My baby has currently entered the stage I like to refer to as “impossible diaper changing phase.”  Because she is very active, thank G-d, she doesn’t want to be bothered to sit for anything longer than, say, 30 seconds.  So diaper changing is basically a constant struggle of muscle and wit.  She’s pretty strong, so simply holding her in place is, well, not so simple.  When you add any cleaning that must be done, and the fact that we mainly use cloth diapers, and it’s a struggle!  Oh boy!

A strategy that I’ve experienced some success with is making ridiculous sounds and faces.  This sometimes distracts/entertains her for long enough that I can get done what I need to.

Aaaahhhhheeeeeeeee!

mmmmmmmppphhhhh

mmmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmmm

uuuuuurrrrrrrrrrggghhhhhh

Sometimes just giving her a toy works, too, but she keeps us on our toes.

What’s the funniest/strangest/most innovative thing you’ve done to distract your kids when you need to?  

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!  

~~~

happy to be eating some nice, green grass

~~~

I’ve kept kosher my entire life (minus a brief stint in college when I became curious about seafood). I grew up in a secular Israeli home where we bought our kosher meat from Simon’s Jewish deli and wouldn’t even think about the fact that we were “missing out” on cheeseburgers.

It was only in college, after attending a Hazon food Conference, that I became familiar with the term “eco-kosher.” As I already considered myself an environmentalist, I was very interested in this idea of combining the laws of kashrut and extending them to think consciously about the entire process that food goes through in order to reach our plates.

The term “eco-kosher” was coined in the late 70’s by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and became very popular in recent years, especially as issues surrounding environmental degradation and industrial factory farming become ever-more prevalent.

So what exactly is eco-kosher and why should we really care about it? As the laws of kashrut seem to be so restricting in the first place, why should we add more strain to the daily task of feeding ourselves?

At the core of the term eco-kosher is a way of extending the rules of kashrut to include concerns of industrial agriculture, global warming, animal rights and fair treatment of workers.  For example, two forward-thinking kosher meat companies in the U.S. – KOL foods and Grow & Behold pave the path towards sustainable, grass-fed, hormone-free, kosher meat.

Eco-Kosher is a new approach to kosher eating, and one that I feel should be taken seriously. If more Jews adopt the practice of eating eco-kosher products, it would only contribute to the betterment of the world. By supporting grass-fed meat that was free to roam (like cows naturally do) and slaughtered with the utmost respect and by kosher standards, we are combining two ideas, old and new, that are naturally cohesive.

Keeping kosher is already a way to elevate our food and the act of eating to a higher spiritual level; eating kosher food that was raised sustainably and ethically is a chance to enhance this beautiful mitzvah even more.

While I personally choose not to eat meat, I feel that as Jews, eating sustainably and ethically is aligned with a strong Jewish tradition of morality. This includes make conscientious choices about where our food comes from, how the person was treated who helped feed us as well as the impact had on the environment.

It’s a hard price to pay, but no one ever said being Jewish was easy!

Anabelle Harari is the community attaché for Birthright Israel Experts and writes an organic food blog called Local Belle. She sustains herself primarily on goat cheese, dark chocolate and kale. You can connect with her on twitter @thelocalbelle.

This piece of music is an etude, which is basically a technical exercise which helps a clarinetist (or any musician, really) improve their technical skills, like finger speed, evenness and tonguing, while also working on musicality through phrasing, dynamics and so on.  This particular etude is from a book edited by David Hite called Melodious and Progressive Studies for Clarinet.  Isn’t that a fabulous title?    Anyways, I enjoy playing through this book.  I worked on these etudes primarily  in late junior high and high school, so going back and playing them gives me a pleasant wave of nostalgia.

Rather than simply playing the etude as would be done in a clarinet lesson, I opted to add a backtrack using the oh-so-fun GarageBand.  This gives the otherwise straightforward exercise a completely different feel.  Let me know what you think!

Others things you might like:

• What Makes Jewish Music “Jewish?”
  
• 101 Faces
• The Power of Music: an Experiment in Film
  
• Does your Daddy know you’re here?
  

Vanity:  Lots of stuff.  Too much, really.  There’s supposed to be a mirror that’s attached (that’s where the term “vanity” comes from, right?), but we’ve moved so much (4 times in 5 years), I just never bothered to re-attach it.  I have two organizing boxes containing my scarves, hats, sheitels.  And filling the potentially useful space in the middle are piles and piles of CDs that I need to get on my iTunes and then sell.  Or, more likely, donate to Goodwill.

