"I Was Told the Jews Stole the Country. Then I Discovered It Was a Lie"

"The first time I walked into a Chabad House, I felt warmth spread through my entire body. At that moment, I thought to myself, 'This is God.' I couldn't explain it. I only knew I had to come back."

Kylie Ora Lobell grew up in a secular Christian family in Baltimore. By the age of twelve, she considered herself an atheist, and for years she searched for meaning without finding it.

"On paper, I had everything," she recalls. "Even though I was young, healthy, smart, and doing great things with my life, I felt miserable and ungrateful for the life I had been given. I struggled with anxiety and depression, and often felt like my life was completely out of my control."

Today, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Daniel, works in public relations and marketing, writes, lectures, and advocates for Israel on social media. But getting there required her to question almost everything she once believed.

When Kylie began college, she knew almost nothing about Israel. Then she enrolled in a class that dramatically shaped her view of the Middle East.

"My professor taught that sneaky Jewish lawyers tricked the Palestinians with legal paperwork and stole their homes," she says. "Before taking that class, I couldn't even point to Israel on a map. My professor brainwashed me, and the media I consumed simply reinforced everything he taught."

Today, she says it plainly:

"I was brainwashed."

The person who first challenged those beliefs was Daniel, the man who would later become her husband.

At the time, Kylie was struggling financially. One Friday, she looked at her bank account and discovered that she had only six dollars left.

"When I told Daniel about it, he invited me to join him for Shabbat dinner at a Chabad House, and I agreed. I didn't go because I was searching for faith. I went because I barely had anything to eat."

But that dinner changed something.

"The rabbi welcomed me with extraordinary warmth and kindness. During the Shabbat meal, I suddenly felt warmth spread through my chest and throughout my entire body. At that very moment, I thought to myself, 'This is God.'"

For the next five years, Kylie attended Shabbat meals, Torah classes, and community events at Chabad. The rabbi knew from the beginning that she was not Jewish, something Kylie discovered only later.

"Even though he knew I wasn't Jewish, his attitude toward me never changed, not even by a millimeter."

What did that teach you?

"It taught me that there is something truly special about Judaism. This was the first time I had really gotten to know Torah-observant Jews. They centered their lives around mitzvot and had built a strong, caring community. I simply wanted to become part of it."

The Visit to Israel That Changed Everything

In 2014, Kylie came to Israel to spend three weeks studying at a seminary as part of her preparation for an Orthodox conversion.

After everything she had been taught, she expected to find a violent and deeply divided country. Instead, she encountered something very different.

"I remember sitting on a train next to a Muslim woman. She looked at me, I looked at her, and we both continued our journey peacefully. At that moment, I asked myself, 'Where is the apartheid I was told about?'"

During that same trip, beside the Western Wall during a rare Jerusalem snowfall, Daniel proposed. "It was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received," she says.

When did you realize that you wanted to pursue an Orthodox conversion?

"The more I learned about Judaism, the more everything seemed to make sense. But the first thing that truly touched my heart was Shabbat.

"I used to be a complete workaholic. Then Shabbat came into my life. Suddenly, there was one day every week when I didn't have to prove anything to anyone, check emails, answer phone calls, or chase another accomplishment."

Above all, Torah gave her something she had been searching for for years.

"When I began studying Torah, I experienced true inner peace for the first time in my life."

“He Started to See the Beauty in Judaism Again”

There was, however, an unexpected complication.

Daniel had introduced Kylie to Judaism, yet when she decided to pursue an Orthodox conversion, he became hesitant because of his own difficult experiences with the Orthodox world.

Daniel was the person who first opened the door to Judaism for you. How did you deal with the fact that he was suddenly afraid of where your spiritual journey might lead?

"I understood it. He didn't want to be pulled back in after he had some negative experiences with it. I empathized with his situation. I also wanted to make it work because I loved him, and I knew that I was coming home to Judaism at the same time."

Her conversion journey began touching unresolved parts of Daniel's own Jewish identity.

Did he seek advice from a rabbi?

"We spoke with the rabbi who was helping me convert, and he was the first person to listen to what Daniel experienced and help him with it. That softened things for Daniel. He started to see the beauty in Judaism again and saw that he could form his own relationship with it in a positive way, as an adult."

Eventually, the roles almost reversed. The Jewish man who had introduced Kylie to Judaism began rediscovering his own Judaism through the woman he loved as she converted.

Did you ever genuinely think it might end your relationship?

"I knew that Daniel and I were meant to be and that I was meant to be Jewish, so we were determined to make it work. We did almost break up multiple times because of it, but we stayed together and always resolved things before I lit candles on Shabbat. It was a nice reset for the week."

Shabbat, the practice that had first drawn Kylie toward Judaism, became something that helped hold them together as well.

"I Wanted to Show What Judaism Really Looks Like"

Kylie's journey did not end with her conversion. In many ways, becoming Jewish gave her a new mission. As she began living an Orthodox Jewish life, she became increasingly aware of the enormous gap between the Judaism she had discovered from the inside and the way it was often portrayed to people on the outside. The faith, community, meaning, and everyday beauty she had encountered were rarely part of the picture.

She wanted to tell the story from a different perspective: not as someone who had simply inherited Judaism, but as someone who had encountered it as an outsider, questioned it, struggled with it, and ultimately made the conscious decision to choose it.

That desire eventually became her memoir, Choosing to Be Chosen.

What inspired you to write it?

"So many people know Judaism only through news headlines or stereotypes. I wanted to show what Judaism really looks like.

"But the book isn't only for people considering conversion. It's for anyone going through pain, asking difficult questions, or searching for meaning in this world."

Today, when asked what it means to belong to the Jewish people, her answer is immediate. "It is an incredible privilege. I feel that my life has genuine meaning, and my mission is to spread God's light, not only to Jews, but to every human being. Converting to Judaism was the best decision I have ever made."

"Because I Used to Be Exactly Where Those People Are Today"

Since October 7, Kylie has become an outspoken advocate for Israel on social media. But her personal story has led her to approach these conversations somewhat differently. She knows from her own experience how easy it is to form strong opinions about Israel when, for years, you have been exposed to only one narrative.

“I used to be exactly where those people are today," she says. "I don't try to force people to change their minds, because that almost never works. I present facts, I listen to what they have to say, and then I leave the choice up to them."

Her own life, she says, is proof that people can change their minds.

If you met the professor who taught you those things about Israel today, what would you say to him?

"Considering how everything turned out, I should probably thank him. In the end, his class led me to where I am today. Next, I would ask him why he chose to teach me that lesson that way, and then I would ask, 'May I share with you what I've learned since then?'"

As our conversation comes to a close, I ask Kylie what she would say to people around the world who are convinced they already understand Israel, despite never having visited.

"I’d say: come and visit, but keep an open mind. I think you'll fall in love with this country. And just one piece of advice: don't get Dead Sea water in your eyes, like I did... it hurts!"