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!
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 […]
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 […]
Convert Questions: What Is the Deal with Tattoos?
Piercings were covered here. Tattoos are a huge concern for converts and baalei teshuva. Before becoming observant, they may have gotten tattoos, and now Jews have filled them with all kinds of unfounded fears. You will not be denied burial in a Jewish cemetery. You may use the mikvah. You might not have to get […]
Judging Others Favorably
I had an interesting thought recently: What do you call someone who always judges favorably? …Gullible. Of course, the halacha is more complicated. However, there is an undeniable trend in the stories that the tzaddikim judged favorably even when the Torah did not require them to. There is a story of the Chofetz Chaim advising […]
Revisiting the Mitzvah of Not Embarrassing People
It’s raining in Northern California, and that means driving in the rain with Californians. This is ugly. And it made me reflect on Monday’s post. I said that I put a lot of emphasis on avoiding embarrassment. However, I realized that I have an area of my life where I actually WANT to embarrass people. […]
Discussion: Your Favorite Mitzvah
Since it’s the first day back, I’m throwing a softball. What’s your favorite mitzvah? When all’s said and done, I would say avoiding embarrassing other people. I try to put a lot of effort into that. What do I look forward to improving? Kashrut. Only because I want to be an awesome host one day. […]
Lessons from the Gentle Giant
Ilan passed a week ago tonight, and this has been the hardest week of my life. In addition to the obvious, there have been other serious issues in my life this week, all conspiring to give me panic attacks. Thankfully, and much to my surprise, I have handled the anxiety, anger, hurt, frustration, pain, etc, in […]
Those Tricky Dairy Drinks…
Since I “went kosher” in June 2010, the most annoying thing remains drinks. I am apparently incapable of remembering that drinks can and will be dairy. I don’t drink milk and I rarely eat meat products, so my kitchen is almost entirely dairy. I rarely have to think about dairy v. meat except for what […]
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