I think it was with the Hasidic rebbe that she was denied a place. In the Reform tradition, they are not strict about which parent makes you a Jew, and they would have welcomed conversion. Not so the ultra-Orthodoz. My father was jewish, and I thught about converting. The woman from the temple, Reform, who interviewed me, however, was too insistent that my wife and children convert, too, even though i told her this a “for me” thing only.

Anyway, loved the story, because as much as we want to belong to something, there are barriers that we can and can’t overcome. Thank God for imaginative and welcoming friends, former strangers!