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Inspiring Rabbis 2016: 32 Men and Women Who Move Us Most

Jon Cutler

My father was from Nigeria and my mother from Mobile, Alabama. I am a major in the USMC serving in the Pentagon. I married a Jewish woman. In 2008, I went to serve in Iraq and met Rabbi Cutler, then a Navy chaplain. He was the senior chaplain for Marine Air Wing in Iraq and would make visits to my base. After several conversations and because of him and wanting to have a Jewish home and bring up my children Jewish, I decided to start the process of conversion to Judaism. He outlined a course of study for me. We would Skype once a week, and when he came to my base we would study. When we returned to the States in 2009, he officially converted me to Judaism. Now I have a son and a daughter, and my wife and I are raising them as Jews. We are very involved in our synagogue. I am an African-American Jew, my wife is white, our children biracial and we are committed to the future of Judaism. If it were not for Rabbi Cutler, I don’t know if I would have converted to Judaism and be raising a next generation of Jews.

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    Jon Cutler

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