It's Official — I Converted To Judaism

I chose the name: Mazelit Liel Yocheved, and I converted last night before shabbat services in Delray, Florida.

May 24, 2025

Dear friends,

Last night, on the Shabbat of Behar-Bechukotai, the 26th of Iyyar, 5785, I officially converted to Judaism. After studying Judaism in Brooklyn for 2 years when I lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I moved to an area without a temple for almost 4 years to recover from anorexia. But after October 7th happened, I knew I needed to go back.

There are many reasons why I’ve converted, some of which I’ll cover in a following essay when the dizzyness and excitment of the day finally calms down (I could barely sleep last night, I was so pumped. I still am. I want to shout it from the rooftops!)

I’ve written over 400 (close to 500) articles related to antisemitism in the last 10 years. People often assume I’m Jewish already, and I’ve always got hate-mail for “being a Jew.” I assume people inferred that due to my relentless focus on antisemitism and the October 7th attack on Israel, but I wasn’t Jewish until yesterday.

I must thank my rabbi, my chosen family, and everyone at Temple Sinai of Delray Beach Florida, including my mentor and guide, Rabbi Moss. I also thank all the organizations, nonprofits, social media groups and others who work tirelessly to defend Jewish statehood and fight antisemitism.

On June 7, I joined 8 other converts from the Delray-Boca Raton area at the Boca Raton South Beach Park. We shared our stories about why we wanted to convert, who inspired us, and what might change now that we’ve converted.

It’s also probably one of the only times I’ve ever spoke in public, in front of a crowd that big. (For reference, I didn’t even go to my college graduation because of fears of the big crowds.) Hence, I hesitated quite a bit while trying to get my words out of my mouth. If you’d like to see what I said during the Beit Din interview, I can send you the videos (they are too large for this site). Just shoot me a message here.

I also shared why I chose my name. Specifically, Liel is to honor Liel Hetzroni, a 12-year-old twin that bears a bit of a resembelence to me (in my childhood) that was killed by Hamas on October 7.

And I chose Yocheved, for a friend of mine who tragically passed away a few years ago, who suffered from anorexia just like I did. Unfortunately, while I came out on the other side of my eating disorder, she did not. And I wanted to honor her life as well.

Why I chose Mazelit? Well, I’ve always been told that I’m extremely lucky. That is, in of itself, an entirely different essay to explain. But thank you for reading this far.

You’ll be hearing more from me soon.
And thank you to everyone who has been following along on my journey 💙
Toni (Mazelit Liel Yocheved)