When Marcela was young, her father instilled in her a love for Israel and the Jewish people. When her son was born, Marcela became very curious about her family’s past, and decided to study her family’s genealogy. The process of discovering her Jewish past awakened an interest in Judaism. So Marcela did what came naturally to her: She began to study. She joined a Jewish community where she studied “Introduction to Judaism, Hebrew, and Torah.” She also took an online course from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. After a rigorous two-year course of study, Marcela was immersed and converted to Judaism by a Conservative Beit- Din. Her husband later converted as well.

As Marcela continued her Jewish study, she discovered Messianic Judaism. As she says, the reality of a Yeshua “added the spiritual aspect of Judaism that lacked in my Jewish life.” Soon after, she found MJTI’s online School of Jewish Studies and resonated with our determination to offer serious study that is rich in devotion to Yeshua and deeply engaged in the ongoing Jewish past, present, and future. Marcela is now in our Master’s degree program. So far she is our only physician and our only poet.

Marcela’s story has some common threads running through it. Her Jewish past connected with a renewed Jewish present. She has always been willing to embrace new things. And she believes in study—whether as a physician or to be a better Messianic Jew.

Openness to new things and a desire to learn—that’s what our School is all about.