Project Ruth - Your People Will Be My People

What would make a young woman from rural Wisconsin leave behind everything familiar and embrace Orthodox Judaism? Kennedy Fortgang never met a Jewish person until she was 18 years old. Growing up in rural Wisconsin, Judaism seemed worlds away from her life. Yet a confrontation with anti-Israel activism on campus sparked a curiosity that would eventually transform her future. What began as politica...

At a time when being Jewish feels more dangerous than ever, why are more people choosing to become Jewish? In this powerful episode, host Rabbi Adam Mintz and Meredith Berkman are joined by Rabbi Myriam Sommer from Paris to explore what conversion to Judaism looks like in a post October 7 world. Myriam shares her personal journey as a modern Orthodox rabbi leading a growing community outside the t...

Sarah Hildering’s life changed the moment silence became louder than violence. Sarah Hildering’s journey is a powerful exploration of identity, courage, and what it means to truly belong. Raised in Amsterdam with a deep respect for Jewish history but not born Jewish, her life took a dramatic turn when rising antisemitism and global events forced her to confront where she stood—and who she wanted t...

The easiest time to become Jewish may already be behind us. Becoming Jewish has never been simple. History shows that people often choose Judaism at moments when it carries real risk. This episode explores why conversion happens across centuries, how antisemitism shapes who feels drawn toward Jewish life, and why recent events have reignited identity questions for people standing just outside the...

This episode is about choosing Judaism when it would be easier not to. Choosing Judaism today is not a passive decision. It is a conscious step toward identity, community, and responsibility in a world that often misunderstands Jewish life. This episode explores what happens when curiosity becomes commitment and when learning turns into belonging, especially during a time of rising antisemitism an...

This is the rare story of a family who became more Jewish not through tradition, but through reinvention. In this conversation, Jacob Gersen opens up about his family history, upbringing, marriage, his childrens journeys and what it meant to support Jeannie Suk Gersen through an Orthodox conversion. He speaks honestly about feeling like an outsider, the vulnerability of joining an Orthodox communi...

I thought religion might divide us. Instead, it shaped everything we became. This episode dives deep into love, faith, and identity — following a couple who built a Jewish family that didn’t fit the mold. It’s a story about the tension between devotion and tradition, how community can both challenge and embrace, and what it really takes to belong. You’ll hear how one family redefined what “Jewish...

What happens when your conversion is accepted in one community but rejected in another? This episode dives into the remarkable journey of Danielle Tomson, a scholar of political communication and Jewish convert, who shares how her path to Judaism reshaped her life, identity, and spirituality. From her early encounters with Jewish friends in Pittsburgh to deep involvement at Yale and New York’s Ort...

This is the story of how a Christian minister became Jewish—and why it felt like coming home. In this deeply personal and moving episode, listeners are invited into the extraordinary journey of Eleanor Harrison Bregman—a Christian minister from Savannah, Georgia—whose decades-long interfaith marriage, commitment to raising Jewish children, and deep engagement with Jewish community life ultimately...

What happens when you fall in love and find your community. What does it mean to convert to Judaism—not just ritually, but spiritually, emotionally, communally? In this episode, we explore the raw and revelatory journey of Sina, an Iranian-born, thinker who found family in an ultra orthodox community. From early feelings of displacement to the powerful sense of being welcomed, Sina’s story isn’t j...

She was born Jewish—but not “Jewish enough” to get on the synagogue email list. What happens when a committed Jewish leader—steeped in Jewish life, identity, and service—is told she's not halachically Jewish enough to even join her synagogue’s email list? In this deeply personal and powerful episode, the conversation explores the tensions between identity, legality, and belonging in Jewish communi...

​What happens when being ‘Jewish enough’ depends on who’s asking? Orthodox conversion is no longer just about halacha—it’s become a battlefield of power, conformity, and hidden gatekeeping. This episode explores the deep fractures within modern Orthodox institutions that quietly decide who gets to be part of the Jewish people, and who doesn’t. Featuring insights from Rabbi Isaac Schulman and Rabbi...

Orthodox conversion rules are less about faith—and more about politics. In an age where Jewish identity is more fluid and fragmented than ever, this episode dives deep into the soul of Orthodox conversion—and why it's at a pivotal turning point. Listeners will hear how Project Ruth is building not just programs, but pathways—redefining what it means to truly belong in the Jewish peoplehood while s...

On October 7th, the world changed—and for some, so did their decision to embrace Judaism. Conversion to Judaism is a deeply personal journey, but it’s also a subject of intense debate within Jewish communities. In this episode, legal scholar and New Yorker writer Professor Jeannie Sook Gerson shares her own conversion experience, detailing the complexities of Jewish identity, religious law, and th...