This is a story that intrigues me personally and for those who know me , you know why that is. For those who don't , I can't get into it all right now. I'll try. But this isn't just about me. It's about Alysa Stanton. Her journey from Pentecostalism to Judaism is an interesting one as I too have been drawn back to the teachings and traditions of Judaism. Though I am still a Christian, my understanding of Christs teachings became clearer ONLY when I started studying the doctrines and traditions of Judaism as opposed to those of Early European Christians. It seems strange, but not to those of us who believe that Judaism is the origin of Christianity.
Back to Alysa Stanton. Here is what the CNN story that I linked to above says;
A Cleveland, Ohio, native from a Pentecostal Christian home who moved to Colorado at the age of 11, Stanton was first exposed to Judaism as a child and converted more than 20 years ago during her college days. She is a single mother of an adopted 14-year-old daughter and a psychotherapist.
How did she come to convert?
"It's been a journey, and it started when I was very young," she told CNN. "I was a seeker."
Judaism, she realized, fit her.
"People have asked me, 'was I born Jewish?' I said yes, but not to a Jewish womb."
She said she drove every week between Fort Collins and Denver to study with a Conservative rabbi in an Orthodox synagogue and eventually had a traditional conversion in 1987.
Okay , for CR purposes, I am arguing that the above content qualifies as only ONE paragraph. You can't just take sentences and separate them like that and expect us to only use three. Pffft.
Moving on. I think that's fascinating. I too was raised Pentecostal and I had a Pastor as a father who insisted that we should NEVER quote a single Bible verse until AFTER we have prayerfully read every word in the Bible, prayerfully studied everything we just prayerfully read so that we are able to get a full understanding of it. So that when we do quote scripture , we will know what we're talking about and will be able to quote it in it's full context.
Let's just say, my father was very disciplined and very old school. He took it seriously. And when I applied that discipline to my own Bible study, I discovered that I could not understand it in it's full context until I incorporated Judaism in my studying. Anyway, I was intrigued to find that I was not the only one. And while I have not converted to Judaism , I see that many others have. Look at these interesting facts located in the CNN story.
Citing numbers from the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, the HUC-JIR says at least 20 percent of American Jews -- about 300,000 to 400,000 people -- "are racially and ethnically diverse by birth ... conversion and adoption. Approximately 20,000-30,000 marriages between Jews and African-Americans grew out of the civil rights movement. "
"This diversity, reflecting the variety and richness of Jewish heritage, is embraced by the Reform Movement of Judaism, with its commitment to inclusivity," the HUC-JIR said.
Because most African Americans are Pentecostal , Baptist or African Methodist, it would be interesting to know if the majority of African Americans who have converted to Judaism had a Pentecostal background that led them towards Judaism. I suspect that it might , but not really sure. Perhaps, I'm taking that one similarity with Alysa Stanton of having a Pentecostal background and a reverence for Jewish teaching that led to her conversion and drawing similarities with my own Pentecostal teaching that led me to study Judaism. I don't know. But like I said, I found this story very intriguing and I congratulate the soon to be Rabbi Stanton on her Ordination. If anyone knows more about the rabbinical school of the Reform movement mentioned in this piece , please enlighten me because I have never heard of it until today.