Perennial To-Do List:  Put those CDs on iTunes.  Seriously.  Also, put the pictures I printed off into photo albums, and then print off more pictures.  That and the constant decluttering which must happen for the retention of my sanity.

Refrigerator Shelves:  Now?  Shabbos leftovers.  Lots of them.  You should come for Shabbos next week and then there won’t be so many leftovers.  No, really.  Come.

Itinerary:  I’m playing in a concert May 26th in Cleveland, so practicing every day is high on my list.  As is making travel preparations for the concert.  Also, a potential day trip to New York to see a Rav who is in the country for a brief visit.  Shavuos plans are also not far from needing to be made.

Fantasy Itinerary:  I’m with Renée – a trip to Israel!

I want to live here, with the camels

Playlist:  Anat Cohen, Yosef Karduner, Beethoven, Terry Riley, Chanale, Chilik Frank, Rachmaninoff, Kronos Quartet, Pachora, Shalsheles, Carlebach, Uncle Moishy (not really my choice there, but it’s so catchy!), myself (preparation for the concert)

Nightstand:  My water bottle, alarm clock, lamp, baby monitor (because in our three-bedroom apartment maybe I won’t be able to hear the baby… that’s sarcasm there) and our phones when they’re charging.

Workout Plan:  My kids are my workout plan.  But really, I would love to use the elliptical machine at least three times a week for fifteen minutes.  The other week I walked five miles.  That was great!  But I didn’t do anything like that the next week.  And then Sunday I walked again.  Basically, I have no plan.

iPhone:  My Social Media stuff, and email.  I’m a little obsessed with Instagram and Words With Friends.  I also enjoy my Jewish apps that I use for checking the date of holidays, Shabbos candlelighting times and whatnot.

Top 5 List:

1. Find a way to get my kids to eat more
2. Play more music (like, actually play, not just press play)
3. Spend time with my husband
4. Be happy and spread it around.
5. Improve my relationship with Hashem

Bucket List:  Return to school to study music composition.

Mind:  May 26th.  Cleveland.  Concert.

Blogroll:  A variety of blogs.  I’m not always able to keep up with the blogroll as much as I would like, but I’m happy when I do get to read.

Walls of your favorite room in your house:  I’m loving the bookshelf/piano/family portrait combo in our living room.

Liquor Shelf:  Recently, we splurged and got a bottle of Glen Livet 15 year.  Mmmm.  So good.  Also, we have some Chardonnay, and had some Moscato over Shabbos.

Last Credit Card Statement:  A new outfit purchase (for the concert), as well as the purchase of some headphones with a longer cord. I need those to practice my music while listening to the backtracks on my laptop.  It’s really hard to play tenor sax while listening through headphones that are maybe three feet long.

Screensaver:  I don’t think I have one.  My screen just goes blank.  But if I *did* have one, it would be pictures of my kids.

Toes:  Nothing.  Maybe it’s time to get a pedicure, now that I think about it.  It’s been ages!

If you want to compile your own list, feel free to link up in the comments!

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.

Our children learn about the world, about morals, values, everything from us.  They look to us to understand how the world works.  Someone who is a wholehearted secularist is going to be passing on those values to their children, even if they are not intentionally doing so.  If children are taught, through witnessing their parents’ choices and reactions, that the world works randomly, without any Divine intervention, and without any pattern or ultimate meaning, that is how they will view the world.  And it will either work for them, or it won’t.  And if it doesn’t, they’ll shop around for a worldview that does.

Same thing with raising a child within a religious structure.  Not everyone who ostensibly observes the rules of religion is a great parent, and so you can have a beautiful religion like Judaism, and yet have a parent (or other authority figure) who doesn’t support the child emotionally, or makes decisions that are harsh, capricious, and likely antithetical to Judaism.  Under those circumstances, that child is probably not going to have a high opinion of Judaism.  That may even be the least of their concerns.  You know?

