Rachael Houser grew up Roman Catholic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her family was “observant but progressive.” She went through Sunday school, had her first communion at eight, and was confirmed at fourteen. She performed in the church choir and as a soloist. Sometimes she would attend mass twice a day. Out of her four siblings, “I was the most interested in being Catholic. I enjoyed the ritual of it.” Suffice it to say, when she gave up Catholicism, it was not for lack of trying. “I gave being Catholic my very best effort!”
During her intense Catholic upbringing, Rachael had many positive Jewish influences. Her neighbors were an interfaith couple who would invite her family to Passover Seders with 20 or 30 people in attendance. She remembers these fondly. “Even as an eight-year-old, those Seders were magical.” Later in high school, Rachael had a Jewish boyfriend whose mother left a huge impression. When celebrating Shabbat with the family, Rachael would become mesmerized as the mother recited the various blessings. “I just wanted to be a part of it.”
While attending Wagner College on Staten Island, Rachael began moving away from her Christian upbringing. Taking religious courses made her reconsider the biblical interpretations she had learned as a child. “I realized I had not been taking into account the Bible’s original context.” During this time, Rachael’s sister had come out as a lesbian, and Rachael felt uncomfortable adhering to a religious system that might alienate people like her sister. Her move away from Christianity “set me adrift. Religion had been such a source of solace for so long.”
Meanwhile, various Jewish friends and professors at Wagner “exuded kindness” and “modeled a lifestyle and a set of values which made me envious.” Rachael began to entertain a religious “switch.” However, she was fearful of her parents’ reaction and wanted to wait until she was certain before mentioning it. Soon after she began considering conversion, Rachael experienced a supernatural event that would accelerate the process. One night, Rachael had a “vivid dream” where she was “standing on the parted Red Sea’s shores.” Crowds of people were moving past her looking at her with inviting eyes, as if to say, “Won’t you come?” That next morning Rachael hoped she would observe a sign at Mass confirming her dream’s message. That morning, 1 Samuel 3 was read, wherein G_d repeatedly calls out to Samuel, but Samuel repeatedly mistakes the voice for Eli’s. “Samuel was called in his sleep like me! I thought this must be a sign from G_d.”
Quickly after, Rachael started the year-and-a-half conversion process. She began an introduction to Judaism class at a local JCC in New York and began meeting with Rabbi Andrue Kahn from Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. Her meetings with Andrue Kahn were typical; “We talked through it all,” and eventually “we both felt I was ready.” On conversion day, “I brought my journal to show the Beit Din the notes I had made for each Parashah!” Her parents and sister even came to the Mikvah.
After her conversion, Rachael went on a birthright trip to Israel which catalyzed her decision to become a Rabbi. While she was nervous to tell anyone she was a convert, many of her fellow travelers were non-practicing so they ended up relying on Rachael to explain many Jewish religious practices. “I ended up telling them I had recently learned these things during my conversion.” At the end of her trip, the leader told her, “You need to become a Rabbi!” Rachael shrugged off the comment at the moment but remained attracted to the idea.
Upon returning home, Rachael decided to leave New York because she “fell out of love with acting.” Surprisingly, her mother encouraged her to attend Rabbinical school. Fighting off those fears of rejection — “I am a convert, they won’t accept me!” — Rachael applied to Hebrew Union College. Now, as a 4th-year Rabbinical student, Rachael is pleased with her decision to pursue the Rabbinate.
Currently, Rachael does not have a home synagogue. However, as a student rabbi, she travels biweekly to Paducah, Kentucky to Temple Israel for services. In addition, she attends services at Hebrew Union College throughout the week and visits Cincinnati’s synagogues often. Rachael observes all the major holidays, keeps Shabbat, and, for the first half of 2023, tried being Kosher. “Each year I try to introduce new Jewish practices.” While being Kosher did not work out, in 2022 Rachael was gifted a set of Tefillin. She has grown very attached to them.
What attracted her most to Judaism was the emphasis on “scholarly pursuits and doing good in the world.” Rachael feels it is her personal duty to “try and uplift!” As a “sibling of the world,” it is “my duty to care for them. It is required. I love that about Judaism.” For these reasons, Rachael wants so badly to become a Rabbi. She envisions the life of a Rabbi as “living a life of service and witness to the Jewish life.” For Rachael, “Judaism has made me the best possible version of myself.” Regarding advice for potential converts, she notes how even in the best of situations “with utter support, converting can still feel lonely.” She remembers how “some holidays and some Shabbats you will be alone.” However, “if you can get through them, you will enter into a fantastic community!”
When asked for final reflections, Rachael reports how she felt drawn to Judaism. “Whatever great power orders the universe made me realize that I could serve the world so much better as a Jewish rabbi than as a Christian actress. I am grateful that I am here.”