Women’s Movement Radio - September 23 Episode with Ahuvah Gray

Born and raised in Chicago, Ahuvah Gray attended Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois from January 1964 through June 1966. Leaving the academic world by choice, Ahuvah Gray joined the corporate world for thirty years. For twenty- three years she worked with Continental Airline-first as a flight attendant, then as a supervisor of flight attendants, as well as sixteen in Sales and Marketing. After leaving the airline industry, she started her own travel agency called DG Travel. She parlayed her experience as a stewardess and staff supervisor for Continental Airlines into a travel agency specializing in group tours to Israel, Egypt and Greece. She served as a Christian minister in the African American community both in Chicago and Los Angeles for 14 years. She left that world in 1996 to fulfill her spiritual yearnings and to become a Jew. After visiting Israel 14 times in five years, she presented myself before the Jerusalem Beis Din-rabbinical court- as a candidate for conversion to Judaism. Her halachic conversion process took two years. She identifies herself with the Chareidi-traditional Orthodox-community and has lived her life daily according to the mitzvos of the Torah since 1996. She presently resides in Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem and prays at the Gra shul every Shabbath and festivals. Her Jerusalem neighborhood is far from her grandparent's and parents roots in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, but close in spirit to the sentiments of her loving family. She still maintains a close relationship with the surviving members of her family. It has been her privilege to meet many fascinating people from all walks of life. They have influenced her appreciation for the world at large, and for the innate dignity of the human soul. Her autobiography, My Sister the Jew, was published by Targum/Feldheim in 2001. She has extensive experience addressing audiences, both adults as well as youth, having taught a tefillah(prayer) class at “Michlalet Esther,” a division of Neve Yerushalayim (a women's seminary in Israel) and has traveled around the world as a speaker on behalf of her book, recently speaking at Oxford University. In terms of her professional work, she is an author, lecturer and tour guide. She recently started a small business in Israel as a marketing consultant for small businesses. In addition, she specializes in motivational seminars, as well as in workshops focusing on prayer, inspiration and career objectives. Ahuvah can be found at: http://www.ahuvahgray.com/index.php Listen as Janét and Ahuvah discuss spirituality and her conversion to Judaism.