Blog - Building a Jewish Life

Pesach Cleaning Accomplishment!

How are you doing with your Pesach cleaning? I finally got some done. The bedroom and walk-in closet are chametz-free! Maybe even clean!

The Ideal Passover: Go Away!

With all the effort that goes into Pesach, the ideal plan is to not have to make that effort! Go away from home and let someone else do the hard work for you! There is big business in “kosher for Pesach” resorts in Mexico, Arizona, Florida, New York, Israel, and just about everywhere else Jews […]

Shabbat Shalom! The Tznius and Prejudice Edition

Happy April Fools’ Day! Assuming you can call it a happy day. Personally, I’m not a fan because I’m a gullible person. Remembering that it’s April Fools’ Day is half the battle: I’m going to assume every person is a liar today. Fridays have apparently become my soapbox day, where I write about whatever’s on […]

Adventures in Semantics: D’Oraisa v. D’Rabbanan

Just a quick vocabulary lesson today! There are many ways to classify mitzvot, and one of the major ways is by source: from the Torah or from the rabbis. Mitzvot d’oraita (mitzvos d’oraisa) are mitzvot directly from the Torah, both the Written Law and the Oral Law. The theoretical punishment (when there was/will be a […]

Passover Timeline: When Do I Do What?

Last year during the High Holydays, I had to write out a timeline of the Holydays for my school in order to justify why I couldn’t attend certain classes because of a religious holiday. (Because of night classes, just putting down a date wasn’t sufficient because many days, I could attend day classes but not […]

What Is the Diaspora?

This post will be short and sweet. You’ll hear people frequently refer to “the Diaspora.” In short, that’s everywhere but Israel. Being in the Diaspora or not can affect holiday observances. Some holidays that are two days in the Diaspora are only one day in Israel because that’s how it’s supposed to be observed. This […]

News: Religious Services Minister Calls for Bill to Outlaw Non-Orthodox Judaism in Israel

Here’s a news story for you: Margi Calls for Law Against Non-Orthodox Movements. Just to be clear, no bill exists at this time. To give you the general idea, “To strengthen its status, Margi called for legislation making the Chief Rabbinate the supreme rabbinical institution in Israel and the world, and wants to move the rabbinate […]

How to Find a Seder for Passover

If you don’t already have plans for your Pesach/Passover seder, you should get on that! As an introverted person (I promise, but no one believes me) with social anxiety, I know how difficult it can be to ask people to invite you to their seder. Of course, things are much easier if you have family […]

The Weekend in Review

The first weekend in my new community was a success! Much less stressful than I was afraid of, and I had a really good time! I’m lucky to know good people already and through Ilan, and they’ve been introducing me to some really amazing people. And even better, I got to check out two shuls […]

The Country Mouse Visits the City Mice

It’s Spring Break! Yay! And what did I do with it? I worked my day job and now I’m apartment hunting in NYC. Not the most exciting Last Spring Break on record. Now, I’m about to have my first Shabbos in my new community. It’s pretty nerve-racking, especially because it’s also the old community of my friend […]