PERSONAL STATEMENTS | FRANK GIARDINA

My journey into Judaism

The start of my journey into Judaism began, ironically, during the Christmas season of 2005 when after dinner one night at the kitchen table, my wife Susan, her sister Pam, and I were discussing the persecution of Jews throughout history. Why were there such prejudices towards Jews? I mentioned that I would like to learn more about Judaism.

Either by fate or coincidence, the very next morning in the Dallas Morning News I saw an ad for something called A Taste of Judaism at Temple Emanu-El. At the encouragement of Susan, I called the number listed and spoke with Renee Karp, who signed me up for the course.

The night of my first session, as I made my way down highway 75, I wondered if I made the right decision in attending. What am I doing this for? Why do I need to know more about Jews?

At the first session, we were introduced to Rabbi Hayon, who was conducting the class. As usual, I sat right up front. The discussion was on Biblical times, and I was lost. Although I attended Catholic grade school, I knew practically nothing about the Bible.

Rabbi Hayon was wonderful in presenting the information. He fielded questions from the class, and called on class members for their opinions. I only hoped he wouldn’t call on me, but he did. In responding to the question he asked, I said I knew nothing about the Bible, and he said that was fine and continued on to another class member.

I kept wondering what I was doing going to this class. I was lost. Maybe I’d only attend the one session, or even leave before the class was over! However, I didn’t leave the class, and completed all three sessions. But I still didn’t have an answer to my original question after completing A Taste of Judaism. To be truthful, I had even more questions!

The last night there was a sign-up sheet for a course called Stepping Stones, which I thought would give me the answers I was looking for. So, I enrolled.

The class was conducted by Renee, who did a wonderful job of instruction. Many of the people from A Taste of Judaism were in attendance, plus spouses of Jews who were contemplating conversion. I seemed to be the only one there for no particular reason.

The first night Renee passed out the many books that came along with the course, and I thought for sure I would be able to get my questions answered now somewhere in all this literature.

About half way through the course, I realized it was for conversion. You see, I was so engrossed in the knowledge I was gaining that I didn’t realize there was a special purpose for the course. At this same time, Susan and I were invited to attend a bat mitzvah of a friend’s daughter in Israel. After much deliberation, we decided to attend.

Israel and its people just blew us away. The resiliency and resolve of the Israelis, the history of the land, and the warmth of the people culminated into one of the finest vacations either of us had been on. It truly was a trip of a lifetime.

When we returned from our trip, I was very conflicted. I started to feel more of a connection to the Jewish faith and philosophy than Christianity. At this point, I started to give serious thought to conversion. After completing Stepping Stones, I enrolled in Choosing Judaism.

Choosing Judaism was conducted by Connie Lust and Connie Ruddick, and both women did a great job. During the course, I was assigned Rabbi Goldenberg as a mentor. I must say I never felt any pressure to convert from Rabbi Goldenberg, or from anyone at Temple Emanu-El. Throughout, I still felt very unsure about conversion. What would the impact be on my family? What would I do about Christmas? Would it impact my marriage? Rabbi Goldenberg and both Connies kept reiterating that I didn’t have to make a decision now. In fact, they said if I didn’t want to convert at all that was okay too.

As time went on, I attended as many temple functions as possible as well as Shabbat services every Saturday. Before Rabbi Goldenberg moved to Connecticut, she said it would be a good idea for me to go through as many holidays and life cycles as I felt necessary before making a decision.

After Rabbi Goldenberg left, I asked Rabbi Hayon to be my mentor. He too told me to take as much time as I needed, and in the spring of 2008 after talking with Susan, who has always supported me fully in any endeavor I undertook, and my family, I finally made the decision to convert. I knew I felt good whenever I was at the temple, and for me, the core tenets of Judaism were, for me, very simple and realistic – worship only God, and do the right thing.

All the uneasiness I felt was completely gone once my decision was made. On September 18, 2008, I converted to Judaism. At the end of my talk at the ceremony, I read the following poem by Shifra Alon, that was very meaningful to me:

Not every day does one encounter God,

And not at every moment can one give oneself to prayer;

Nor can every hour be an hour of loving kindness.

A person wanders and strays before reaching the journey’s end.

We start over again. And again we lose our way,

Groping and searching for our forgotten path.

But they – those who search and wander –

God seeks them out with candles.

Was the ad I saw in the Dallas Morning News a candle from God? I don’t know. But it led me into an incredible journey.

By the way, I still don’t have all the answers to the questions that initially brought me to Judaism, and I am not sure if I will ever understand what makes people so biased, except for ignorance. What I do know is I feel very good, and very proud, to be a Jew.