{"id":2437,"date":"2017-11-22T06:58:56","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T11:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kulanuarchive.kulanu.org\/?page_id=2437"},"modified":"2021-07-02T18:15:30","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T22:15:30","slug":"serge-eteles-visit-united-states","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/communities\/cameroon\/serge-eteles-visit-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Serge Etele\u2019s Visit to the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"byline\">By Harriet Bograd (2012)<\/p>\n<p>It was a great joy to host Serge on his visit to the United States and to see things through his eyes. He approached America and the Jewish community with an open heart and deep appreciation. I can report that his six weeks here were filled with many memorable experiences and a number of firsts.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his public speaking events, Serge took his first airplane flight, saw and held a Torah, visited several major U.S. cities, helped a Jewish scribe repair a <i>Torah<\/i> scroll, prayed at the world Chabad headquarters, visited two Jewish museums, had a coaching session on public speaking, attended classes at several rabbinical schools and colleges and met with students to share stories about his community and their embrace of Judaism.<\/p>\n<div class=\"photoFrameLeft\">\n<div class=\"photo\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_3085\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3085\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3085\" src=\"https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/cameroon\/Serge-Etele-wearing-tallit-designed-for-him-by-Susan-Schorr.jpg\" alt=\"Serge Etele speaking with students at Temple Aliyah, Needham, MA (Photo credit: Harriet Bograd)\" width=\"350\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/cameroon\/Serge-Etele-wearing-tallit-designed-for-him-by-Susan-Schorr.jpg 350w, https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/cameroon\/Serge-Etele-wearing-tallit-designed-for-him-by-Susan-Schorr-300x294.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/cameroon\/Serge-Etele-wearing-tallit-designed-for-him-by-Susan-Schorr-70x70.jpg 70w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3085\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Serge Etele speaking with students at Temple Aliyah, Needham, MA (Photo credit: Harriet Bograd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In addition, he was hosted by Jewish families in several states, prayed at orthodox, conservative, reform, and reconstructionist synagogues, and visited Jewish religious schools and community centers.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, on Wednesday, February 22, 2012, Serge Etele formally converted to Judaism, presenting himself before a three-judge <i>Beit Din<\/i> (Jewish court) and submerging himself in a <i>mikveh<\/i> (ritual bath).<\/p>\n<p>To read more of Harriet&#8217;s reflections on the first Kulanu-Cameroon Speaking Tour, <a href=\"http:\/\/cyan.olm.net\/~kulanu\/b2\/?p=1166\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here<\/a> for her April 2012 post on the Kulanu Blog (www.kulanu.org\/blog).<\/p>\n<div class=\"photoFrameCenter\">\n<div class=\"photo\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_3058\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3058\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3058\" src=\"https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/cameroon\/chabad.jpg\" alt=\"Serge Etele at the Chabad headquater in Brooklyn for Mincha prayer and study. (Photo credit: Rabbi Gerald Sussman)\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/cameroon\/chabad.jpg 450w, https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/cameroon\/chabad-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3058\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Serge Etele at the Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn for Mincha prayer and study. (Photo credit: Rabbi Gerald Sussman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Harriet Bograd (2012) It was a great joy to host Serge on his visit to the United States and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":648,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template\/full-width.php","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Serge Etele\u2019s Visit to the United States - Kulanu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Harriet Bograd (2012) It was a great joy to host Serge on his visit to the United States and to see things through his eyes. 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