Meeting with Rabbi Horowitz

I talked to the Rabbi today. It went well. He was austere, but very nice and helpful.

Rabbi Naftali Horowitz was Hasidic as far as I can tell. I didn't actually ask him. I did notice that one of the secretaries was wearing a wig. There was a long newspaper article framed and hung in the hallway about Rebbe Levi Yitchak Horowitz, who I believe is/was the Rabbi's father. The bookstore man made some comment about the Rabbi being the son of a certain somebody of which I couldn't catch the name. When I asked (as if I might need to know), he said that the Rabbi was too humble to make mention of it.

Actually, I just went to look him up on the internet. You can read more about the Rabbi's father, Rebbe Levi Yitchak Horowitz, on wikipedia.

There is a wiki on the Rabbi Naftali ,who I went to go see. Rebbe Levi's youngest son Rabbi Naftali Yehuda Horowitz

I thought the conversation went okay. I didn't mean to be allusive with him, but the Rabbi wasn't exactly personable (although he was nice and obliging). So, I didn't feel compelled to divulge my entire story in 20 minutes as if he could say exactly what I needed to do to fix it all.

His advice to me was that I should return to Long Beach to be with my family and friends. It is hard, he said, to go through conversion without friends and have to build a whole new community here. It would be better for me to go home. He gave me a list of Orthodox Bait Din to connect with.

I am anxious to come home and find my Jewish community. I will talk to a Rabbi in CA. I think that I need more friends who can share with me more about being Jewish. And, it would be nice to have a mentor. I read somewhere that this is vitally important--that one should not go through conversion alone. I have had a couple of key Jewish friend and it has helped me to not feel totally alone. I want to also be part of a larger community. I will probably go to the Lubavitch and speak with the Rabbi there. And I hope to do more within the Long Beach Jewish community.

I just bought and started reading a book called, "Learn Talmud' by Judith Z. Abrams--she has a Ph.D. in rabbinic literature and went to the Baltimore Hebrew University. I don't know if that is all that similiar because yeshivish do more independent studies. It is a helpful and encouraging book. Some Jews think that Torah study is just for men, but I like it too--mainly because of my background interest in Literature, Philosophy and Linguistics.

Also, I recently wrote a few long letters to my mother, my friend Erin, and to Sam. I left no rock unturned and told them about my whole thought processes concerning my desire to convert to Judaism. I am waiting to hear from them.