Teachability, Conversion, and Life

I have a couple of really wise friends that I listen to and always learn something from our conversations.  Today, we were talking about the power of teachability and it seemed to fit exactly with a lot of what has been going on in my life recently as well as struggles I have seen around …

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Of Golden Calf

This week's parsha is a blockbuster, with the sin of the golden calf and Moses destroying the first set of luchas.  It's a sin that reverberates through history, a major turning point in the relationship between Hashem and His people.  Hashem is angry enough at the idolatry that He threatens to wipe out the entire …

Purim and Living Between Worlds

This week is one of my favorite Jewish holidays.  One of the very best things about Orthodox Judaism is that there are so many holidays and they're all so different in their observances and traditions.  Purim is a particularly fun holiday for children, with costumes and candy galore. This year, though, as we read the …

Top 20 Things About Taking a Decade to Complete Your Orthodox Jewish Conversion

I needed some humor this week after the news we received that we'll be beginning our conversion process over again after our move.  So, in honor of our upcoming delay...I decided to focus on the positive and try to laugh a little about this all.  So, here it is...the top 20 best things about taking …

April

"April," he promised again and again his words became a mantra a lifeline in dark places we clung to April as our life raft Life spun us around in riptides April became the rope tied to the shore we saw the shore grow closer the other side of the water became clearer our eyes full …

Plot Twist!

This morning, I saw a particularly timely cartoon come across my Facebook feed. When something goes wrong in your life, just yell, "PLOT TWIST," and move on! My life has been full of plot twists.  Interestingly, I've always, in the moment, reflected on the fact that bad news, or a major life change, never seems …

Soon, My Children Will Not Be Mine

Orthodox Jewish conversion has a lot of fascinating quirks that a lot of people aren't aware of unless they've dealt with the process directly.  One of them, which I mentioned in relation to my husband yesterday, is the fact that once you emerge from the Mikvah as an entirely new, Jewish person in the eyes …

What’s in a Name?

When we first began this journey, 7 years ago, a lot of our focus was to hold on to everything we could.  I had originally sought conversion and in the midst of beginning that journey with my children, we suddenly found ourselves dealing with my husband's unexpected issues with his own halakhic status. It was …

The Sun Returns

Slowly at first, then increasing in speed the light returns to the arctic first weakly, it crawls across the mountains thin rays barely scratching the snow the ravens unaware It sneaks up on me, quietly without fanfare it begins to creep up earlier it meets my days later it takes its leave lingering over sweet …

Selling a House and Spiritual Housecleaning

We are deep in the midst of selling our home, with our house having been on the market for almost a week.  It's a tough time to sell a house in Alaska, with a local recession adding to buyer's worries about interest rates and the economy in general, so we're having to work extra hard …