Meorah Ha-Me’ir: Expressions of a Korean-American-Israeli. Courtesy of BARA Worldwide.It takes a lot of work to convert to a different religion. A LOT. When you convert to Judaism, you don’t just go to a rabbi and get approval after one meeting. You don’t just study the Jewish holidays or the importance of Shabbat after a week. Oh no. Depending on how observant you wish to become, the principles and laws of the Torah are innumerable, and to “join the tribe”, as they say, you need to immerse your heart and soul into this religion. For YouTube vlogger and Jewish convert Meorah Ha-Me’ir, studying Judaism may have its difficulties, but its emotional impact outweighs them. When you watch Meorah’s videos, you see a brave, outstandingly intelligent woman who is honest about her journey. If you’re Torah-observant and you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. We’re only human, and for Meorah, mistakes don’t hinder her journey into the endless depths of Judaism. They make her stronger.
Being a Jewish convert myself, I obviously see a lot of myself in Meorah. I am, however, nowhere near as Torah-observant and erudite as this woman. I refer to her as “outstandingly intelligent” above, and I mean it! Meorah’s knowledge is endlessly vast. Just watch her video, titled “What happens when we die?”, and she presents dozens and dozens of Jewish terms and facts about Judaism’s views on death and reincarnation in less than five minutes. With her skills, she could be a rabbi or a Jewish studies professor. There is intelligence in Meorah, but also a love for Judaism that you really see in her videos. In one video, “Chanukah 5782”, she lights those candles, stares into the flames, and is completely enamored. You see it in her eyes. She is positively captivated, and it brings a smile to your face knowing that Judaism has changed someone’s life so powerfully.
One thing I really connected with was Meorah’s decision to convert. For her, she followed her heart, which is exactly what I did too back in 2019. Sometimes, I get asked, “when did you know you wanted to be Jewish?” Simple: I just knew. I know, that’s a bit of a weak answer, but it’s true! I had really hit a dark spot in my life a few years back and decided to study Judaism more, and after just a few days, everything clicked. It was like a lightbulb went off in my brain. I instantly found my calling. I rushed to Congregation Rodeph Shalom for Shabbat services. I went to MyJewishLearning.com and studied every page. I took a notebook out and wrote the transliterations for Shabbat blessings. I went to Israel. It was as if my soul was like, “I’ve been waiting so long, Matt! Go be Jewish!” When you want something, you go for it. For any Jewish convert, it may be hard to articulate, but you just know when you want to convert.
However, unlike Meorah, I wasn’t raised religiously. Born into a Christian, Korean-American family, she grew up going to church, but by her teen years, she started to become a little uncertain about her religion’s teachings, particularly the significance of Jesus Christ. When she decided to read some books about Judaism, that’s when everything took off.
“By the time I was 18 and read my first Jewish books, I knew I’d discovered what I was missing all along,” she recounts in BARA Worldwide. “What I was most pleased to learn was that Judaism not only allowed but welcomed my habit of questioning everything; that the essence of its tradition stood on a relentless search for truth.”
In 2019, Meorah left her job as CEO and Creative Director of a Boston-based agency after feeling “spiritually depleted.” She then went on to found BARA Worldwide, a non-profit whose main goal is to break the cultural barriers around Torah-observant Judaism. For Meorah, she just wants to make Judaism more accessible for everyone. Where do young Jews, observant or secular, get their information from or spend most of their days? Through digital content. So how can we better educate them? Well….through digital content, of course! Creating a bridge between mainstream culture – culture that new media undoubtedly plays a huge role in – and traditional Jewish lifestyles is the solution. This is, as she states, ha’olam ha’ba (“the world to come”).
As she shows on her YouTube channel, which has over 3,000 subscribers, Meorah isn’t looking to proselytize viewers. Like most vloggers, she records her days discussing the Torah and all things Jewish and halachic (relating to Jewish law). Her candor is very real, and she is fully aware that she’s not perfect. From watching her try to assemble a schach (the covering placed on top of a sukkah) in one video to confessing that she broke halachic law by getting a haircut during the intermediate days of Sukkot in another, Meorah’s humanity makes her all the more lovable. If she makes a mistake or can’t get something right, she never beats herself up or disavows her religion out of shame. She owns her errors, and watching her balanced reactions is a character trait we should all look up to.
Perhaps the biggest “theme” of Meorah’s videos is her decision to make aliyah and move to Israel. In one of her earlier videos, literally titled “Am I Ready to Make Aliyah??”, she questions her decision with both composure and a relatable, underlying sense of unease. Moving to a new location is always stressful, but moving to an entirely different country and devoting your life to a religion you weren’t raised in? That’s a little more intense. A major factor affecting her decision is the fact that she is a Jewish convert. It’s painful to have been told, she admits, that her conversion “doesn’t count”, and thus making aliyah shouldn’t be a requirement for her anyway. “Convert stigma” is a phrase she uses, like the elephant in the room that some traditional Jews may not dare debate. Meorah also makes it known that she is not a “Jew by choice” and always avoids introducing herself as that.
Eventually (spoiler alert), she does book the one-way trip to the Holy Land, and as amazing an experience it is, it’s also stressful. In one of her most honest videos, titled “I Just Needed a Moment Away (Pausing to Reflect on Making Aliyah)”, she divulges the shame she harbors for feeling naïve about aliyah. When Meorah first started learning about Judaism at 18 or 19, she thought that making aliyah was positively essential upon converting. After arriving, it was soon apparent that she had “gunned” her trip by not preparing herself for how prodigious her decision was. She didn’t know how expensive the taxes would be or how nerve-racking it would be to arrive in a new country without a job or essential plan. At the beginning, just being in Israel alone was breathtaking.
“When you live there, you feel like you are in Disney World,” she admits. It’s beautiful, indeed, especially if you love Judaism, but when the reality kicks in that you just dramatically changed your life, things can feel stressful. Meorah tearfully asks herself why she was having these anxieties, at one point calling them “blasphemous” thoughts. However, her tears dry on their own, and like the end of a good therapy session, she is back, positive, and delightfully content.
Meorah’s videos remind us that new media really can be a healing tool. There is endlessly silly content on the internet, yes, but then there are videos like this young woman’s, and we are astounded by her indefatigable devotion to the life she chose. Religious or not, we can all relate to Meorah. Big life changes can be scary, but if we follow our heart, we know it’s worth it. That’s all we can do.
Follow Meorah Ha-Me’ir on YouTube.