"They took away my identity in the middle of life": Tania and Miriam's arduous journey to conversion

Tania and Miriam grew up as Jews and lived as Jews until they discovered that in Israel they had to go a long way to be considered Jews.

They went through many upheavals along the way, but had a happy ending to their story, after arriving properly converted in the presence of rabbis from the leaders of religious Zionism

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Money, in conjunction with times - conversion properly

09/01/2022

Sunday, 09 January 2022, 15:15

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A happy ending to the story (Photo: PR)

Miriam was also properly converted at times (Photo: PR)

Tanya Ruth Byder immigrated to Israel from the Ukraine at the age of 3. She grew up as a Jew and was educated in religious institutions until her world turned upside down when the rabbinate determined that her mother was not Jewish. Until the age of 12 she attended kindergarten and a religious school. She later served in the military, completed her academic studies and acquired a profession as a veterinarian. A route that almost every ordinary Israeli and citizen goes through. During her parents' divorce, Tania learned that her grandmother's Jewishness could not be proven by her mother who was a Holocaust survivor (all of her grandmother's brothers perished in the Holocaust and a Christian family saved her), so she must convert if she wants to register as a Jew.

Tanya started a full conversion process that includes studying in the studio for a year, accompanying a religious religious family and many other requirements that she passed successfully. Just before the end of the process, Tania was informed of the rejection and refusal due to a false suspicion that she has a spouse and did not tell about it, (in the conversion process if there is a spouse, he must take part in the process). "I passed all the tests and in fact I almost finished, and then they said I could not get a certificate and be Jewish, according to them, because they suspected that I had a partner - and I did not have a partner at all. I felt that they took my identity in mid-life."

Tania did not give up, and ended the process through the network of Orthodox private courts of conversion properly and later married as the religion of Moses and Israel. "I did it for myself, to close the circle and start a Jewish family," Tanya concludes.

Miriam's story "Miri" is in many ways reminiscent of Tanya's story. Miriam, 24, was born in Russia to a Jewish father from a religious home and a non-Jewish mother. At home they kept kosher and Shabbat, kept in touch with the Chabad community, her father ran a kosher meat factory and the family was part of a large Jewish community in Russia.

At the age of 12 Miri and her family immigrated to Israel and a few years later her parents separated That she is not considered a Jew.

"The house has always been a Jewish house, I even remember that as children we would run and play in the synagogue, and after we immigrated to Israel I was asked 'Are you Jewish?' Then I realized that my mother was not Jewish. "Before I was drafted into the IDF, I started receiving messages inviting me to join the Nativ course, but I also felt heavy pressure from the course operators and my sister also told me about the unpleasant experiences she went through during her conversion process - so I refrained from joining."

As she grew older, Miri began a process of returning to tradition. Once again she kept kosher and Shabbat properly, braided in Yom Kippur, observed all the laws of Pesach and hence her need for conversion. She chose to convert to Orthodox conversion through proper conversion, completed a preparation course for conversion and converted in the court in Migdal Oz.

"It met all expectations and nothing happened that surprised me. The experience was positive and exciting, the rabbis were very generous and very interested in the process I went through and what I would do after the conversion. Judaism for me is a way of life and faith and atmosphere of Shabbat and holiday. I felt it before but now I'm really part of it, "concludes Miri.

Tanya and Miriam, who were already almost desperate for unreasonable demands and much fuss, had a happy ending to their story, having arrived at the conversion properly.

"Proper conversion" is a network of independent Orthodox conversion courts from Atim that offers accessible, free, respectful and inclusive conversion according to all the grammar of Halacha. "Today there is a solution for thousands of Israeli families who want to undergo a conversion process according to Jewish law At eye level, "says Yael Blanki, director of the Proper Conversion Courts.

" For more than six years now, dozens of judges, recognized community leaders in religious Zionism "Conversion is a national value and we know how to talk to the converts attentively and sensitively, while maintaining complete loyalty to Jewish law."

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