As Uriel Heilman wrote in The Jerusalem Post,
A Korean-American musical prodigy who plays everything from violin to guitar to piano, Dieker was raised in a devout Catholic home where she played church music every Sunday with her three siblings.
But after a rebellious stint in her 20s in which she struggled with addiction and depression and gave up religion, Dieker stumbled into an unusual gig with a traveling Jewish prayer band in Kansas City.
Dieker got sucked into the world of bar mitzvahs, Jewish holidays and Shabbat, and before she knew it was rediscovering spirituality – this time from a Jewish vantage point.
Dieker started working at a Reform synagogue in 2012 as a pianist, quickly picking up Hebrew and helping lead songs during services. A year later she became the musical director at The Temple-Congregation B’nai Jehuda in Overland Park, Kansas, working with the rabbi to redesign the congregation’s High Holiday services.
Her interest in Judaism deepened, and she took her first trip to Israel.
On Hanukkah 2016 she formally converted to Judaism. She chose for herself the Hebrew name Rafaela Zimra.
In this video, Dieker joins the clergy of Temple Israel in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in welcoming Shabbat in a most unusual way with Lecha Dodi.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
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