Conversion in the mail

I was sitting on my piano teacher's stoop when his daughter became the first person to attempt to convert me. I was maybe 10, probably a little younger. Being a Jew in the South can become its own informal social experiment, from the people who say anti-Semitic things without once considering I might be Jewish (despite my stereotypically Jewish looks) to the reactions of people who do realize. Of course, the interesting parts are the exception, not the rule. In my experience, people most often fall into the spectrum that ranges from "slightly intrigued" to "doesn't care in the least".

After a recent mention of a new job as editor Shalom Greensboro, though, a reader sent me a magazine called the Levitt Letter, on the cover of which is printed:

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. - Romans 10:1

The editorial content followed suit: extremely pro-Israel and pro-Jewish but with a condescension that is akin to humoring kids who think car washes have magic soap that can clean the interior of the car through the windows.

As I said in my letter to the woman who sent me the magazine, (in a much more polite way... though I may have blown that with this post) it takes some serious chutzpah to think you can convert a people who have resisted centuries of conversion attempts, many of which included a death penalty for noncompliance.

I appreciate that the Levitt folks are trying to love us to conversion, rather than some of the more aggressive tactics taken over the years, but "hugging it out" isn't going to be any more effective than the stuff the KGB threw at us. Sorry.