Etz Haim

• How a girl named Yomaira became Yehudit: “Yehudit Tamayo’s path to Judaism began when she was a ten-year-old Roman Catholic by the name of Yomaira.”
• Following their true paths: “The journey to one’s Jewish soul may have several bumps along the way, but those who choose Judaism for genuine reasons often find that they were on that path long before they themselves had the revelation that, at their core, they were already Jewish.”
• When I told my family I wanted to be Jewish: “I was 14 the first time I told my mother I wanted to be Jewish. She reeled her arm back like a baseball player (she is Dominican) and she smacked me across the face.”
• Tired of living in fear: “The issue is not who my mother is, but rather who I am. The question for all of us is – what have you done today? Are you a Jew by birth and an idol worshiper by practice? (Insert the name of your favorite idol, be it stone, drugs, money or physical pleasure.) Or are you a Jew by practice? By conversion, I am a Jew. By practice, I am a Jew.”

[Photograph of Synagogue Etz Haim (Tree of Life), circa 1700 in Izmir, Turkey & links via Aliza Hausman]