By RYAN FAGANThis past Thursday was my Beit din and mikveh immersion. It was a wonderful experience.When I arrived at the mikveh in the Orthodox neighborhood of St Paul, Minnesota, I was greeted by the members of the beit din:-Rabbi Latz, my sponsoring rabbi from Shir Tikvah in Minneapolis and someone who was named by the Jewish Daily Forward as one of the 50 most inspiring Rabbis of 2014.-Wendy Goldberg, who is also the Director of Spiritual Engagement at Shir Tikvah-Meir Bargeron, who also served as my witness in the mikveh, is a fellow convert from Catholicism, and is about to begin Rabbinical school this summer!I definitely was nervous, so during the beit din I felt like I was rambling answers, but in the end they liked what I was saying and saw that I am sincere. My wife and infant were in the room as well, so that probably added to my nervousness, ha! Rabbi Latz really added an important perspective to the day, pointing out that having me go to the mikveh and complete my conversion on Yom Hashoah was a testament to the resilience of the Jewish people.When I immersed it was an amazing feeling. With each dunk under the water I got more and more excited for what was happening and by the third and final one I took a deep breath to think about how when I came up from under the water I would be officially a member of the Jewish people. It was wonderful to know it was actually happening.After it was done and I was acknowledged as one of the Jewish people, I remained in the water and was handed my infant daughter. I immersed her up to her neck and Rabbi Latz recited the blessings and poured handfuls of water over her head. Yep, I was not the only member of my family to become Jewish last week... My beautiful baby girl, Autumn, became one as well!
My Beit Din, Myself, My Wife, and My Daughter From Left to Right:
