This time last year, I did not feel ready for Yom Kippur. I just couldn’t get into it. I didn’t think I had done any semblance of a proper teshuva. And I just wanted to stay home from shul. I called up one of my role model/friends and asked her to give me whatever chizuk came to mind. These …
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 …
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 …
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 …
You’d think shopping would have come up on the blog by now (I mean, really), but for some reason it hasn’t. These tips could be a subcategory of Secrets of Adulthood. I wrote them up after a pretty intense shopping marathon this week. It’s officially summer weather and the shopping couldn’t be put off any longer, much as I dread …
It’s hard to believe that we’re already on the other side of Yom Tov! This year has gone by so quickly — I remember writing in my journal in October that I had another 8 months left to the school year, and where have they gone? It’s been an interesting year with some unexpected developments and I feel that I’ve …
A few weeks ago, I came home from (another) disappointing date and felt utterly drained and completely out of options. I called a friend, who stayed on the phone with me for an hour while I cried. She told me, “The only thing to do is not give up. We are not in control of what happens when. But we …
This week we’re going to hear the megillah. I always enjoy following the drama of the Purim story. The climax, of course, is when Mordechai tells Queen Esther to go speak to the king about Haman’s evil plot. As we know, Queen Esther is hesitant, telling Mordechai that anyone who goes to the king uninvited is put to death. Instead …
Happy Rosh Chodesh Adar! Mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simcha – so let’s discuss simcha. This is a topic that comes up rather often on the blog, as it’s something that can be a struggle for anyone going through a nisayon (and not just shidduchim, obviously!). Recently, two married friends told me, separately, that the number one best thing I …
Tonight I did a free writing class for Chanukah from Yocheved Rottenberg of Write Your Way Home. (I’m sure if you contact her through the site, she’d send it to you). The following is what I wrote for one of the exercises, a Captured Moment from a Chanukah gone by. I walk across the expansive dining room to the …
