Apparently, the family moved to Israel last summer.
In a mass conversion of sorts, Chad and Libby McJunkin and their 10 children became members of the tribe last Sunday. The formerly Christian Chattanooga, Tennessee, family was converted to Orthodox Judaism on June 1 in Brooklyn. The parents, now known as Sholom and Nechama, were also married according to Jewish law the same day.
In a phone conversation with The Times of Israel, the father described his children as “sparkling” and “shining” as they emerged from their ritual immersion in the mikveh. The couple, married for 18 years, has six girls and four boys, ranging from one to 16 years of age.
McJunkin, a carpenter, said it feels wonderful to now be Jewish and embraced by the Orthodox communities of Borough Park and Chattanooga, but he admits that the road to conversion has not been entirely smooth. While avoiding giving a direct answer to a question about how his teenage children were taking to the change, he noted, “There have been ups and downs for all of us.”
This is not the first time the family has adapted to an all-encompassing religious lifestyle. After trying out many churches, and prior to becoming interested in Judaism two-and-a-half years ago, the McJunkins lived in an Amish community for two years.
“I became a [Amish] brother and we lived in an Amish community west of Nashville. It was the real deal: horse and buggy, no electronics or Internet,” he said.
“But when I came in to contact with people who told me about the Hebrew scriptures and I learned about the Torah, I realized there was a conflict between the Five Books of Moses and the New Testament,” McJunkin explained. “One was true and the other was totally false — and it’s obvious which one was false.”
The family was excommunicated by the Amish and returned to live in Chattanooga. They moved in with family in rural Georgia, where McJunkin and his wife grew up.
“I was really hurt that my whole life had been wrapped up in a lie. We cried for a week and had a family meeting and decided to go toward Judaism,” he recalled. At that point, the McJunkins returned to Chattanooga, where they received guidance from members of Chabad and others. (Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time a Christian family of 12 from the rural South converted to Judaism.)
COMMENTS:
* As a an orthodox convert to Judaism I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that this family’s love affair with Judaism will end when they start trying to marry off their kids. It is in that process where you see just where a convert stands in the orthodox jewish community. The more religious the more discriminatory. I have many convert friends that have gone through hell and back and 98% of converts leave the religion all togehter, it’s only a matter of time. With what I know now after having living in a very religious community in New York I can say that converting is insane, it really is because it is just such a complication and you become so disapponited with so many things that you end up reevaluating your secular nonJewish life and go running back!
* Exactly! That’s why when this story came out and people were touting it as a warm feel good story, I was sad for this family. I don’t think it’s a celebratory occasion, it’s the beginning of many disillusions. Although, it wasn’t like that in the past, when conversion was once so common and easy that the Romans had to ban it. In the past, people regarded gerim with respect. Today, it is very different. One problem is that a male will not give his wife or kids a tribal affiliation and Kohanim won’t marry his daughter. A female convert is always in danger of having her conversion questioned, which could affect someone’s kids or grandkids and it’s not uncommon to have the grandchildren of a giyores do a giyur lehumrah…just “to be safe”. No one wants to deal with those issues. If people don’t believe me, even great rabbis wrote some sad things about gerim.
* One of the finest human beings I ever knew, a very orthodox woman, once told me the following story: There was a ger tzedek, who not only converted but was great in the Torah and a fine person. It was quite a problem to find him a bride. Why, I asked really surprised, a ger tzedek, gadol batorah, a fine person – why was it difficult to find him a bride? Well, was the answer, we couldn’t very well give him one of our girls, could we?
* I’m sad for the kids being jerked around. Religious belief should be individually developed, or, like me, rejected. Reading their story I would conclude this will not work out well for the family. I think it is sad, sad.
* I could see them very much being at home with living in a smaller Yishuv in Yehuda & Shomron. They would flower there and integrate well as well as becoming living Jews of the Land & Torah. In Galut they will only struggle to maintain their identity in a foreign environment and many temptations for the children as they become teens to revert back to another identity, would not happen by living in Yosh. May the God of Israel bless them to start afresh in the Land of Israel, they can only thrive there and remain assured of their collective future.
* They’ve changed their religious practice HOW MANY TIMES? I don’t know, but I would want a few more years of living Jewish as proof of intent. What happens if they change their religion again, to Shintoism, Bhuddism, Hindoism or worse, islam – next? [b/t/w there IS a connection between the Amish and the Orthodox Jewish, one Amish woman found out. They are like the ‘german – Anusim’. Look it up, it is a fascinating study. One example, the ‘Amish/Mennonite’ people NEVER name their children after anyone in the New Testament, ONLY the Old Testament or Torah. Look it up. Tens of thousands of ‘Abrahams’, Joshuas, Jeremiah’s, etc.]
