Jewish-born ex-Baptists celebrate Purim at Rabbinical College

Morristown, NJ — As students at the Rabbinical College of America donned silly costumes and read from the Scroll of Esther in observance of Purim, two undergraduates whose religious upbringing had led them far from Judaism paused to reflected on a similar celebration eight years ago, and how it started them on a path back to their spiritual roots.

Twenty-one year old Michoel Levinson and his 17-year-old brother, Yehoshua, inherited their Jewish identity from their mother, Diane.

But she had married a man who was a Baptist and had converted to Christianity. The couple raised their two sons as born-again Christians — a faith that dominated their lives until 1998.

“You have a Florida Jewish woman who goes to Puerto Rico on vacation, and she meets a man who becomes a pastor in a Baptist church. Then she becomes a Baptist, too, and [eventually] leaves him because he is not Baptist enough,” explained Rabbi Benyamin Bresinger, director of community development at the Lubavitcher seminary in Morristown.

Just before Purim in 1998, after the couple separated, Diane Levinson and her sons spotted a newspaper ad for a Purim party at the newly opened Chabad in San Juan. That moment changed all of their lives.

“From birth until I was 13, we were probably the strongest Christians you will ever find in church, Michoel Levinson told NJ Jewish News as he sat in a small conference room on the college’s main floor. “We were there every week. Every time there was a service, we were there. I would give sermons, but as I studied more and more, I would find things that were disturbing.”

Each time he questioned a pastor about his findings, the elder Levinson brother would be told to “take it on faith, son.” As doubts about some tenets of Christianity, such as the Trinity, began growing, Michoel said, “the fact that we were Jewish became more and more alive. I guess every person is in search of absolute truth, but we weren’t finding it where we were. ”

“As the younger brother I guess I was following in his footsteps, and my mom was doing it, too, so I said, ‘Why not?’” said Yehoshua.

To him, it wasn’t hard to give up the intense set of beliefs he held as a young “Jesus freak” because, he said, “I wanted to play baseball on Sundays” instead of spending the day in church. But Yehoshua insists that his current affiliation with Hasidism is a very different mindset.

“Christianity is just a religion. You aren’t a Christian because you were born a Christian. That’s not the way it works. You have to become a Christian. You have to accept Jesus in your heart. You have to make that declaration of faith. You have to be born again.

“I had four baptisms,” said Yehoshua. “I guess I liked the water. But when you are born a Jew, there is no way of saying, ‘I’m not Jewish.’ It’s a way of living. It’s a lifestyle. That’s what you are. That’s it.”

To Michoel, “Judaism teaches it is an issue of soul. Judaism for the Jew is implanted in the soul. A person born in a Christian family wouldn’t necessarily be a Christian until he accepted it, Judaism, on the other hand, you’re born with.”

Once he resolved to return to his Jewish roots, Yehoshua said, he opted for Chabad after checking out a Reform temple in San Juan and found it less committed to the observant lifestyle he preferred for himself.

“I think our family is the type that, if we believe in something, we are not half-handed about it. We do it all the way or nothing,” said Michoel.

“Why Chabad? When we were in the process of getting out of Christianity, they were the only people who accepted us, given our past, and little by little took us in. We were receiving very cold reactions from other people when we tried to come back to Judaism. Chabad was helping me, so I want to help other people also,” said Michoel.

Belief systems once tore apart what his younger brother called “a very dysfunctional marriage” between “Mom, the faithful churchgoer,” and “my father, who became what the Christians call a backslider.”

“He was a businessman as well as a traveling preacher, and he started compromising different things so that he could do better with his business. In Christianity, backsliding is not a very cool thing. He started drinking, and after awhile he wouldn’t come home for three days at a time,” said Michoel.

Yet, despite differences that may have widened since their parents split up nearly 15 years ago, the Levinson brothers manage to maintain contact with both parents — even as they embark on paths so different from the one they walked as children.

Before enrolling at the college in September 2005, the elder Levinson brother worked with his father in the clothing business, then became a graphics designer.

While he doesn’t know “what is in store,” Micheol said, “If I have a preference, I’d like to work with people who have been in the same situation as Jewish-born Christians and help them out as well. The biggest group who fall prey to this bait of Christianity are teenagers.”

After only three months at the college, Yehoshua is less certain about his own future. “I’ll get a job somewhere, maybe get a master’s degree in advertising and work in that, and at the same time, keep learning here, if I can.”

Today their mother is part of the Lubavitcher community in Brooklyn. Their father, who has a different last name than his ex-wife and sons, lives in Puerto Rico. “My mom approves of what we are doing — absolutely,” said Yehoshua. “My father — he’s not that fond of it, but he’ll go along.”