A Sweet Gift

Milk is the first food we eat, gliding silkily over our infant tongues, filling our tummies with warm comfort.  We never know hunger until we come into the world and milk is our first taste of love, of nourishment, and comfort. This week I've kind of been acutely experiencing a feeling of being lost in …

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The Missing Mixed Multitude?

There are bits and pieces of stories of converts mixed into the Torah.  We read the book of Ruth on Shavuos, which is such a moving story.  We look to Avraham as the first of the converts in many ways.  However, the story that has always fascinated me is the story of the "mixed multitude" …

Mourning Fading Dreams

At first, it was a wedding a chuppah raised high family and friends dancing a dress of white the sound of breaking glass we were willing to wait but waiting wasn't enough slowly, that dream faded I cried only a little feeling selfish I had love and others did not we wed simply on a …

Fragile Strands of Hope

The strings are tangled coiling up and evading prying fingertips his brow furrows his young fingers fumble I feel frustrated I can't tie these knots for him or untangle the strings Some things, a boy must do alone to become a man My fingers twitch, wanting to tie the knots for him remembering friendship bracelets …

Birthday Cake and Mitzvos

I'm reading a really good book about Family Purity called "Total Immersion."  All the books I've read on the topic previously have been more dry and focused on the "how" of the mitzvah, not the "why" or deeper spiritual dimension and I'm really enjoying this chance to step back and sink deeper into those aspects. …

The First Time I Went to a Synagogue

I checked my outfit 3 different times, changing clothes and kept pestering the kids to get them ready.  Mr. Safek nervously tied his tie.  It had been a little while since he'd gone to the Synagogue.  I didn't understand his apprehension.  After all, I'd heard it was a holiday party.  This should be fun, right?! …

Shavuos and Surrender

Imagine you're sinking below the surface of a deep, dark pool of cool water.  At first, you fight to stay afloat.  You don't want to drown.  You can't see what's in the depths.  You struggle against the water, trying to tread and keep your head above the surface.  Finally, your strength reaches its limits.  You …

Finding the Holiness…Right Where You Are.

I'm listening to a fantastic shiur, the kind of deep learning that makes my mind ache a little, like a muscle that's been well-used.  I know when I'm learning something that feeds me when it changes how I look at the world around me. Have you ever gone on a long trip away from home …

When the Mountains Whisper Secrets

The fog rolls heavy between the peaks, holding onto the last of their mantles of white.  The rocky outcroppings shift and move, hiding within the mist.  The mountains, ancient and wise from all they've watched, whisper to each other as a loon cries somewhere, hidden in curtains. Hashem created the mountains and they whisper their …

Famous Converts in the News?

There is a famous convert in the news again and controversy aplenty, including even people questioning this convert's Jewishness. But...I'm not going to talk about her.  Why?  Because I'd be breaking a TON of Torah prohibitions to do so.  Plus, it just isn't kind to do that.  It's one of the things I love about …

Baruch Hashem!

It is telling that while other religions bless things or people, Jews continuously bless G-d.  Every blessing is a thank you to the almighty and a reminder that all things come from Him.  Rather than trying to imbue the people or things around us with holiness, as other faiths do, we instead recognize that these …

Family Matters and Conversion

Today is a big day for the little Safek family.  Today, the civil courts will help our legal reality catch up with our actual reality. Our family is special in many ways, but one that most people aren't aware of is that Mr. Safek chose to be a father to two children that weren't his. …