Hello!
I feel like I’ve been away for awhile… I’ve been posting Mike “the Jew” videos, Tehilla’s Voice on Torah recordings (we have a new one!) and… I’ve been distracted by some recent special events.
Last week my younger son came with nine of his friends, all Yeshiva students, to have a big Shabbaton here at our little Shul. They caravanned down and celebrated Shabbat in my community. Nobody would have predicted that this guy (now 23) would have gone from a typical teenager getting in trouble during his high school years, to becoming a certified Krav Maga instructor, to now… a fully religious Jew. I am watching him become stronger, sharper, wiser, kinder, and … really even more fun than that high school guy doing typical, sometimes a bit foolhardy, high school guy things!
I was also distracted by that little fire in my kitchen a couple of weeks ago. Yes, the one that happened just after I stopped eating at non-kosher restaurants (and there are no kosher restaurants in my area!). I began eating kosher at home about two years ago, and had just started transitioning to being fully kosher (in and outside the house). Not for nothing, but this is a BIG change. Of course with no eating out or food delivery, and no stove or oven to cook with for about a week, I still had to eat.
I had asked a few weeks ago, what is G-d thinking?!! I take on being kosher because Hashem says to, and then, like the next day, my kitchen catches fire?!
My older son suggested I write about this… that is, what do I think G-d could be thinking?!!
I like the question… It reminds me to remember Hashem. I trust that G-d must have a very good reason. Sometimes I think the reason is just to get me to laugh… Like in this situation, the irony of the timing feels like a tv sitcom. Like perhaps if “I Love Lucy“ or Seinfeld’s “Elaine“ decided to go kosher.
That’s about as deep as it gets for the moment. I will add that once again, this new big Jewish change feels natural and…..
I can’t find a word for it….
Happy? Fitting.?!… Yes, just right! Like Goldilocks finding the right chair, the right bed, and the right sweetness of porridge…
However, the “just rightness” is not as an intruder or outsider like Goldilocks with the three bears. It’s where I actually belong.
One more thing before I close. Another perk of increasing in mitzvahs… 
With the money I am saving on eating out, I am now getting my nails done regularly!
The unexpected joys of Judaism!
Love, Vivi 💞 ©