A Christian Arab’s Journey Toward Becoming a Jew

Editor’s Note: This story does not encourage intermarriage, which is strictly forbidden according to Jewish law. One should never enter a marriage with a non-Jew in the hope or expectation that they will convert later. This is a rare and unusual case, not a model to follow.

It all started in the kosher kitchen of a guesthouse in northern Israel. That’s where Rimon, a Christian Arab who grew up in a small Arab village in the Upper Galilee, began a journey that would reshape his life. He was married, a father of four, and working as a chef when something deep inside began to stir.

Growing up, Rimon didn’t feel any particular hatred or closeness toward Jews, it was a neutral relationship. But over time, something changed. His interest in Jewish life and faith began to grow. And now, years later, he finds himself on an emotional path toward Judaism, one that carries the future of his children and generations after them.

Rimon met his Jewish wife during a visit to his aunt, who lived in a nearby village. “As soon as I saw her,” he remembers, “I knew she was going to be my wife.” He was only 19 at the time. “I went to her father and asked for her hand. I’ll never forget how he laughed and he thought I was joking. He asked her, ‘Why are you bringing me a child?’ But I kept speaking from the heart until he saw I was serious. Eventually, he agreed. A year and a half later, we got married in a church, in a Christian ceremony, according to our custom.”

But Rimon’s curiosity about Judaism continued to grow. It began in earnest fifteen years ago when he took a job in a kosher kitchen. There he met the mashgiach, the kashrut supervisor, a Chabad Hasid and the two became friends. “We both loved talking about spirituality,” Rimon says. “I was reading books like The Power of the Subconscious Mind, while he was talking to me about Torah. One day he told me, ‘Everything you’re learning in these other books, you’ll find it all in the Torah.’ I was curious. I searched Mesillat Yesharim (a classic Jewish book on spiritual growth) on YouTube and came across a lecture by Rabbi Zamir Cohen. From the very first sentence, it hit me. It touched something deep inside. Since then, I can’t move forward without hearing words from Rabbi Zamir Cohen, Rabbi Shalom Arush, and Rabbi Yair Kalev.”

How did your wife react to your spiritual change?

“At first, she didn’t understand it. She thought I was just going through a phase because I loved the Jewish people. She assumed it would pass but it only grew stronger. I told her, ‘I want to convert. Without Judaism, I feel like I’ll either lose my mind or worse.’ At first, it was hard for her to accept. But over time, she saw that this was something deep, something I couldn’t walk away from. Now, she sees it clearly. She’s the only one who sees me cry like a child, begging to live like a real Jew.”

“My brother is married to the daughter of one of the top Christian priests in our area, so I understand her fear. She worries just like I do that our families might cut us off completely. Deep down, I believe she also wants to live a Jewish life, but it’s not easy to change everything you’ve known.”

A well-known rabbi from northern Israel is now guiding Rimon through the conversion process and has written him a letter of recommendation to the Conversion Bureau. But the journey is far from simple.

“The process is harder than I thought,” Rimon admits. “Besides the halachic issues, there are so many emotional and practical challenges. You can’t just wake up one day and decide something like this when you have a whole family to consider. I lean heavily on the teachings of Rabbi Zamir Cohen, Rabbi Arush, and Rabbi Kalev. They’ve taught me that to receive spiritual blessings, you have to build the right vessels to hold them. I know conversion takes time, so for now, I focus on transforming my thoughts and speech. I still haven’t had a chance to fully explain everything to my extended family. Right now, everything is still in transition.”

Do you feel your Torah learning has changed you?

“Completely. I learned about hitbodedut, personal, heartfelt prayer, from Rabbi Arush. I started going to the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. On the way, I talk to Hashem like He’s my best friend. I tell Him how hard it is for me, how much I want to live as a Jew, how I long to spend my days learning Torah. But when I arrive at Rabbi Shimon’s kever, something happens. I can’t even speak. I just sit there and cry. It’s overwhelming.”

“One Lag BaOmer, after a family trip, I saw some Haredi boys hitchhiking to Safed. I rushed home to drop off my family and tried to come back to pick them up and give them a ride. But by the time I got there, someone else had already taken them. Still, I felt like I had done the right thing.”

Recently, Rimon and his wife have begun keeping kosher at home as much as possible. “When we visit family, we can’t always keep kosher fully without raising questions. But at home, we buy products with the best kosher supervision we can find and keep meat and dairy separate. The Torah has changed the way I look at everything.”

“Sometimes I ask Hashem, ‘Why me? Why did I have to search so deeply, ask all these questions, and fall in love with this truth?’ But then I realize, it’s too late to turn back. I already love Judaism too much.”

And your children?

“Want to hear something sweet? We were watching The Next Star on TV, and when my 8-year-old daughter saw the Gat brothers performing, she pointed and said, ‘Look, those are Dad’s friends!’ She hears me singing Chabad niggunim (melodies) like Arba Bavos so often that they’ve become part of our home.”

“With my older kids, it’s more complicated. One Shabbat, while I was working at the guesthouse, some Chabad girls came for a Shabbaton. My 18-year-old daughter wandered into the dining room, and they started talking. They quickly became friends. When the girls realized she was Jewish on her mother’s side, they invited her to spend Shabbat with them in Kiryat Ata. She was nervous at first, worried about being judged. But I encouraged her to go and I even drove her there myself.”

“After her first Shabbat, she told me she didn’t feel anything special. But on the next one, which happened to fall on Shavuot, I prayed with tears that Hashem would open her heart. When I picked her up afterward, she said, ‘Abba, how can I go back to the village? Something changed in me.’ Now she understands that Judaism is the truth.”

Any fears?

“My biggest fear is time. If I don’t convert soon, it might be too late for my children. My oldest daughter already wants to enlist in the army. In our community, girls her age are already getting married. What will I do if a Christian man comes asking for her hand in marriage? What will I say? What can I say?”