From Manila to Miami: My Journey to a Meaningful and Joyful Jewish Life: Conversion to Judaism: Jewish by Choice or Was I Chosen?

Forty years ago, Belen (Chaya) Loreto Grand began a spiritual journey that would change her life forever. As a young Catholic girl in the Philippines, Belen was just going through the motions. Church didn’t hold any special meaning for her, and she began to question her faith’s central tenets.

After immigrating to Miami in the early 1980s, Belen began exploring a new faith: Judaism. In speaking with Jewish friends and colleagues, she connected with the faith in a way she hadn’t with Catholicism. The holidays, rituals, and traditions of Judaism filled her with a sense of purpose, and she formally converted in 2004.

From Manila to Miami: My Journey to a Meaningful and Joyful Jewish Life is an honest, moving, and humorous account of Belen’s experiences as a Jewish Filipino American. In addition to sharing her journey to Judaism, she explicitly describes the tenets of the faith and how her new spiritual home has given her a happier, more purposeful life.

Just because you’re born into a religion doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you. Anyone who has ever thought about exploring a new faith will find much to love in Belen’s story of religious fulfillment.