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Why Be Jewish?

Converts explain what drew them to Judaism.

Judy Greenwald | Contributing Writer

W

e’ve all heard the words: Jew
by choice. But what does it
mean to choose to follow
a Jewish lifestyle? Here, four people: a
young mother, a devoted husband, and
a father and daughter who all made this
momentous decision share their feelings
on each of their journeys to embrace a dif-
ferent faith than that into which they were
born.
Meet Ashira Solomon, 27, of Oak Park,
who was born a Baptist Christian with
Jewish roots on her father’s side. Solomon
is married to husband, Ethan, an obser-
vant Jew by birth who works at Akiva
Hebrew Day School in Southfield, and
they have a 9-month-old daughter, Naomi.
Solomon said she never really felt con-
nected to the Baptist church — while her
parents were spiritual people, they weren’t
regular churchgoers.
“I did go to Sunday school,” she said,
“but at a very young age I knew I didn’t
really enjoy it. Growing up in Oak Park
and going to school in Berkley, I had a
lot of Jewish friends and was introduced
to Judaism even in elementary school.
When it came time for friends’ bar and
bat mitzvahs, I was going to Reform and
Conservative synagogues with Friday
night services and Saturday celebrations.
“Many of the parties were over-the-top
gorgeous, but even with that, my interest
was in going to shul. I said to one friend, ‘I
need to learn the blessings, to know what
they mean.’ I was so intrigued by what I’d
learned so far and wanted to keep learn-
ing.”
Being in synagogue provided a spiri-
tual connection she had never felt before,
Solomon explained, and after the parties
ended, she still wanted to continue to
go to services. She said she experienced
a true thirst to learn more and, at 13,
told her parents she knew she wanted to
become Jewish.
“My father said it was perfectly fine
if that’s what I wanted, but that since
becoming Jewish was a big responsibil-
ity, I should wait until I was an adult to
make that decision,” she recalled. “He said
if I knew this is what I wanted, waiting
wouldn’t change that. And then, after I
turned 18, if this was how I still felt, then
yes, I should be Jewish.”
In high school, she was able to study
comparative religions at the Center for
Advanced Studies and the Arts, a public

Marcy and David Troy

Ashira and Ethan Solomon with daughter, Naomi

consortium school in Oak Park, and her
knowledge of Judaism came to bear once
again. Her teacher, she said, “was relying
on my knowledge of Judaism to help teach
the course! This really fed my neshamah,
my Jewish soul, and I knew I was on the
right path.”
Solomon’s college years took her to
Arizona State University and, in addition
to general studies, she began learning with
Rabbi Rony Keller at Congregation Beth
Israel in Scottsdale, a Reform congrega-
tion. She had been studying all along in
Reform and Conservative venues, but
says she still didn’t feel she was where she
belonged.
“I was taught what each of the different
denominations (Reform, Conservative and
Orthodox) believes, and it occurred to me:
I’m in the wrong class. I realized it was the
Orthodox voice that really spoke to me,
where I could fully connect spiritually.”
In February 2009, she began “the pro-
cess,” going to the beit din (rabbinic court)
and meeting members of the Council of
Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit. She

learned with them for some three years. In
addition to the formal studying, Solomon
said, she’s learned (and continues to learn)
from the welcoming religious community
where her family lives.
Solomon finished her conversion pro-
cess in January 2012 and was very proud
to show off her certificate, whose language
included the fact that she has accepted all
of the mitzvot with a full heart, immersed
in a mikvah for the purpose of conversion
in accordance with Halachah and is now a
Jewish woman in every respect.
“Going to the mikvah was an amazing
experience, and I was fortunate that my
parents wanted to be involved and came
with me,” she said.

CONSERVATIVE CONVERSION
Happiness in married life was an influ-
ence for Catholic-born David Troy, 46, of
Ferndale in his decision to convert, but
he also said that his conversion within
Conservative Judaism opened up a some-
what more religious outlook in his life.
“I was raised Catholic,” he said, “but

wasn’t really a religious person. When I
met Marcy, she and her family belonged
to Shaarey Zedek, and I saw that my
becoming Jewish was important to them.
Originally, that was the reason I wanted
to convert, for my wife, but the more I
talked to and studied with the rabbi, and
the more I learned about being Jewish, the
more the process became for me.”
Troy’s process took about a year and
involved taking a weekly class at the syna-
gogue, where he studied the Tanach and
learned Hebrew. His beit din included rab-
bis from Shaarey Zedek in Southfield and
Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
Hills. He went to the Conservative mikvah
at Adat Shalom.
“I went to Catholic school for 12 years,”
Troy said. “But once I started taking
classes at the shul, I did feel a connection
to Judaism. It made sense to me. The tra-
ditions and holidays appealed to me.
“Even though I accepted the Jewish
faith,” he said, “my parents didn’t totally
understand why I converted. But they
did teach me that I could make my own
decisions, and this is why I became a ‘Jew
by choice.’ I’m against using that term
derogatorily, but it isn’t insulting to me
personally. Conversion was a decision I
came to as an adult, and it was my choice.
I am proud of my accomplishment.”

REFORM CONVERSION
Rachel Chezick, 21, of Troy was raised as a
Charismatic Catholic, a movement within
the church that incorporates aspects of
Catholicism and the charismatic prac-
tice of expressing gifts of the spirit. The
Indiana-born young woman, who is study-
ing to be an animator, said that she and
her family stopped going to church when

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14 March 17 • 2016