Years ago, I was sitting in the waiting room to get a sonogram during my second pregnancy.  Next to me was another pregnant woman with an energetic two-year-old girl.  This little girl was climbing on the chairs, happily bouncing around, chattering and full of energy.  You know, like a normal two-year-old in a waiting room.  The mother spoke to this child in such vile language that I was really shocked.  I’m not saying that parents should just let their kids run around willy-nilly, but there’s no reason to use that kind of language with a child, ever.  And I thought about how this child is going to grow up with the experience of being verbally abused for typical toddler behavior.  And how her mother was probably treated the same way.  She may have been indoctrinated into a worldview where hate, anger and violence were the norm, and was now passing this along to her child.

It’s really heartbreaking.

So, yes, I’m indoctrinating my kids.  I’m “forcing” them to say please and thank you.  To say excuse me before speaking to an adult.  To wait their turn when another child is playing with a toy.  To clean up after themselves.  Fine, everyone will likely agree that those are good things to instill in any child, religion notwithstanding.

But I’m also indoctrinating them religiously.  To give thanks to G-d before and after eating food.  To use refined language.  To eat kosher food.  To refrain from turning lights on and off on Shabbos.  To stand up for their parents.  To treat adults with respect.  To think of the needs of others.  To give charity.

Will my children make their own decisions about life as adults?  I certainly hope so!  Do I hope and pray that they will find Judaism as beautiful and fulfilling as I do?  Absolutely.  At this formative stage, it is my responsibility as their parent to provide them the context to navigate the world and life in the way I think will give them the best shot at happiness and success.  And this is the way that I think is best.  

though maybe raising them as pirates would work, too

A practical example:

My husband and I have decided to only play Jewish music around our kids (classical music being an exception).  Initially, this seemed a little extreme to me.  I mean, I understood intellectually that everything kids hear has an impact on them, but was it really that big of a deal?  I occasionally listened to NPR around the kids and they weren’t quoting Steve Inskeep or anything.  Then again, I do recall Little Man singing the iconic theme to All Things Considered…

The other day my two-and-a-half year old was singing to himself as he played.  Happily, I had a chance to eavesdrop.  I heard something which sounded like “Omar Rab Kiva.  Omar Rab Kiva. Hafta Reyka Mocha.”  It took me a minute, but I realized he was singing “Omar Rabbi Akiva,” which was on the Uncle Moishy CD we have on current rotation in our car.  I hadn’t realized that he knew the words, and I spent an awe-struck moment contemplating the wonders of human development.  When did he get so big?

He’s really growing so fast!

As I listened to my little boy singing these words, I was so glad we made that choice about music.  The actual words are “Omar Rabbi Akiva, v’ahavta l’reyecha kamocha, zeh klal gadol baTorah.”  They mean, “Rabbi Akiva said, Love your neighbor as yourself.  This is the greatest principle in the Torah.”   My son was imbibing these profound words.  Did he understand what he was singing?  Probably not.  But it’s making an impression on him, nonetheless.

And would I rather have him singing this?

I don’t know about you but im feeling 22
Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you
You don’t know about me but I bet you want to
Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we’re 22, 22

It’s just a song, Rivki, calm down, you might say.  Sure, sure.  I hear that.  But when my children are still so impressionable, why not shape them in the best way possible?  Why even introduce concepts like finding “solace” in hooking up at a party?  Do I think all secular music is bad?  No, no.  Do I judge other parents who let their children listen to a wider variety of music?  Definitely.  Of course not.   When my kids get older, they’ll listen to what they want anyways.  I’m happy to choose what concepts are going into their head while I still have the chance.

So, yeah, I’m indoctrinating my children.  I’m imparting to them that the world is a beautiful, amazing place.  That life has meaning and purpose, and that they matter.  That their decisions have an impact on the world around them.  That love is more than one-night stands and haphazard relationships.  That even when they make mistakes, there is always the chance for redemption.  That everything comes from one ultimate source, which is a loving, omnipotent G-d.  

Trapped in the confines of religion! Poor thing!

What do you think?  Do you consciously indoctrinate your child?  Am I a crazy extremist?

