#you are okay!

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Hello! Can I ramble a bit and ask for some advice?

I've been thinking about converting for a while now. I've been learning more and more about Judaism and the more I learn, the more I feel this inexorable pull towards it. I found a reform synagogue near me and they have a page on their website for potential converts, outlining the process and saying that they're accepting of them. I want to get in touch, via email, explaining my desire to convert and start attending services and immerse myself in the community but I do not know what to say. I'm autistic and and overthinker.

Do I introduce myself? Do I explain in the email WHY I want to convert/what draws me to Judaism? How much about myself should I share? I'm fearful that I won't be welcomed by the community or my presence will make everyone uncomfortable or they won't find me sincere and will turn me away due to my age (I'm 20). I'm sure in my heart, in my bones, that this is what I want and this is right for me. Oh also this synagogue is the nearest to me and I've heard before that you cannot convert if you aren't in walking distance (I'd have to take the bus). Is that true? I will be moving to the area in the future but I don't want to wait to start the process until then.

Just to be clear: I am a layperson and I am not converting reform. I know it matters to some people, so I just wanted to make sure that people do know!

So, I actually think that I will share the email I sent my rabbi when I asked him to sponsor me. I think it might help you in outlining how you might want to introduce yourself - it will be under the cut, with necessary redactions! I totally get how you feel - I was nervous like hell when I was first attending my shul. However, so, so many jews are more than happy to see newcomers. Reform jews - I have noticed - are among some of the genuinely most pleased to see people like you sharing space with them! In my conservative shul, there are numerous different types of people who attend. We have people who are converting, some who are already converted, even some non-jews show up, not even out of a desire to convert! As well, age probably won't be too much of a factor - you're an adult and can make adult choices, after all, including who your people are. I'm not all that much older than you and... it has never come up once because I am more than able to choose my people and my faith (and it's a conservative shul, but I think that indicates it's the same for reform!).

And, also: You can still convert if you don't move within walking distance! That practice is something more "traditional" jews ask of prospective/in-progress converts. You more than likely would not be asked to do that by a Reform shul - they generally have different expectations of you, and that sometimes doesn't apply to frum-er communities. If you want to know why this is done, (I think) it's for two general reasons:

The community wants to help you assimilate. When you convert to judaism, you are also assimilating yourself into jewish culture. You become woven into the cloth that connects judaism together. That comes with a lot of knowledge that you ought to know! The further away you are from a jewish community, the longer it may take for you to fully assimilate into jewish culture.

They want to help you start practicing (parts of) judaism before you are (officially) a jew. When you're finally jewish, shabbos becomes something you need to reckon with if you want to be an observant jew. It becomes officially commanded for you to observe shabbos and keep it holy. If you cannot walk to shul, you may violate that commandment. By living in a walking distance of shul, you can start to observe shabbos while you're still converting. It becomes less of a shock for you to integrate judaism into your everyday life after you are officially jewish the sooner you start observing everything you can while you're converting. Does that make sense?

Because you'll be converting reform, you most likely won't have to worry about that. As long as you can attend services and meet with your future rabbi in whatever way you can (in-person, call, what have you), you will be more than able to fully convert through their standards. I wouldn't worry about this one, but I am not personally familiar with reform standards.

Alright, so below the "read more" is what I sent to my rabbi when I was asking him to be my sponsor. I hope this helps you in some way!

Hello, good afternoon!

[REDACTED] connected me with you and I was wondering if you might be interested in contacting me about being a sponsor for my conversion to Judaism? I'm planning on taking the Intro to Judaism class through [REDACTED] with the plan (and hope) of converting.

As some background, I have been attending services and interacting with the Jewish community at [SHUL] for a few months now, but my interest in Judaism goes back much further. I have also been taking Hebrew classes at [SHUL] for some time now. I feel incredibly at home in the community, and I know I am making a necessary decision.

Thank you so much for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon!

I hope you have an amazing week!

[SHALOM]

[ashes-in-a-jar]

Forget about torturing your blorbos, putting them through the wringer. I'm putting my blorbo in perfectly ordinary, pleasant situations. Their tortured personality will cause them anguish anyway, making an absolutely mundane scene into the most dramatic, agony filled affair as though the world is ending and it's all their fault

[mintjaan]

When you choose "I'm bald" on a poll this is what you're saying

[danlous]

Ignoring the real possibility he intentionally let himself be caught from the little we know so far Luigi Mangione's case is a fascinating combination of astonishing brilliance and confusing stupidity. This young man plans and executes his assassination and escape with such a meticulous care and calmness that it's suspected that he's a professional hitman. He comes up with Riddler-sque moves like writing his manifesto poetically on the bullets and leaving his backpack behind full of Monopoly money. He carefully wears a mask to avoid being identified but removes it because a woman who was checking him into the hostel was flirting with him and wanted to see his smile. He still manages to escape the most surveilled city in the country in the midst of ongoing national manhunt only to get caught in the middle of bumfuck nowhere Pennsylvania while eating at the McDonalds. Because for some reason he had the same clothes and mask as in New York and was carrying the same gun and suppressor. And when the cops detained him he showed them the same fake id he used in New York. And oh yeah he's a frat bro gym rat who has a masters degree in computer science from Penn but reads stupid self-help books about being on the grind and is 'anti-woke' while being bisexual suffering from anxiety and wanting to end oppressive capitalism. Not even god himself could invent a person like this

[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[dredsina]

Ive said this before but swear the biggest skill to learn as an adult is how to resist high-pressure sales tactics. You do NOT have to answer questions with anything other than "Sorry I'm not interested." No matter how nice they are or no matter how many follow up questions they ask or even how agitated they get when you stand your ground. Just keep saying I'm not interested. Don't answer their questions. Don't give them an opening to try to push back on your reasons. Be a fucking brick wall of I'm not interested.

[lettuccine]

i cant stop thinking about a post by @possamble so i made this

inspired by this

based on a fanart by BugsGay on twitter

[heph]

Yall ever think about how Ford had to relearn how to be a normal human being after 30 years of isolation

[demaparbat-hp]

He's never happy

[slfcare]

ten years ago you were so scared of such different things, but you survived them anyway. the same goes for five years ago and two years ago. everything that has ever felt like a hurdle, you’ve passed through. so be afraid, identify your fears, and then allow yourself to remember that in just a little while, this will be another thing that you have overcome.

[flame-shadow]

hey did you know??? that if you stop stretching and maintaining mobility in your body then it goes away?? things get tight and you can't move the way that you used to??? and when you decide to try getting a stretch routine going that the first week fucking sucks because you keep going 'damn i used to be able to do this no problem' and then you have to switch gears and be kind to yourself and just focus on getting better from here instead of berating yourself for dropping the good habits in the first place??? and your body never stops aging so you gotta keep taking care of it and sometimes you gotta take care of it extra in certain areas because of things that happened when you were younger and it's boring and sometimes hurts but it's so necessary???

i am yelling this at myself right now i am going through An Experience (trying to get into a routine of body maintenance again for my physical and mental health)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The math just adds up!

[jamierthanyou]

as an aroace, im particularly dangerous, because i wont fuck or marry. i only know how to kill.

[tuttle-did-it]

David Tennant for Prime Minister, please.

edit- Since this is getting so much attention, edited to include descriptions of screenshots.

This woman has lost her fucking mind.

Jo, are you okay?

[humming-fly]

I love how Gerald was trying to keep Shadow from spoiling anything about the future meanwhile literally everything Shadow says and does around Maria is the biggest death flag ever