JTF.ORG Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mord on August 31, 2012, 09:51:14 AM
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:yuck: :yuck: http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/66241/born-catholic-in-germany-shes-now-a-jew-in-menlo-park/
Born Catholic in Germany, she’s now a Jew in Menlo Park
by janet silver ghent, j. correspondent
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Shortly after her birth 44 years ago, Frauke Schimmöller was baptized Catholic. In Germany.
She never dreamed that one day she would become Jewish. In America.
But two weeks ago, that’s exactly what happened.
She took the plunge, literally, first going to the community mikvah in Los Gatos and then meeting with three rabbis, who constituted a beit din, or rabbinical court.
Frauke Schimmöller photo/jerome spector
Frauke Schimmöller photo/jerome spector
Following that ritual conversion, the ceremony continued at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, where she talked about her unexpected journey from German Catholic to American Jew.
Like many Jews-by-choice, Schimmöller had married a Jewish partner — four years ago in the outdoor chapel at Beth Am, during the brief window of time when same-sex marriages were legal in California.
Adding a further twist to the story is that her partner since 1997, Lisa Whitmore, was not Jewish when the two met. In 2005, shortly before Whitmore’s conversion, they joined Beth Am together.
“Fifteen years ago when I met Lisa, the thought of me joining a synagogue, let alone converting to Judaism, would have sounded crazy — inconceivable may be the more appropriate term,” said Schimmöller, who works at a Bay Area biotech firm. “Thinking about it now, [becoming Jewish] does not seem crazy at all; it feels totally natural.”
Being gay posed no barriers at Beth Am, which has many LGBT members and a gay associate rabbi, Adam Rosenwasser. However, Schimmöller saw being German as problematic.
“I still squirm in my seat when the topic of the Shoah comes up, having internalized the national guilt,” she admitted in her speech at her Aug. 19 ceremony. “I have never been able to grasp how anybody, let alone my ancestors, a cultured people, could have perpetrated such unthinkable atrocities.”
Aware that Schimmöller occasionally overhears anti-German remarks from Jews, Rabbi Janet Marder said, “I think it’s courageous of her to place herself in a community” where such attitudes remain. The rabbi observed that for Schimmöller, who was raised in a non-religious household in Germany, becoming Jewish may be “a way to give something to the Jewish people, her own personal act of tikkun olam.”
During the conversion ceremony, Whitmore wrapped her spouse in a silver-striped woolen tallit she had purchased in Israel.
The tallit and the certificate of conversion culminated a journey that began seven years ago, with Whitmore’s conversion. Since then, Schimmöller has been living a Jewish life, attending services and Torah study and celebrating Shabbat in the Menlo Park home she shares with Whitmore, 45, a software developer.
Schimmöller said that before making it official, she was an ABC — “all but converted.” Along the way, she took the Lehrhaus Judaica class “Building Blocks of Judaism” and studied with Marder.
Schimmöller took the Hebrew name Tovah, which conveys kindness, in memory of a beloved brother, Uwe, who died in a motorcycle accident 17 years ago at age 30. She added the letter H at the end to honor her late father, Heinrich, a university professor who completed high school as an adult, and then went on to earn a doctorate.
Although some Jews-by-choice experience opposition from non-Jewish family members, Schimmöller did not.
Her mother in Germany had sent a card, voicing her support. Moreover, Lisa’s mother traveled from Puyallup, Wash., where she belongs to a Lutheran church. At the service, Karen Whitmore quoted from Psalm 139, which expresses God’s knowledge of our thoughts and actions.
Karen Whitmore said she was surprised by the conversions of her daughter and daughter-in-law, but she was nonetheless pleased. “We come to God in all different ways,” she said.
For Lisa Whitmore, who did not pressure her partner, the conversion was an act of shalom, of completion. “It’s like being whole. We’re both on the same page. It feels good.”
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Very good. Idiots all I can say. Not only because they are lezes but that now they deserve punishment for it as opposed to when they were not Jewish which doesn't have a punishment for females for this.
Also another group of soo-called "women of the wall" and all these evil groups. Seriously why us? Why these cancers are coming to the Jews and causing more trouble then even the average non-Jewish Jew-hater.
And these are the vermin that become "Rabbis" in the Jewish communities, preaching their ideologies to real Jews ,who unfortunately were not raised with almost any Jewish values and have "tolerance" for these actions and creatures.
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Very good. Idiots all I can say. Not only because they are lezes but that now they deserve punishment for it as opposed to when they were not Jewish which doesn't have a punishment for females for this.
Also another group of soo-called "women of the wall" and all these evil groups. Seriously why us? Why these cancers are coming to the Jews and causing more trouble then even the average non-Jewish Jew-hater.
