What changes did Ruth make in her life after Mameh died?

Ruth met Dennis and started going to the Metropolitan Church in Harlem, where Reverend Brown was the well-loved minister. Ruth says, "that's when I started to become a Christian and the Jew in me began to die." She then describes an incident when Mameh was waving a live chicken over her head, and told Ruth that death to the chicken would give her life, and that a bird that wasn't able to fly wasn't special anyway.