Thanks To Jews For Judaism… I’m Back Home!
Sam Levine used to go to church on Sundays. Today, he is Rabbi Shmuel Levine, the head rabbi at a rabbinical college in Jerusalem.
My freshman year at university was a wild blast! No connection to Judaism, no guilt trips – just free sailing! However, my sophomore year began with two serious blows. My beloved grandmother, who was somewhat religious, passed away. Then I broke up with my gentile girlfriend in a most unpleasant way.
I was feeling very alone and really in need of personal connection. At this time, a Christian girl in my Biblical Hebrew class invited me to a party her social group was making. Her friends were calm, friendly people interested in spiritual values. Because it never bothered me that they were all born-again Christians, within a few weeks, I started going to church on Sundays. I even hinted to my parents that I was thinking about converting to Christianity.
A few weeks later, my parents implored me to contact Rabbi Michael Skobac from Jews for Judaism. From our initial conversation, I immediately realized I was dealing with an educated, intellectually honest person. We set up a meeting at my parents’ home and within an hour, my world changed. I discovered many clear answers and viable replies to the challenges that born-again Christians present to the unsuspecting and unarmed Jews to whom they are offering eternal “salvation.”
Rabbi Skobac demonstrated amazing scholarship in both the Old and New Testaments. His pleasant personality and great sense of humor made it easy for me to open up. I started to believe that there must be other pleasant, intelligent, spiritual Jews like Rabbi Skobac who could help me find my way back to my Jewish heritage.
My trip to Israel for my 21st birthday was miraculous. The happy tears that filled my eyes at the airport were only the first of many more happy tears that followed. Thanks to Rabbi Skobac and Jews for Judaism, I found my way back home.
After finishing my degree at university, I returned to Israel to pursue Torah studies, and within a few years I became a rabbi. Today, I have the privilege of being one of the head rabbis in a rabbinical college in Jerusalem and building a happy, new generation of Torah literate Jews and families.
