Guatemala's Adat Israel, Third Time's a Mitzvah!

How did you spend Martin Luther King Day 2019?  I traveled back to Guatemala City to participate in a Bet Din, a religious court of three rabbis, to convert 19 Jews by choice at the Reform synagogue, Adat Israel AND to ascertain what would motivate Guatemalans to travel North with caravans to an uncertain future in the United States.  This was my sixth time in Guatemala: two shore excursions on trans Panama canal cruises years ago, one with a dozen rabbis as part of American Jewish World Services AJWS Global Justice Fellowship in 2015, and twice serving as visiting rabbi for the High Holy Days in 2015 and Yom Kippur 2017.

I was appalled by the recent account of the two Guatemalan children who died in American custody as refugees on the Mexican border along with the Central American babies being taken from nursing mothers.  I've been attending Moral Minyans afternoon prayer services in support of refugees at the Aurora ICE facility in Colorado (coincidentally, the same name as the Guatemalan airport, La Aurora).

I joined Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, the regular visiting spiritual leader from Toronto and Rabbi Leah Kroll of Los Angeles, to be part of a conversion of a group of Jews by Choice who had attended services and learned together each shabbat and Jewish holidays for over two years, completed an extensive examination, and were prepared to meet with us three rabbis to discuss their spiritual journey.  I was given an additional task, to initiate the gentlemen into the covenant of Abraham with the ceremony of HaTafat Brit, the taking of a drop of blood to symbolically ritually circumcise the prospective converts.

"community embracing conversion" is the subtitle for my experience where prospective converts are taught by members of the community along with Rabbinic teachings and visits, attend shabbat and holiday services each week (some traveling great distances of an hour and a half each way), participated in a special shabbaton of welcoming.  What struck me most was the solidarity of the small but vibrant community who showed up for all activities from ten in the morning to the conversion bet din twelve hours later and cheered mazel tov as each candidate came out from the bet din.  In the bet din we listened to heartfelt spiritual journeys of the candidates, many of whom related that their parents or grandparents telling them they were conversos or Crypto Jews on the their death beds.  The same bonding happened the next morning when I led the men in a hinei ma tov song (Psalm 133), behold how good and pleasant it is when men come together to support one another as they bravely prepared for the quick and painless entry into the covenant of Abraham.

We then left in a convoy for the hour ride to the colonial capital of Antigua for volcanically heated hot springs where the candidates immersed three times in private chambers where the same sex rabbi observed the proper immersion and blessings declaring "Kasher!" and the other two rabbis remained outside the door listening to the splash and blessings.  After dressing the newly immersed Jews came out to a chorus of mazel tovs, embraces, tears and small gifts of Judaica.

After a celebration luncheon at the delicious restaurant serving typical Guatemalan cuisine and of course some of the best hot chocolate tin the in the world, we returned to the synagogue for the wedding of two couples who had been married for many years, but never had a Jewish wedding.  The community brought flowers and hand decorated a home made chuppah (marital canopy) for a traditional Jewish wedding followed by the breaking of the class with another chorus of singing and mazel tovs along with toasts of L'chaim with strong Guatemalan rum and sweet cakes.  The sweetness of a welcoming community for Jews by choice will never be forgotten!

Visit The New Jews of Guatemala for an engaging 3 minute trailer for the documentary weekend!

Certificates of conversion proudly displayed after immersion in volcanically heated hot springs in Antigua