By Ellen Braunstein

When Michael Carr attended Sababa, a four-day Jewish music festival held in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, he didn’t expect to be moved to his core. But as he stood among Jews from all backgrounds, singing and welcoming Shabbat under the trees in June, he felt something click.

“That Kabbalat Shabbat was just amazing,” he said. “It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.”

Carr, 36, is a behavioral therapist who works with children with autism. But in the Philadelphia Jewish community, he’s become known for something more: his full-throttle embrace of Jewish life. Since converting to Judaism in April 2023, Carr, of Center City, has thrown himself into nearly every aspect of communal participation, attending services, teaching classes, leading hikes, orga

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