And these are the vermin that become "Rabbis" in the Jewish communities, preaching their ideologies to real Jews ,who unfortunately were not raised with almost any Jewish values and have "tolerance" for these actions and creatures.
Because deformed have no rules of morality so all immoral people flock to them
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With so many weird things attached, they could have gone for voodoo.
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This "convert" is not Jewish, she is a German Nazi who found a twisted way to crap all over Judaism. The female "rabbi" at the Hellenist whorehouse she went to is more concerned about anti-German remarks than she is about Judaism.
I think all the members there are lezbos it's like a witches coven
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With so many weird things attached, they could have gone for voodoo.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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Fudgepackers are so gross.
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You know, here is the funny point. As non Jews, their sin will have a certain penalty..
And if they were really truly Jews, their behavior would have an even more severe penalty. I can just imagine Satan saying, "Oh, so you wanted to be Jewish? Ok, then you will be judged as a Jew and here is your much worse penalty for practicing lesbianism...bwhahahahaahahha."
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Homosexuality is disgusting.
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You know, here is the funny point. As non Jews, their sin will have a certain penalty..
And if they were really truly Jews, their behavior would have an even more severe penalty. I can just imagine Satan saying, "Oh, so you wanted to be Jewish? Ok, then you will be judged as a Jew and here is your much worse penalty for practicing lesbianism...bwhahahahaahahha."
According to Judaism at least, I think that it is considered not proper, but no penalty for a non-Jewish female. BUT for a Jewish female the penalty is getting whipped for such behavior.
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The nazis must be happy about this. Thanks a lot, Pat "fightgaymarriagewithallyougot" Buchanan! I bet he will praise these "corageous women fighting opression" just to sabotage Judaism.
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The nazis must be happy about this. Thanks a lot, Pat "fightgaymarriagewithallyougot" Buchanan! I bet he will praise these "corageous women fighting opression" just to sabotage Judaism.
I wouldn't be surprised if Fag Buchanus is married to a dude as it is.
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I wouldn't be surprised if Fag Buchanus is married to a dude as it is.
I think he is, to Gayvid Duke.
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It's kind of unbelievable how some people find a way, despite all odds, to make their own inner fantasy life actually become everyone else's reality
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So if I marry a girl in a deform church, does that not count as marrying a Jew?
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So if I marry a girl in a deform church, does that not count as marrying a Jew?
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So if I marry a girl in a deform church, does that not count as marrying a Jew?
Church?
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Los Gatos, how ironic! :::D
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Church?
I think he was trying to say that Deform "Judaism" is not Judaism at all--it's another religion entirely.
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I think he was trying to say that Deform "Judaism" is not Judaism at all--it's another religion entirely.
Let's put it this way: It's closer to a church than a synagogue.
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Let's put it this way: It's closer to a church than a synagogue.
What kind of church?
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You know, here is the funny point. As non Jews, their sin will have a certain penalty..
And if they were really truly Jews, their behavior would have an even more severe penalty. I can just imagine Satan saying, "Oh, so you wanted to be Jewish? Ok, then you will be judged as a Jew and here is your much worse penalty for practicing lesbianism...bwhahahahaahahha."
I believe that anyone who commits homosexual sexual activity, whether it be between males or between females, will be punished for it.
There may be greater punishment for some groups than others. I think for example people in a position of spiritual authority over others, like a pastor, would be punished more severely than someone else.
I don't know if Jewish people would be treated more harshly than others but it's possible due to the fact that they were meant, as a people, to be a light to the world and that's obviously not spreading light but spreading darkness. On the other hand I don't know if I would think this makes a difference on an individual level or not or if it just applies to the people as a whole for greater expectations.
I think God expects people who claim to follow Him to act better than people who are admittedly and openly pagan too. It reminds me of the fact that if you do something embarassing while wearing your company's uniform, then it is a greater offense to your bosses than if you did it in your street clothes because when you are wearing the uniform you are a representative of the company. Similarly, if someone says they are a Christian, for example, and let's everyone know that, and then goes and does something evil and sinful, then it reflects badly on his claimed faith.
So I think one of the problems with a Jewish person engaging in homosexuality is that not only does it harm them as an individual but it harms the Jewish people because it can lead to more anti-Semitism and looks bad on Judaism if they claim to follow it.
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What kind of church?
The Church Of The Holy Roller & Dice Thrower :o
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The Church Of The Holy Roller & Dice Thrower :o
Okay, glad it wasn't a real church.
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she is a German Nazi who found a twisted way to crap all over Judaism.
Best sentence I read today. I completely agree