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.

~~~

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?

When my apartment gets too cluttered I really don’t function as well.  Things take too long to be found, or cannot be found at all.  As the clutter builds, I feel progessively more overwhelmed and despair of ever getting things in order.  This leads to more procrastination, which makes me cranky.  And that’s no good for anyone.

I read an article in the March 6th issue of Mishpacha Magazine’s Family First  which blew my mind, for a couple of reasons.  Reason number one was that the article was written about someone I know in real life.  Simi Friedman is one of the nicest people you could ever meet, and I was so happy to read about her!

The article was about her very creative approach to maximizing the space in her home.  I was very inspired by her ideas, like using the linen closet for a bookshelf, for instance.  And keeping her kids’ clothes in the basement near the laundry station which streamlined laundry.  Her kitchen was also a breath of fresh air.  No junk drawer in there!

I was so inspired that as soon as I could (meaning, after Shabbos), I started reorganizing.  With three little kids and about a million side projects, I don’t have much free time, and the free time I have I don’t really use for home organization.  But that’s on me, becuase I LOVE home organization.  And kudos to Simi for rekindling this drive.

New Series!  Clear Surfaces, Clear Mind.

home improvement, here I come!

Because of this inspiration, I decided to start a new series on the blog, about reclaiming the clear space in my house, and creating a clearer space in my mind as a result.  Each post, about one a month, will feature a different area of my apartment that has been overrun with clutter.  And I’ll tackle it, and tell you about it.

I’m starting in the kitchen.  My kitchen is bigger than my last one, but that’s not saying much.  And I do not really use the space very judiciously.  So, my “old” kitchen setup featured a pantry where I never knew what was in the back.  Following Simi’s example, I took out the food and put in my dishes.  It actually freed up a lot of space, and looks a lot cleaner, too.

I also laid some contact paper down in my cabinets.  These cabinets looks like they are pre-cold war.  They are metal and rusty and gross.  I had wanted to lay contact paper down for a long time, but just never got around to it (know that feeling?).  Well, I finally got around to it.

But the best part is that I did something with the cabinets above the fridge.  In every home I’ve lived in, there are small cabinet doors above the fridge and I never use them for anything useful.  Things always pile up on top of the fridge, and then I can’t get into the cabinets, and then I forget what’s in there.  I always viewed them as useless, really.

See? Can’t get in there.

But after reading this article, I had a flash of inspiration.  What if I removed the doors from the cabinets?  Then I could use the space on top of the fridge AND the space in the cabinets.  And I wouldn’t forget what was in there because I could see inside!!!

I took the door on the right right off.

So I don’t forget where I put the now-removed door, I used a piece of painter’s tape and a sharpie to make a note on the remaining door.  See it up there in the top left corner?  Next, I took some of my pretty contact paper that I kept around from last Pesach (not the most recent one, but the one before that).  This was an instance where me keeping something because I “might use it” actually worked out.  Ha!

isn’t it pretty?

I’ve found that applying the contact paper in small sections is a more effective way of laying it down.  After I “discovered” this method, I realized that there are instructions on the back of the contact paper that, had I read them earlier, would have informed me of that trick.

baby steps

Then I took some time to think about what I would actually want to store up that high.  It would be things I used somewhat frequently, but not too frequently.  I didn’t want to be in a rush to fill it up, so I was okay with leaving some empty space.  I also added a little artwork, courtesy of Little Man, to liven up that cabinet door.

voila!

I’m so happy about those cabinets I get a little pep in my step every time I look at them.  Thank you, Simi!

What area in your home is the biggest clutter magnet?  Is there an area you tackled during spring cleaning that you’re especially happy with?  

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.

~ ~ ~

Okay, so what makes Jewish music “Jewish?”  Jewish music, for a long time, has been strongly influenced by whatever cultures we were living in at the time of its composition.  Much of the music which has what many people consider a “Jewish” sound is really influenced by folk tunes from Eastern Europe.    So when someone complains that a song doesn’t “sound” Jewish, they may not be aware that the sounds of Jewish music have many different faces.  A Jew of Middle Eastern or North African descent would not necessarily recognize Eastern European shtetl music as Jewish.  This is an example of what North African Jewish music sounds like:

