I get a bit startled when the calendar hits Tu B’Av and I’m not married. I guess it’s one of those markers of time. I decided a few years ago that when I get married, I will commemorate Tu B’Av each year as a special day (why not 🙂 ). There is a source for this that I read in …
I just joined an easy learning program that I have been gaining a lot from. Each week, I get a recording of a short class on Chovos HaLevavos Shaar HaBitachon, given by Mrs. M’nucha Bialik, a dating coach in Ramat Beit Shemesh (and a very dear mentor). The classes are about 15-20 minutes long. Mrs. Bialik started this program after …
When I was growing up, my best friend from down the block and I were Tisha B’Av partners. We teamed up to watch Rabbi Wallerstein’s kinnos at night and in the morning, the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation video (both Programs A and B) in the afternoon, and something from Aish or Project Inspire in the evening until I went home …
Once in a long while, I’ll shop for dresses in a department store. i don’t do it too often, though, because this is what always happens: I’m browsing the racks and find something that looks really nice. I lift it up to take a good look and realize that, yeah, I’m about to run into unworkable tznius issues here …
One of my social worker friends was super-encouraging of my going back to school. She said, “I think it will really give you satisfaction to be a therapist, and aside from that, I think you’ll love the process of becoming a therapist.” Well. I thought I knew what to expect. I know from therapy. Many of my friends are …
Sorry it’s been awhile — I’ve been very distracted and busy with school (plenty to say on that a different time…) but I just spotted something on the coffee table that I had to comment on. We have the Family First in my house this week. I noticed the cover feature. Can non-maternal women succeed at motherhood? Full …
This is just a brain dump of thoughts and questions I’ve been thinking about, regarding how to define myself and my standards in different areas where there is a choice in how much of a connection to have to secular culture. Often it feels like I’m walking a tightrope between the purity of Torah and the offerings of the …
I write in my journal almost every day. Sometimes I write a few paragraphs and sometimes I write more than five pages. I write about anything that comes to mind — stuff going on in my life, creative ideas, to-do lists…Sometimes I reread what I write and sometimes I don’t. I try to keep to it regularly even when I’m …
I love this quote from Theodore Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who …
A recent quandary (shidduch-related, naturally) had me questioning my very identity. And what it came down to, when the dust settled, is this: if I’m going to consider myself a spiritual person, I had better be sure to involve myself in spiritual pursuits. Not that I haven’t been, per se, but this feeling — that spirituality is only kind …
