Julia Gendron set the tree-of-life-shaped menorah on the dining room table, covered with a bright
blue cloth, bearing images of menorahs, dreidels and gelt.
"It's time," she said, excitement in her voice. It was Dec. 7 and daylight was fading.
The family was prepared to celebrate Chanukah � or Hanukkah � the remembrance of the
survival of Judaism and a one-day supply of oil which miraculously stayed lit for eight days.
Chanukah greetings from family and friends lined the stairway wall, and plates with menorahs
painted on them decorated a cabinet. Small gifts, hidden upstairs, would be handed out once
daily during the eight-day holiday.
The room seemed charged with emotion as Julia and Shayne Gendron and their son, Ian, 12, lit
the menorah's Shamash � or servant � candle and used it to light a candle on the end of the
menorah.
"It's the first Chanukah we've celebrated since our conversion," Shayne Gendron said.
The couple grew up in Christian families, but they were not at peace with their parents' faith.
For awhile they "practiced nothing," Julia Gendron said.
Through the years, they conducted a spiritual search. They enrolled in world religion classes.
They read different translations of the Bible. They read the Qur'an. They even read books about
Zen Buddhism.
For all they had learned, the Gendrons were most curious about Judaism. Then Julia Gendron, a
dental hygienist, learned from one of her patients that there was a Jewish place of worship,
Temple Beth El, here.
They didn't tell anyone of their plans to attend a temple service, and they shook with
apprehension and excitement the first time they went, Julia Gendron said.
Even so, "We knew we'd come home. The people were warm and welcoming ... They are
genuinely nice."
More importantly, the Gendrons said, the Jewish congregation encouraged the couple to question
everything.
"They don't believe in blind faith," Shayne Gendron said.
Accounting for illness and scheduling conflicts, it took two years for the couple to complete the
study necessary to officially convert to Judaism. But the more they learned, the more sure they
were sure of their decision to convert.
"We love the long traditional heritage of it," Julia Gendron said. "It's the religion the other major
religions stem from ... it's like going back to your roots."
Shayne and Julia Gendron officially became Jews by choice the Friday before Chanukah.
"We had a joyous time at their conversion ceremony," Rabbi Stephen Forstein said. "Their
excitement spreads to us, and we are pretty excited to have them."
As the family launched its Chanukah celebration, they read two of its blessings from a book, but
recited the third from memory.
"There are blessings for everything," Julia Gendron explained later. "It helps you to appreciate the
simple miracles you see every day."
Outside, strings of holiday lights lit the neighborhood homes and porches. In the Gendrons' front
window, two lightbulbs shone from an electric menorah, telling the story of new-found faith.
Originally published December 11, 2004
