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| Gerus L'chumrahYou can see pictures here. A Gerus L'chumrah is a witnessed immerse in a mikvah by a beit din. This makes it so that my conversion is accepted in the charedi communities around the world and accepted in Israel. Larry did have to give me a ring in front of the beit din and say the phrase "By this ring you are consecrated to me (as my wife) in accordance with the traditions of Moses and Israel.". We did not need a new ketubah I bought myself a new outfit with the money I charged Larry for buying my wedding ring from me again (you can see it in the pictures). It was a strange situations as I was considered Jewish but needed to do this because of a sofek (doubt as to the kashrut of the conversion). November 2006 - The StoryWe arrived about an hour early which gave us time for me to give Larry a driving tour and for us to find bathrooms and get something to drink (water/juice). At 9:30 we headed for the mikvah. At 10:01 I was ready but the beit din had not all arrived yet. Once all the members arrived they asked a few questions. 1. Did I believe in the one and only G-d without physical form (I was good and did not respond with Ummm yeah & I had made this same commitment in 2001) Then the mikvah lady took me into a separate room to "check" me. We came out, the beit din gave specific instructions for where I should stand and then they asked me the same questions as above, yes again - twice in one day. So the beit din let me wear an ear plug on the bad ear - first I got it wet, then I put my finger in the mikvah & put my finger in my ear to get it "wet", then the earplug went in. I dunked. Then they asked me to take the ear plug out & see if I could do the immersion with my wet pinky in my ear, boy that was hard but worked but now water began dribbling in my ear. Beit din left the room, mikvah lady handed me back the ear plugs and I did one final dunk. For a gerus l'chumrah you do not say "al hatavila" (sp?). I was given hebrew documents that should be translated within the week. I did end up having 3 days of pain from the water getting in my ear but at least it did not become infected. While I was getting dressed Larry sold my wedding ring to the beit din and then bought it back. Next I got dressed, when I came out Larry "remarried" me by saying "By this ring you are consecrated to me (as my wife) in accordance with the traditions of Moses and Israel." and giving me the ring with the beit din as witnesses. I then gave the beit din a bracha for long, healthy lives full of nachas and simchas. Larry and I went back to the EJF office and finished off things there including my updating the Rabbi on the status of all my active students. I forgot to pay for the mikvah ($50) because there were so many other things to talk to EJF about regarding what had happened and where my various students are "standing" in their process. After meeting with EJF, Larry and I went out to the Grand Bamboo which is a very nice Chinese restaurant. They have great atmosphere, fantastic service, and the food is good - we found it better this time than I have in the past and this is my 3rd time back because I like it so much. This time I remembered to ask for no MSG. We shared a peanut noodle appetizer, pan fried ravioli with a very spicy dipping sauce (yummy), I had the champagne chicken that I love, and Larry had Mongolian chicken which was fantastic. After this I had Larry look around a bookstore while I went shopping in 2 women's stores. I got a new shabbos robe as well as a new nightgown and met a very nice lady that told me a new restaurant to try the next time. Its a Japanese steak/sushi house she said that tries to give you the feeling of sitting on the floor while not actually doing so. We checked out the location on our way home so we'll know where to go next time. After lunch and the shopping in the strip mall there we went to the Shopper's Haven where we bought... well more food than we needed 'cause it was "there". I also stopped in my favorite liquor store in the mall and bought 2 cases of wine for about $150. They still had my favorite champagne/sparkling wine in the world selling for 5.99 instead of the usual $21/bottle so one of the cases we bought was a case of that. Larry keeps reminding me that this does not mean I get to drink champagne every night for the next couple of months. (boooooooo hissssssss) Around 7 pm we finally headed for home. Partway through the drive I realized that the 6x my anti-anxiety meds, no sleep, and 2 glasses of champagne at lunch had hit me and I was falling asleep so I pulled over and had Larry take over the driving. We got home and settled around 9pm. Then dontcha know it we both get online on our computers to see what we missed. At some point I looked over at him and said "happy wedding night" and Larry cracked up. I slept for about 10 hours that night. I'm did easy and quick foods for shabbos and slept a lot to get caught up and help recover from all my stress. I wore my new nightgown to celebrate and went to bed really early. I want to thank everyone that supported me through this. HUMOR: we are accepting wedding and conversion gifts because I never say no to gifts, and the best gift is to give a catalog or fundraising Pampered Chef show where you can help me pay for my conversion. /end humor The cost: $30 for hair cut, $30 for manicure/pedicure, $90 for wedding ring/new suit, $600 for beit din, $50 for the mikvah, $20 for gas, $50-100 for food. Can you say wow? A couple weeks after my gerus l'chumrah we had a maleve malka celebration party with fondue and champagne. A friend brought a bunch of different cheeses. There was lots of laughter and jokes made such as "third times the charm", "she's really nuts" (including a gift based on this theme), etc. Hopefully this will be my last conversion as at this point I'm accepted by ... well pretty much everyone as a valid convert.
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