Rabbi Gershon Clymer Joint Conversion Institute

Livnot was a major turning point in my life.  It was the first place I experienced Jewish spirituality, walked the land of Israel from sea to sea, learned the weekly Torah portion, stayed up all night on Shavuot, bathed in a mikvah, cried on Tisha B’Av, and much more.  It was no less than my birthplace as a religious and Zionist Jew. After two sessions in Livnot, I made my way to yeshiva, where I stayed on for six years, joining a kollel and marrying an Israeli on the way.  I proudly invited Aharon and other Livnot staffers to our wedding and my rabbinical ordination, since they were my first mentors on my new path. After three years in a Zionist Kollel in Greater Washington, we moved back to Israel, and for the last six years I have worked here for the Joint Institute for Jewish Studies supervising conversion classes for new immigrants to Israel.  As a Livnot graduate, it is natural for me to reach out to others, and help them to complete their personal and spiritual integration into the Jewish people. Rabbi Gershon Clymer Orthodox Joint Conversion Institute Modi’in, Israel