Baruch HaBa!

A Short Spiritual History


In 1971 while I was doing research for a doctrinal statement to be read to a committee of Baptist Church pastors and leaders for my ordination, I found two doctrines universally stated as fundamental precepts of faith. First, “we believe in all 66 books of the Bible and consider them authoritative for faith and practice”. Second, “we believe in the plenary [each word] inspiration of scriptures”. My classroom experience in Seminary resulted in disillusionment at the conflict between faith and practice in this denominational setting. The law was ignored by stating that it had been fulfilled. Also in classes on textual criticism any variations in texts were passed off as copy errors that did not affect the understanding of the passage. After 5 years of pastoring and teaching, my failure to wean people from their traditional views compelled me to leave pastoring and return to being a carpenter.
In the ensuing years my interest in the Tanach continued to grow and I decided that to understand the Torah adequately I would need to learn from people who were not influenced by Western Christian thought. My wife and daughter agreed that we must go to Israel to gain a proper understanding of the coming messiah and how to live a Torah life pleasing to G-d. I told the people in Israel that the Torah says “when you enter the land do these things”. So I simply believed that to live and learn Torah you must go to Israel. I am simple minded and this attitude seemed perfectly logical to me. By March of 1991 the three of us had completed a conversion course and were “born again” in the Mikveh on Purim of that same year.
First I had to overcome my prejudice toward rabbis. From my background in Christianity I had the common anti-semitic attitude that all rabbis were spiritually dead from following the Law and out to impose their own laws on unsuspecting people. And, of course, these were laws they were unable or un willing to keep themselves! To my great surprise and delight I found the opposite to be the norm. Never before had I found community leaders who were so warm and loving. They looked after our every need and did everything in their power to make our lives less stressful. Remember also, we were coming into an orthodox Jewish community where, in most cases, they had very little personal contact with gentiles. Yet with all that, both during and after our conversion, we were treated like family and cared for with devotion and love. For nearly 10 years we just absorbed Torah and life in a Torah community and found the great joy and peace we had long been seeking.
A few years ago a neighbor in Israel introduced me to some of the Chassidic masters and I was truly delighted by what I read. Having little or no Hebrew language skills I was excited to find teachers who taught in English. I found Rabbis and teachers who emphasized the spiritual reality of the Torah and helped us to apply these principles to all aspects of life. One of my Rebbe’s students once asked, “Why do we need a rebbe? My Rabbi thought for a moment and simply said,”So you make less mistakes.” Or, most often the advice is “you must do what is best for you.”
Because my business failed in Israel I returned to the U.S. to work for a while and rediscovered James Tabor’s book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith, which I had received some years before. Hungry for more information and learning opportunities about non-Jews who were seeking the true G-d I discovered Universal Torah Network and saw a discussion that Joseph Good was having with Ross Nicholls. I was building a CVS Pharmacy in Jackson, Misissippi and decided to pay a visit to Ross for one of his Sunday night teachings. I left a card with him and he eventually e-mailed me and invited me to check out Synagogue Without Walls.
I have been encouraged and happy to find others as enthusiastic as myself and Rivka with the discovery of the Torah and the impact it can have on one’s life.
By the way, our daughter, Hannah, married a Torah Jew from France within a short time after conversion and is busy building a fine family of little tzaddikim and tzaddikot!