The Long & The Short of It

There is a famous chassidic story of a man who is trying to reach a city. Along the road, he asks another traveller for directions. The traveller advises, "There's the long shorter way through the canyon and the short longer way through the mountains." The man declared he'd take the long shorter way through the canyon. Upon reaching it, he could actually see his destination on the other side. But the canyon had no bridges, no stairs, and at this time of year, a torrential river raged between the sheer cliff walls. He was so close, yet so far.

He was forced to backtrack and go over the mountains which in distance was longer but in time was much shorter.

My journey to Judaism from the world of evangelical, charismatic Christianity has taken me over both of these paths. I've tried for the short cut and I've gone the distance. On this blog site, I will deal with aspects of this odyssey in the hopes that others may benefit.

I ask you to keep in mind that you are reading about my experiences, thoughts, shortcomings, quirks, failures, and triumphs. You may or may not agree with what I've concluded, said, or done. But allow it simply to be the path I am on. You have your own odyssey - not matter how odd it may be.

This path began in Atlanta GA, where I was born. It took me on to Florida at age seven, then Texas at age fifteen, then California at sixteen, then Oregon at sixteen, and back to California at twenty. At twenty-four and married for two years, I made my first trip to Israel for a half-year language program. At twenty-eight, I returned to Israel for a three and a half-year stay as a language teacher and low profile missionary (I preferred the term "Christian Zionist"). At thirty-two, I was back in LA working as an associate pastor for a 10,000 member church. At thirty-five, my Christian world imploded. At thirty-seven, I was a newly-single language teacher in Saudi Arabia, trying to put order back into my life. I went through a number of painful experiences, mostly self-inflicted. This was not a pretty chapter in the journey.

A decade and a half later, I now reside in Queens NY, entering my sixth year as a convert to Orthodox Judaism. I work in the publishing industry, produce a weekly Internet broadcast, write periodically for various Jewish media outlets, and speak widely to Jewish audiences across the country about this spiritual journey. I found my basherte - a wonderful woman who has been Torah observant from birth.

When some hear that I was a minister that converted to Judaism, they think it must have been a sudden move, corresponding to how most evangelicals "get saved" and "accept Jesus". That was not the case. I pondered the path to Judaism for many years. When I officially left the ministry in 1986, I did call the University of Judaism in Bel Air CA to ask about conversion. (This is a Conservative university where I'd done intermediate and advanced Hebrew work in 1980 and 1985.) But I was too scared, too burnt out, and too uncertain of anything to commit to another spiritual path. It would be another eight years, spent mostly as a goy for nothing, until I took serious strides toward embracing Judaism.

It's a long story and I'll share it in installments. I look forward to interacting with any of you that wish to ask questions or share comments. You can write me at: gavrielsanders@gmail.com.

Gavriel