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The Rachel Factor Japanese-American entertainer turns to Judaism for spiritual, artistic needs The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh
February 10,2005
By Susan Jacobs - Associate Editor

Just a few years ago, Hawaii native Rachel Factor was a Broadway dancer and actress, performing in "Shogun, the Musical," "Miss Saigon" and as a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall.

She was a rising star, with credits in several television commercials, newspaper ads, music videos and off-off Broadway productions. Today, she is an Orthodox Jewish wife and mother of two, living in Jerusalem, and finding new outlets for her artistic expression.

On Feb. 14, she is scheduled to come to Pittsburgh to present her one-woman show, "J.A.P.," at Community Day. The show, whose name refers both to the moniker "Jewish American Princess" and to Factor's Japanese heritage, uses music, dance and storytelling to detail Factor's search for personal identity and meaning in life. The show is open only to women, in accordance with Orthodox laws of modesty.

Factor, 36, was born Tina Horii to Japanese-American parents, who were non-practicing Protestants. Although she was a fourth generation American, friends and acquaintances assumed that she must be knowledgeable about her Japanese heritage.

"Because I looked Japanese, people expected me to identify [with that]," she said. "I was so American and so assimilated that I didn't feel it. I think that was part of what set me on this search for identity. I needed to find myself."

She traveled to Japan, hoping to feel a connection to her roots, but came away still searching for a place and a community that felt like home. She finally found the meaning she sought in Judaism.

In 1998, she met Todd Factor, the Jewish man she would eventually marry. About six months into their relationship, they began discussing their religious differences. Although Todd was not particularly observant, he realized that it was important for him to have a Jewish wife and children. "I admired the fact that he was proud of his identity," Factor said, but she was not sure if she could undergo yet another identity change, after having finally come to terms with her feelings about her Japanese heritage.

"I was very afraid I was going to lose that part of myself I had come to love," she said. "My initial thought was that we should just be friends." However, she decided to investigate Judaism, so that if she broke off her relationship, she would be doing so for good reasons.

But when she began her studies, she was amazed with what she found. "What I was experiencing was finally the truth," she said. "It started to really resonate with me."

Factor agreed with the intellectual underpinings of Judaism, and found beauty and comfort in its rituals. It was her first experience of observing Shabbat that made her feel at home in Judaism.

Career driven and focused, Factor said she had had little time to focus on spirituality as an actress and dancer. But during her exploration of Judaism, she and Todd decided to observe Shabbat by refraining from watching television or answering the telephone.

"It was a profound experience and it was a turning point for me," she said. "It allowed spirituality to come into our lives. It was profoundly beautiful."

The experience helped her decide that she wanted to convert. "It gave me what I needed to be able to make that last step," she said. Factor was converted by a Conservative beit din shortly before her marriage to Todd in July 2000.

Two years later, the birth of their first child, a boy, inspired the Factors to deepen their commitment to Judaism. For the baby's brit, the couple found an Orthodox mohel, and, thanks to his influence, began developing more Orthodox connections.

Factor said that having a baby made her realize that she and her husband were responsible for nurturing another soul, and that their lifestyle might not be ideally suited to that. Orthodox Judaism presented a structure that revolved around family life, and that appealed to them.

"The structures set up were brilliant," she said. But to fully embrace an Orthodox life, Factor and her baby had to be converted by an Orthodox beit din.

"For me it meant giving up my life as I knew it," she said. Modest dress, hair coverings and prohibitions against dancing with men would prevent her from continuing to work in the theatre.

"It was a difficult thing to give up," she said. "I identified as an actor and dancer. What was I left with if I wasn't Tina the dancer?" Factor made the sacrifice, and in the end, she found new ways of expressing herself artistically. Now, she performs only for women, and her work is more reflective of her personal, spiritual journey. She said her show represents the culmination of the artistic skills she has been honing for the last 20 years.

"It's a very pure expression for me," she said. Factor's husband and two sons -- ages 2 and 1 -- are traveling with her on her tour of North America. Although many people consider the world of performing arts to be at odds with the values of Orthodox Judaism, Factor said the two worlds have much in common.

"The arts and spirituality are very closely tied together," she said. "You're searching for something greater, an elevated state of living. Artists are looking for truth, for beauty, for love. Where do you find those things? In God."

Factor believes that many Orthodox women would benefit from the opportunity to express themselves through art. To help them do so, she is working to establish a performing arts center in Jerusalem geared specifically to Orthodox women. The proceeds from her tour of the United States will support the center, to be named Lirkod, a Hebrew word which means "to dance."

"As an artist, you want to be able to affect people even in the smallest way -- to change them, inspire them," she said. "I've never felt that so fully as I do now."