What is Eco Kosher and Why Does it Matter?

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I get a regular amount of guest post requests from various blogs/companies, and usually it’s pretty “meh.”  Form emails and spammy and all that.  Robots, maybe (not the cool kind, though).  

But the other week, I got a very pleasant email from Anabelle Harari, and I took notice.  She proposed a guest post on food and mesorah.  Sounded good to me!  After I checked out her fabulous blog, Local Belle, I knew I wanted to collaborate with her.  Her guest post is on a topic that I’ve become much more interested in lately – Eco-kosher.  Enjoy!   Continue reading →

Putting My Music Degree to Good Use

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As you might have noticed, I’m getting excited about the upcoming In Harmony concert in Cleveland (May 26th!).  In preparation for the concert, I made a little video.  For those of you who have been curious about this music playing I keep mentioning, here it is.   Continue reading →

Why I’m Indoctrinating My Children (And Why You Are Too)

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My boys, excitedly anticipating the Pesach Seder. That's been instrumental in Indoctrinating children for thousands of years

My boys, excitedly anticipating the Pesach Seder. That’s been instrumental in indoctrinating children for thousands of years

In the comments section of a juicy leaving-my-religion article, a commenter shared his opinion that it isn’t “fair” that religious people raise their children in a strict environment like Orthodox Judaism.  It’s child abuse to brainwash them the way we do!  Why don’t we just raise them without religion and then let them choose what works for them when they are adults?

Setting aside the impracticality of that idea in the context of Orthodox Judaism, which is basically a full-day full-body life experience, I would like to propose that everyone indoctrinates their child.  Even if they don’t mean to. Continue reading →

Clear Surfaces, Clear Mind. Part One: Above the Fridge

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I haven’t been reading much of the news from the bombing; it was making me far too sad.  My heart is aching for everyone in Boston, and for our country.  I mean, yeah.  It’s just heartbreaking.  But sometimes the best way to combat the evil and to show our enemies that our spirit will not be crushed is to go on with the mundanities of life.  We can infuse the routine of our life with purpose and holiness, and that is a victory.  

This is a post I started last week.  I’ve been so busy (In Harmony concert in May!  May 26th!  Cleveland!) that I haven’t had a minute to finish it.  But I’m making a minute tonight.  Because this is my little act of defiance in the face of terrorism.  I won’t let it make me so sad that I can’t do anything.  May we all have the strength and willpower to make our lives beautiful and full, despite attempts to make the world unbearable.  And may everyone touched by yesterday’s tragedy be comforted.

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Clutter.  It’s a sneaky thing.  No matter how small my living space or how vigilantly I try to keep on top of it, it creeps it and settles down until every available surface is covered with stuff.  And really, it’s just “stuff” that’s covering my nice, clean surfaces.  Stuff that needs to be put in its proper place.  Stuff that needs to be thrown out but for whatever reason (I might use it later!), has be spared the trash bin for one day more.  Stuff that doesn’t have a place.  Stuff that has a place but said place has been covered by other stuff.

You know? Continue reading →

What Makes Jewish Music “Jewish?”

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Before I get into this post, there are two points of business:  

First, I’m happy to announce that Rochel, who commented

“My least favorite room is the kitchen. However, I do enjoy the workout that cleaning it entails!”

is the winner of the “Let My RV Go” novel giveaway.  Yay!  I’ve emailed you to let you know, so I hope to hear back from you soon!  Congrats!

Second, the lovely, inspirational and very talented Andrea Grinberg has featured me as a “Lady Wrap Star” over on her fabulous blog, Wrapunzel.  When I “met” Andrea through the interwebz, it was clear to me that we needed to be friends.  She’s a musician (cello), has a couple of blogs where she has inspirational, honest content, and was also nicknamed Spock.  She has this page called “Music That Changed my Life,” and links to seriously great music.  I was blown away.  Recently, I had the opportunity to meet her in real life (yay!), when she and her husband were in town, and it was just a pleasure.  Anyways, I answer questions about covering my hair and there are some pictures of me in tichels over on her site, so check it out.

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Okay, so what makes Jewish music “Jewish?”   Continue reading →

Giveaway: Let My RV Go! A Frum Pesach Novel.

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Well, Pesach is just two weeks away!  Some of us are up to our ears in preparations, and others of us are still in denial waiting a bit longer to begin.  My friend Ruchi has an excellent post on doing Pesach cleaning in one day and maintaining one’s sanity.  Chaya Kurtz has a guest post on Pop Chassid about the importance of cleaning for Pesach without stress and misery.  I agree.  We don’t need to go crazy, and dust is not chometz.  That said, I did find the turning over period, where some rooms were clean for Pesach and others weren’t, a bit stressful.  I should’ve used Ruchi’s method!

Anyways, imagine if all you had to clean was the kitchen of an RV?  That’s all the protaganist in Nicole Nathan’s new novel has to clean.  But she has some other dilemmas, like parenting a number of small children in an RV on a long road trip, and how to get a box a matzah that was foisted on her by an unknown man to its recipient, whose address she doesn’t have.

see - clutter!I was contacted to do a giveaway of this new frum novel, Let My RV Go!  The book is sitting on my (cluttered) desk, just waiting to be mailed off to the winner of this giveaway.   So, to enter, just leave a comment telling me your favorite, or least favorite, part of the house to clean for Pesach.  The giveaway will end at midnight on Sunday, March 17th.  I will contact the winner via email, so be sure to leave your email address in the comment form!  

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