The stories of people who make the choice to convert to Judaism are not often told in the community.
From the challenges of the conversion process to integrating into the larger Jewish community, converts often face difficulties. But because Judaism is against proselytizing, people who convert to Judaism usually do so for their own, personal reasons rather than outside pressures, whether it is to support Jewish family members or because they find the religion’s philosophies to be in line with their own beliefs.
A few people in Baltimore’s Jewish community who converted spoke with the Baltimore Jewish Times to share their perspectives on Judaism and their conversion journeys.
Converting for Family
Baltimore Jewish community members may not be familiar with Alex Romano. But chances are that they know his daughter: Rabbi Jenni Greenspan, the rabbi of Beth Shalom Congregation in Columbia.
Greenspan was actually the impetus for Romano converting to Judaism. While his wife is Jewish, neither of them were very involved in their respective religious communities when they were married. Romano was raised Presbyterian, but started questioning his beliefs as a teenager and later identified as a Christian agnostic.
“I could see from the nightly news that miracles, like I was being taught about in the Bible, were not happening in the world, otherwise they would be covered on the news alongside the nightly casualty counts from the Vietnam War,” he said. “Without belief, faith was not possible, so I stepped away from religion altogether when I was asked to join the church confirmation class at age 12.”
But when his daughter’s bat mitzvah became closer and closer, Romano discovered that he would not be able to stand on the bimah with her on her special day. Greenspan had become far more involved in Jewish life than her parents had been, which in turn caused them to become more involved.
“I recognized that she had shown me a way to see miracles in my life, and I decided that the life I had started living was a Jewish life,” Romano explained.
He added that people in his congregation were surprised to learn that he was a convert when he officially converted, because he had become such a staple there. But a common question he has to field is that of his surname, which people often point out is not especially Jewish-sounding.
But Romano notes that “Romano” is actually a common surname for Jewish immigrants who settled in Rome during the Spanish Inquisition and had to take new names for their own safety. He also shares a surname with Yossef Romano, one of the victims of the Munich Olympics terrorist attack.
“For me, the process [of conversion] was very organic — it just felt right, and was not terribly demanding,” Romano said.
Conversion Through Education
Artist Dominique Butler found learning about Judaism as part of a world religion unit in her high school social studies class to be particularly exciting. But while she had Jewish friends, she had no relations with Jews of color or with Black Jews specifically, so she believed that she wasn’t allowed to convert.
“Although I had excitement when it came to Judaism, I couldn’t explain how I felt at the time or what I wanted to do with that excitement,” she said. “But I loved learning as much as possible.”
But that all changed when Butler became involved with Hinenu Baltimore and started taking classes with its founding rabbi, Rabbi Ariana Katz. In part due to its focus on social justice, Hinenu is a fairly diverse congregation.
Before deciding if she wanted to convert officially, Butler took Hinenu’s 18-week “Diving into Judaism” course, which served as an introduction to the religion and to Jewish culture. As part of this course, she wrote a “spiritual autobiography” about her own spiritual journey, which she said was helpful to her and that she continues to update.
She added that she has felt welcomed by the local Jewish community, particularly by her congregation, but is still strongly affected by the misconception that Black people and other people of color cannot be Jewish. It is not uncommon for her to be self-conscious of her convert status.
“I constantly question myself, ‘Am I doing this right?’ or get frustrated when I hesitate on what to do next in prayer or stumble over how to recite something in Hebrew,” Butler said. “I feel a lot of imposter syndrome and have to remind myself that it is OK to stumble, it is OK to forget the next words, that I worked hard to get myself here and that I do belong.”
Conversion as a Senior
Timoth Copney is involved in several different Jewish organizations, serving on the board of trustees at Bolton Street Synagogue, the arts and culture council of the JCC of Greater Baltimore, the committee of the Queer Jewish Arts Festival and as a connector in the Jewish Connection Network’s community connector program. But Copney only formally converted a few years ago.
He initially started his conversion process in the early 2000s, but his progress was halted when the rabbi who was helping him with it died. It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic when he seriously started considering conversion again, during an uncertain time in his life.
“I was diagnosed with a fairly serious disease, rheumatoid arthritis, which required pretty deep surgeries and transplants. And COVID was just starting to rage, and no one knew what would happen back then,” Copney recalled. “I thought to myself, ‘If this is what’s happening, I don’t want to die before I convert. When I go, I want to be standing in line with the Jews.’”
Copney was born Christian, but he raised a Jewish daughter: Copney’s brother married a Jewish woman, but he died shortly after having a child. Copney helped raise their daughter, Kamilya, Jewishly, and still views her as a daughter rather than a niece.
He said that the Reform Jewish community has been welcoming to him after his conversion.
Copney notes that as someone who converted later in life, he feels like he missed out on some Jewish experiences.
“I didn’t get to go to Jewish overnight camp. I joke sometimes that it would be cool if we could go to camp in our 60s, and just sit around the campfire, study the Torah, sing songs and do all of the things kids get to do at camp,” he quipped.
