The Joy of Building Our First Sukkah

As I’ve become more observant and more familiar with mitzvot and halacha and various minhagim, I’ve been struck by the almost absurdity of the Yom Kippur-Sukkot transition. It seems odd to me that, hours after experiencing the most Awesome day of the Jewish calendar, after going through a grueling and soul-wrenching fast accompanied by walks [...]

What is Torah Judaism (in 500 words or less) – #1?

I believe that the ultimate manifestation of Torah Judaism is Chesed, acts of loving-kindness. It’s not the number of times one davens in a day, or the type of kippah he wears, or if her hair is covered completely, not at all, partially, or only sometimes. It’s whether all that davening and all those halachic [...]

Negotiating Family Dynamics

I apologize for my long absence from this blog. I will use the excuse that I have had no time to write anything meaningful, but below are my reasons: 1. I graduated, moved to Houston, and began a new consulting job in summer 2006. 2. My husband stayed at Penn State to finish his degree. [...]

Growing Without Bounds – One Small Step at a Time

When I was growing up, for New Years Eve I would sleep over at a friend’s house, eat bags and bags of M&Ms and watch some New Years program on TV until I couldn’t stand it anymore. In between talking with my friends about which celebrity is wearing what, we would write or discuss the [...]

Why I Love My Houston Community

We just moved back to Houston from our sojourn at Penn State (technically, I moved back; my husband has a summer internship here but has to return to Penn State for his final year in grad school), and while we do NOT love the intense heat and humidity (weather report last 3 weeks: average of [...]

Who am I?

Hillel asks: If I am not for myself, who is for me? I first want to know: who am I? All of my life, I have felt that I am a member of three communities, each vying for attention. As a US-born citizen, I am naturally an American, but growing up as the daughter of [...]

In Gratitude to the St Louis Community

I can’t write another post without first thanking the community that helped set me on the road that I am on. In June 2002, I had just graduated from college and was living in my own apartment, on my own, in St. Louis. My boyfriend at the time (now husband) had inspired me to start [...]

Growing Step By Step

Since blogs appear to be the 21st-century diary, I would like to share with you how my husband and I have grown since I first posted on this website in January. I started saying Tehillim when my mom went in to the hospital for a routine procedure and ended up staying there for two weeks [...]

Achdut at Gate 6

I recently spent two weeks in Israel, due to a family wedding and spring break, and I have always found that one of the most unifying, one-with-the-Jewish-people experiences ever is in the waiting area for the flight to Israel. There is something to be said about being with a bunch of Jews getting ready to [...]

The Spirit of Shabbat and My Car Alarm

In the community I was involved with in St. Louis in my pre-marriage days, a particular family hosted about 25 people each week for Shabbat dinner and I had the privilege to be their guest several times. It seemed to me that this family represented the epitome of the baal teshuvah experience: beautiful home filled [...]

Becoming Observant in the Land of the Nittany Lions

If I were to give one piece of advice to a couple engaged in the process of becoming more observant, I suggest this: move to a remote, slightly rural location with few Jews and an even fewer observant Jewish community. It has become apparent to me, since this is what my husband and I did, [...]

Popular Posts

• Financial Realities in the Frum World
• Looking at Intermarriage
• How Can We Avoid Alienating our Families and Breaching Our Values?
• Healing the Rift within Orthodoxy
• Using the G-word in Reference to Non-Jews
• A Case for Modern Orthodox Kiruv
• UnInspired
• Are BTs Treated as Second Class Citizens?