Migrant Soul: The Story of an American Ger

When Abel Gomes, a dark-skinned descendant of full-blooded Mohawk and Narragansett Indians, makes his mind to become a Jew, he has no idea of the complicated, winding path that lies before him. Raised Catholic, he has been mysteriously drawn to Judaism even as a teenager. By the time he decides to convert, he is married to an assimilated Jewish woman and his two daughters are enrolled in a Conservative day school. Encounters with a Reform rabbi quickly convince him that there must be more to conversion than reading a few books and joining Jewish organizations. Instead, Abel becomes Ovadyah, a committed Conversative Jew, a 'gabbai' in his synagogue, and something of a nuisance with his incessant questions and unrelenting distaste for hypocrisy. Finally, Ovadyah and his wife, Ariella, who eventually joins him on his spiritual odyssey, meet an observant Jewish family. They soon realize that, far from being the insular and intolerant sect they had always believed it to be, Orthodoxy offers them the Jewish fulfillment they have sought for so long. 'Migrant Soul' is the true story of an endearing and unforgettable family. Like the Gomeses themselves, this account of their spiritual quest is frank, funny, and extraordinarily inspiring.