We can see that a “Jewish sound” is really dependant on the culture that it’s steeped in.  I remember learning that Chassidim used to take drinking songs from the Napoleonic army and turn them into niggunim (wordless songs used in devotional settings).  So, if any song from any culture can be assimilated into Jewish music, what would be considered a prerequisite for qualification as “Jewish” music?

Is it that the composer is Jewish?  There’s no dearth of Jewish composers out there:

• Irving Berlin
• Leonard Bernstein
• Ernest Bloch
• Aaron Copland
• Leonard Cohen
• Bob Dylan
• George Gershwin
• Morton Gould
• Otto Klemperer
• Gyorgy Ligeti
• Frederick Loewe
• Gustav Mahler
• Darius Milhaud
• Jacques Offenbach
• Andre Previn
• Arnold Schoenberg
• Sholom Secunda
• Kurt Weill
• John Zorn

And that’s not even a remotely complete list.  Even if the music is not “recognizably” Jewish, does the composer’s Jewish identity have an impact on the piece?  Here’s a piece written for and performed by clarinetist Benny Goodman, written by composer Aaron Copland.  I absolutely adore this piece, and performed it on my senior recital.  There’s nothing in this piece that might be considered to “sound Jewish,” but it was written by a Jewish composer for a Jewish performer.  Does its mainly classical sound (I say mainly because it does get happily jazzy toward the end of the piece) preclude its definition as Jewish music?  Or does the sound of the piece make no impact in its classification?

Is it that the music is overtly religious?  There are a number of composers/singer-songwriters who have written beautiful and moving works with text either taken directly from religious texts, or inspired by Jewish teachings.  Some of them are:

• Shlomo Carlebach
• Abie Rotenberg
• Yossi Green
• Yosef Karduner
• Moran Sabbah
• Chanale Fellig
• Velvel Pasternak
• the Maccabeats (there’s a great example of taking non-Jewish music and “making it Jewish”)
• Shaindel Antelis
• Uncle Moishy
• YBC
• MBD
• Avraham Fried

Here’s one of my favorite songs by Yosef Karduner, a musician who is also a Breslov Chassid:

The text of this song is taken from the book of Psalms, from chapter 113.  The translation:

He raises the needy from the dust, He lifts the destitute from the trash heaps to seat them with nobles, with the nobles of His people.

Who is like Hashem, Our G-d, who is enthroned on high, yet deigns to look upon the heavens and the earth?

These lyrics are filled with hope – even when we are in the pits of despair, and you know, we’ve all been there at some time, in some way, Judaism teaches us that Hashem will be there to pick us up and take us to a place of honor.  And even though we believe that Hashem is omnipotent, and all that, we believe that He still concerns Himself with what’s going on down here.  Judaism teaches that Hashem isn’t an indifferent Creator who made the world and then just lets it run its course (that is, I believe, the Aristotelian view of G-d), but that He is intimately involved in our lives.  Karduner’s music reflects the joyousness of that belief.

What if the composer is not Jewish, and the musicians are not Jewish, but the music is a Jewish tune, arranged for a concert setting?  When I was in high school, the All-State choir did a classical rendition of Hava Nagila.  It was interesting to hear this song sung in a classical setting, by a choir of 800 people, no less.  Here’s the same arrangement, but by a smaller choir.  It does contains female singers, just as an FYI.  It’s definitely different than any version of Hava Nagila you might hear at a simcha!  Is that still “Jewish” music?

I was recently introduced to the Lowell Milken Archive of Music, which is an amazing resource.  Amazing. There’s a wide variety of music on this site, all taken from the over three centuries that Jews have lived in America.  You can look up works, volumes, photos, videos, articles, interviews with composers, and more.  It is extensive – more than 700 works from more than 200 composers.  I could get lost in there.

There are twenty volumes of music available.  The 19th volume contains musical reflections of the Holocaust.  Some of the works are in Hebrew, Yiddish, even Italian.  Some of the pieces are for voice, some just instrumental.  Included are art songs (those are songs for voice and piano, in a classical tradition), chamber works (that’s instrumental music, with strings and/or winds), and symphonic pieces (that’s with an orchestra).  You can listen to excerpts of the songs here.  With each piece comes information about the composer and the music.  The amount of information on this site is astounding.

Some of the other volumes are “Jewish Voices in the New World:  The Song of Prayer in Colonial and 19th-Century America;”  ”A Garden Eastward: Sephardi and Near Eastern Inspiration;” and “The Classical Klezmer:  Rebirth of a Folk Tradition.”  There are sixteen more.  Wow.

