Beyond the Bema

I’m a pretty private person, so making this public endeavor is really special to me. 

I became Jewish on Sivan 22, 5785- which is June 17th, 2025. But let’s talk about what led up to that moment. 

I was a lost soul prior to truly finding Judaism. My Rabbi made a comment during his drash last Friday (I was ill but watched on zoom). He talked about finding your calling.  And I literally laughed out loud. I got asked a few weeks ago , “How many lives have you had?”. And it’s funny because it’s true.

There was little spiritual me, in the Christian world, doing whatever I thought was right to please people. There was paramedic me, stuck knowing I didn’t belong in a Christian denomination. In that time, there  was a lot of soul searching and coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ family. And then there was long term relationship me, who, at the end of the day, didn’t believe anything spiritual except that there was a God and I could call on him and he’d listen. I knew he was there.  

All those stages got me to where I am today. I think some people go through life knowing their “calling”. I believe others may go through different sections of life fulfilling different “callings”. In those stages, I know I touched people. I impacted people. My question is to figure out what’s next. Is it through music? Should I delve deeper into writing? What is my spiritual “calling”. I know my heart yearns to study the Torah and Talmud. What could I do with that in my arsenal? 

A “calling” is different in Christianity than Judaism. Jewish tradition is more of the fact that everyone is called to fill a unique purpose WITH Jewish history and covenant with God. Christianity, on the other hand leaves it to a personal relationship and “will” of God using gifts. It is sort of similar, but Judaism has structure to follow in ordinance with history and tradition. This is a subject that greatly fascinates me and could write a whole post on in itself!

The sky is the limit at this point. I really hope music stays in my life. I’m not sure what that is going to look like but I want it there. Hopefully I can be a “light to the nation” and my Judaic calling becomes more clear as I go farther along in my journey!