About the narrator:
Lucia Greene, who also goes by Lulu, is a 19-year-old Colby College student who converted to Judaism and now serves as a mikvah guide at Beth Israel Congregation in Waterville, Maine. Her first mikvah experience was a deeply emotional and transformative moment, marking the completion of her conversion with her family in attendance. Lucia identifies as an agnostic Jew who appreciates Jewish rituals like Shabbat, even if she does not follow them strictly. She reflects on the evolving and diverse nature of Jewish practices in Maine, as well as the welcoming and supportive community she has found there.
In this excerpt from her interview with Sir Noble Appiah Dankwah on January 19, 2025 at Colby College, Greene describes her religious beliefs and how that connects to Judaism.
Transcript:
“I would consider myself agnostic. One of the great things about Judaism is that you don’t necessarily have to believe in God to be Jewish. That can be a little confusing to people. It definitely was confusing to my parents. They were like, “Wait, you don’t really believe in God, but you want to be Jewish?” I like to keep rituals. I don’t keep Shabbat every week. I don’t say the prayers every week. I want to be better about it – but at least three times a month I say the Shabbat prayers. I don’t go to temple all the time, but I still am Jewish. You’ll meet people who won’t use electricity on Shabbat, but I use my phone. I try not to do homework on Shabbat, but that’s about it.” – Lucia Greene
Lucia Greene’s full oral history interview is available through Colby’s Special Collections & Archives.
About the interviewer:
Sir Noble Appiah Dankwah is a Colby College student with a Christian background who has a desire to understand Jewish rituals from an interfaith perspective. His focus on how traditions like the mikvah shape identity, spiritual transformation, and community life, and his outsider perspective, allowed him to ask thoughtful questions while respecting the cultural and personal significance of Jewish practices.
Appiah Dankwah discovered that oral history is important as “a method of capturing lived experiences—not just as historical data but as narratives that shape how people see themselves and their communities.” This approach, he said, helped him gain “a deeper understanding of religious identity as both a personal and communal journey, and…a newfound respect for the complexity and beauty of Jewish tradition.”