What I like the best is that this is a venue for lesser-known composers to have their work remembered.  I highly doubt I would have ever come across most of this music had I not been introduced to the site.  It’s even a venue which showcases lesser-known works by well-known composers.  Dave Brubeck, the great jazz pianist, was not Jewish, but wrote a choral cantata based on the Ten Commandments.  Appropriately, this piece, composed in 2005, is called “The Commandments.”  The concept for this piece was

Conceived on the European battlefields of the Second World War and composed more than six decades later, this single-movement cantata serves to remind humanity of its responsibility to live by the precepts contained in the [B]ible’s Ten Commandments, and to encourage love’s ability to triumph over hatred.

I had no idea Brubeck ever wrote this piece, but I’m glad I learned about it.

While I can’t definitively answer the question “what makes Jewish music ‘Jewish’,” I would consider the music over at the Lowell Milken Archive of Music to qualify.    The songs over there don’t sound anything like Shwekey, but they are steeped in Jewish culture of all flavors.  I’m impressed at the extent of the collection found there, and equally impressed at the dedication to preserve this aspect of Jewish American culture.  Who knows, maybe one of my pieces will end up in there someday.

What’s your favorite Jewish music?  

You may also enjoy these:

• Songs of Purim
  
• Songs of Chanukah
  
• Review and Giveaway of Chanale’s newest CD  (the giveaway part is over, sorry)
• The Power of Music: an Experiment in Film
  

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.

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!  

Some other posts you might enjoy:

• Menu Planning for Pesach!
• Crowdsourced Pesach Tips
  
• Let the Pesach Prep Begin!
  
• Freeing myself from a bad habit
  

Yep, those are my candlesticks

Every Friday slightly before sundown, I light five candles.  One for me, one for my husband and one for each of my children.  I cover my eyes and say a blessing, and with that action, usher in 25 hours of rejuvenation, connection and rest.  It’s like a spiritual spa every week.  And boy, do I need it.  I mean, life is so hectic.  It is non-stop action over here, and I know I’m not the only person who experiences this.  Right?  Right.

So I’m super glad when I get to say TGIS (Thank G-d it’s Shabbos) and have a little oasis in time where I don’t feel compelled to check my email, see why my phone is making noises at me, or pack in the kids into the car to run errands.  The kids enjoy having challah and grape juice, and a special Shabbos cereal (we’ve been rocking the fruity Cheerios lately).  I get to see my husband when he actually has some energy, not just after a long, hard day at work.  It is great.

There are so many wonderful facets of Shabbos that it may be hard to pinpoint the highlights, but that’s just what I’ve done over at Partners in Torah, where I give my top five reasons to Keep Shabbos.  Is it the food?  The downtime?  The quality time with family?  The guests?  I’d really appreciate it if  you would head over there and show some support by liking the post and also leaving some comments about your favorite part of Shabbos.  Even if you don’t keep Shabbos, you could give a theoretical reason, that’s totally fine by me.  See you over there!

Making so many mistakes all in one day can be very disheartening, especially when they are the same old slip-ups.   Like many people, I make the same mistakes over and over and over again, and it’s very frustrating.  After having a particularly unsuccessful day, it’s easy to feel discouraged, and to get stuck in an unhelpful frame of mind, thinking that I’m “never going to fix this,” or I’m “always going to make the same mistakes.”

There’s a verse for that.  

Proverbs 24:16 has a beneficial nugget of wisdom which encourages me on displeasing days:  ”For a righteous man can fall seven times and rise…”  Yes, it’s saying that even righteous people make mistakes.  Not just once, not twice, but seven times!  That seems like a lot.  But is it really?  Probably not.

The mistakes themselves aren’t meaningful.  After all, we pretty much all make them, and they’re not so special.  It’s what we learn from our mistakes, how we react to them that has significance.  The getting back up, resolving to improve, and taking steps to make that improvement.

Encouraging, right?  But wait, it gets better!

There’s a Chasidish thought which teaches that it’s the falling, the mistake-making, that makes a person righteous.  What does that mean?  It means that through the experience and resolution of challenges, a person can become righteous.  The verse says that a righteous person falls seven times.  The number seven in Judaism represents completion, perfection.  Within our mistakes and challenges is a tremendous opportunity for growth, and for connection with our higher selves, and with God.

Now that’s a thought that can make my day!

Here are some other posts you might enjoy:

• Torah Tuesdays:  Going in the Right Direction
• Torah Tuesdays – All the time
• The ebb and flow of life
• Kicking the Habit of Playing the Blame Game