Beit Din: Part 1

Last night was my meeting with the Beit Din. There were 4 rabbis there, and despite being off to a not-so-great start thanks to the hubs (long story, but not bad :P ) everything actually went quite well. The head rabbi was exactly what I would have in my mental dictionary next to "rabbi": old, nice, eloquent, friendly, and no-nonsense. The other rabbis there didn't have much to add. One was on his cell phone the entire time, texting or something, which I found to be quite irritating. One just popped in with a random comment from time to time, and the other one was very quiet, sitting directly in front of me, staring at me and taking notes. I liked the old one best.

Basically, we have the green light to begin the process. They suggested calling an Israeli woman who lives near there (approximately 3.5 hours from where I live now) and she could either be my mentor, or suggest someone in my area. I called her this afternoon, and boy, this lady means business. I like her already. She told me bluntly that she doesn't know of anyone near me who would be qualified to be a mentor, but she could do it, and asked immediately when I could come and move near her. Yikes.

One of the things that did come up in the last few weeks, and during our meeting last night, was the necessary separation of my husband and me. The Beit Din didn't put a time limit on it in any way, of course, but just said that I will move out when I realize that living the way we are isn't right (which I know already). He told my husband in Hebrew that he knows it will be very difficult, but he needs to do it, and then told me in English that "we're not from some other universe, we know this kind of thing isn't easy". We all had a little, uncomfortable laugh... :)

So, when I spoke with my possible future mentor, Sarah, she told me that she would help to arrange me a place to live and all the necessities, I imagine, and then we would study together until the conversion is complete. After that, my husband and I could be free to go to Israel and have our wedding, then move back in together. In the meantime, while I would be living near Sarah, my husband would have to leave our new apartment (yay, breaking *another* lease this year) and move closer to a synagogue. He will become a part of this community in our town while I immerse myself in another place. After the wedding, I would then join "his" synagogue.

We're looking at months apart, a fortune in paying for 2 apartments (and breaking the current lease), furnishing a new one, another car (that alone is a baia gdola!), and figuring out who the doggy is going to stay with! I know, I know, that may not seem important in the grand scheme of things, but she is my baby, and breaking up the family isn't easy! Aside from all that, all the money and stress and forced patience I'll have to put on myself will all be worth it when someday I can look at my Jewish children and know that everything was all worth it. Definitely.