By Kevin Deutsch

When Aliza Hausman told her mother she wanted to be Jewish, the Dominican-born Catholic reared her arm back into a pitcher’s wind-up, slugged her daughter hard as she could, and, for a time, destroyed any hopes a 13-year-old Aliza had of changing religions.

“It didn’t go over very well,” said Ms. Hausman, now a 29-year-old Orthodox Jew living in Riverdale. “Obviously, that didn’t stop me.”

First seriously drawn to Judaism following her encounter with a holocaust survivor in junior high school, Ms. Hausman finally converted in 2006, immersing herself in the ritual-heavy lifestyle of Orthodox Judaism. And rather than relegate her Dominican heritage to her past, she fused it with her developing Jewish identity, shattering stereotypes along the way.

She describes herself as an “emissary between the land of rice and beans and the land of cholent and kugel.” And whether she’s serving maduros (sautéed sweet plantains) at her Sabbath table, sharing personal tales of anti-Semitism and child abuse, or speaking bluntly about prejudice in both of her communities, Ms. Hausman’s stories are unique and riveting. They’re also online for all to see.

Memoirs of a Jewminicana, Ms. Hausman’s blog, offers an outlet for the writer and speaker to chronicle her multicultural lifestyle and share thoughts on Judaism, race, culture and anything else that sparks her interest.

On any given day, she might riff on criteria for conversion in Israel, her quest for tasty kosher Latin food, black Jews, intermarriage, child abuse, or what it means to “look” Jewish or Dominican.

Her funny, insightful, often moving writing has attracted a loyal flock of international readers far beyond Riverdale. Online in one form or another since 2005, the blog began as a way for Ms. Hausman to chronicle her conversion process. As she delved deeper into New York City’s Orthodox community, her subject matter grew more expansive. She wrote about naiveté among Dominicans and Jews, chronicled her struggle to juggle cultures, and offered her take on current events.