Why would Ruth have needed to convert before Naomi if she were supposed to have been converted ten years ago upon marrying Naomi’s son?
The problem with Ruth’s account is that the Torah explicitly forbids Jews to marry Moabites.
Ezra apparently did not know of the rabbinical view that Moabite women might be taken for wives when he broke the interfaith families (Ezra 9:2).
yamit82 Said:
looks like my friend who emailed me was a bit late 🙂