Phyllis Miller’s growing years in southern California were not very different from that of most American Jews. The result of intermarriage –her mother was not Jewish though she later converted– Miller’s family occasionally visited a synagogue, kept the children home from school during the High Holidays and ate matzah at Passover. Yet, Miller’s life witnessed an unusual change when she decided to enroll herself at the Mormon Church, while still attending high school in San Diego.

After one year of resistance from her parents, Miller was baptized at 16 years of age at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She eventually moved to Utah, studied at Brigham Young University, married a Mormon and gave birth to six children, raising them all as Latter-day Saints.

For decades afterward, Miller believed that part of her identity was missing. So, approximately 20 years ago, she started hosting Hanukkah once again. Later, she also rediscovered her way to a synagogue seder. Now the 55-year-old Miller wears her Star of David necklace, and once every six months she visits the semiannual gathering of a Jewish Mormon group called B’nai Shalom, that organizes city events on the eve of the biannual Latter-day Saints general conferences.

Speaking to Atheist Republic, Miller said while she is still Mormon she chooses to celebrate her Jewishness from time to time.

“I still consider myself Jewish,” said Miller, whose grandfather was Larry Fine, one of The Three Stooges. “I feel like I just added onto my faith.”

Miller is one of at least hundreds of Jews across North America who converted to Mormonism at some point in their lives but still continue to practice certain Jewish traditions, as they see no contradiction between the two.

“Being Jewish is my heritage,” Miller said. “It’s not like you can just get rid of it.”

The exact number of Jewish Mormons is difficult to estimate. While the B’nai Shalom Latter-day Saints & Jewish Facebook page has as many as 450 members, approximately 200-400 individuals show up for the group’s gatherings that take place in March and September. These events usually include a potluck dinner constituting traditional Jewish foods, Jewish music and dancing, at least one lecture and a lot of schmoozing.

Victor Ludlow, a longtime professor of religion at BYU –who initiated the launch of Near Eastern and Jewish studies programs at the Mormon university during the 1970s and also served two five-year terms as an LDS bishop– said that the Mormon Church is very welcoming of hybrid Jewish-Mormon identities. Apparently, Jewish rituals such as Passover seders and Hannukah lightings are seen as cultural traditions and not religious ones, as long as the practitioners still believe in Jesus and the Book of Mormon.

“If it doesn’t interfere with their practice as Latter-day Saints, as long as it’s something that’s positive, that enriches their lives, there’s no problem with them. In fact, they’re encouraged,” said Ludlow, who is retired. “And there are enough commonalities between the two cultures that sometimes it’s not as much as a cultural shock for Jews to become Mormons as it is for Christians.”

According to Ludlow, members of both communities are currently bound by a covenant (or have already been led by living prophets,) observe dietary laws and build temples. Both religions make use of the word gentile to describe people of other faith. In Utah, where Mormons constitute the majority, Jews are referred to as gentiles. Mormons too feel a kinship with Jews as people who have been persecuted for their faith. Mormons often cite the hostility of American Christians, particularly in the decades following the religion’s founding in 1830 by Joseph Smith, as resonating the experience of Jews. But, that is all cold comfort for the guardians of those Jews who have at some point expressed an interest in joining the Mormon Church.

When Mitch Cowitz told his Jewish parents that he was drawn towards Mormonism, they were shocked and insisted he receive counseling from rabbis as well as someone from an anti-cult group.

“They did everything but try to disown me,” Cowitz recalled.

They did not succeed however. Cowitz underwent baptism at the age of 21 years; and even though he is now a Mormon bishop, he said that he has not completely left Judaism. He continues to live in Thornhill (a Jewish neighborhood in Toronto) and celebrates most Jewish holidays. He also follows news from Israel on a daily basis.

“It’s my people. I consider it my land as well. I still consider myself Jewish,” said Cowitz, 50. “But I believe that the Book of Mormon is God’s word that has been revealed in these modern days. That’s what originally spoke to me. And the whole concept of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.”

In an interview with Atheist Republic, a few similarities in the experiences of Jews who turn to Mormonism surfaced. These individuals tend to hail from comparatively assimilated or mixed-faith families, have discovered the Mormon Church through friends, have grown up in localities without a strong Jewish presence and have had their significant first encounter with Mormonism as late-teens. All of them happened to face parental resistance, with many citing the Mormon focus on family as one of the religion’s most striking elements.

Jason Olson, a United States Navy chaplain serving in Japan, happens to be the son of a Lutheran father and a Jewish mother. During his childhood in Phoenix, he attended Reform Hebrew School, observed Jewish holidays and had a bar mitzvah; but his family also celebrated Easter and Christmas. When the confusion stemming from both religions started to affect his own beliefs, he embarked upon a religious quest that eventually led him to Mormonism, which a few of his LDS friends happened to practice in high school.

Olson recalled how those years were rather difficult. “I had privately embraced Jesus as the Messiah, but I was still outwardly living a Jewish life and struggling with my identity,” he said.

Even though he continued to study alongside rabbis, they could not shake his convictions; and Olson was baptized at 18 years of age. Yet, that was not the end of his Jewish journey. When he had to serve his requisite tour as a Mormon missionary, Olson was initially sent to New Jersey, but soon after he went to the Orthodox Jewish hub of Monsey in New York. His experiences there reignited his interest in Judaism and inspired some soul-searching that eventually caused him to spend many months of his life in Israel.

For college, Olson attended BYU where he majored in Hebrew Bible; and after his graduation, Olson enrolled for a doctoral program in Judaic Studies at Brandeis –a Jewish-funded, nonsectarian university in Boston’s suburbia. In due time, Olson became a Navy chaplain, as a follower of Mormonism. Still, 30-year-old Olson considers himself Jewish.

“In religious practice, I’m a Latter-day Saint, but I still embrace Jewish traditions,” Olson said in a telephone interview from Japan. “I still will light Hanukkah candles and have a Passover seder. I feel it’s part of my religious and cultural heritage. I personally don’t see any contradiction between Jewish tradition and the Christian faith that I have embraced.”

Apart from converts like Olson, there are thousand other Jews who have turned to Mormonism and no longer identify as Jewish, said Ludlow.

“There’s hardly a Mormon congregation between Boston and Washington D.C. that doesn’t have some Jewish individuals who have converted to the church,” said Ludlow, who was born and bred in the LDS church.

Harold Levy –67 years old and a retired teacher in California– turned to Mormonism when he was 36 years old, said that he started to appreciate Judaism only recently, years after he was baptized as a Mormon. Today, he studies Judaism and made sure to visit a Chabad for services this past Rosh Hashanah.

“I used to take Judaism for granted,” said Levy, who is deaf and communicated with JTA through instant message. “Now I understand Judaism much better and enjoy it more. I am a member of LDS, but inside I am still Jewish.”

Photo Credits: Het Mormonisme