Hello! Hope you all enjoyed your Pesach! It was a wonderful holiday for us, very busy but very satisfying and now I’m trying to put my house back together and still function somehow when I can barely find anything in my kitchen. But life moves forward, as do deadlines, and today I have another piece… Continue reading My Complicated Relationship With Prayer
A Freilichen Chanukah to everyone who’s celebrating! It’s been a delightful whirlwind over here. Today is the last day of Chanukah vacation, so we’re soaking it up. I’m still in my pajamas as I type this. It’s glorious! Today over on Hevria, I wrote about my constantly evolving Chanukah experience, and how my expectations for… Continue reading A Little Chanukah Miracle
A lot of my writing lately has been focused on things that I find difficult, or that I have struggled with. I think it’s important to explore these topics, but when it’s gotten to the point where writing about how much I appreciate Shabbos feels subversive, I realize that I need to think about balance!… Continue reading Shabbos and Creativity
Sometimes we can’t really change until we accept who we are
Last week I saw a Facebook post which got me all emotional in a defensive way, and, after some (not enough) reflection, I commented, even though I was aware that my opinion might not be well-received. I rationalized my decision to comment by telling myself that if we only comment on posts that we agree… Continue reading Do I Really Want Facebook to Just Be Pictures of Babies and Food?
One thing I’ve enjoyed about living on the east coast is proximity to so many interesting places. Growing up in the midwest meant a drive of at least three hours to get to another metropolitan area, and sometimes that metropolitan area was still on the small side (I’m thinking of you, Des Moines). We’re in… Continue reading My Daughter, Jewish Aggressor
After deciding to actively get involved with Judaism, the most logical starting place seemed to be at a synagogue. My scant knowledge of these houses of worship was derived mainly from my childhood piano recitals, held in the synagogue my teacher attended. I faced an unexpected array of choices, having only recently learned that there are three main… Continue reading Why Orthodoxy?
Gender can be a very hot-button topic (ahem, understatement). So can Religion. It’s not surprising that discussions of gender roles in Judaism can get very heated. I’ve watched op-eds fly across the interwebs, but with a certain amount of detachment. Gender issues aren’t anything that I get particularly worked up about. When I became Orthodox, I… Continue reading A Review of Circle, Arrow, Spiral: Exploring Gender in Judaism
{The latest round of Orthodox Women Talk is up over at Rachel Eden’s blog! We’re talking about our favorite way to infuse our lives with Judaism. Check it out! } It’s eight days ’til my due date. I’m not really taking this deadline so seriously, as all of my babies have been born exactly a week… Continue reading the Best Pregnancy-Related Purchase Ever, plus Round Three of Orthodox Women Talk
This week was the much-publicized Great Challah Bake and Shabbos Project. I was totally excited about both these events, but, much to my dismay, I didn’t participate in either! What?! Yes. The Challah Bake was scheduled on Thursday. On Wednesday, I realized that my husband was scheduled to work the 2 pm to 1 am shift… Continue reading On Being a Non-Participant
Rivki Silver ~ thoughts & music 