There's been a question perplexing me for about two weeks now. As we say, "On all other nights, we eat both chametz and matzah, but on this night we eat only matzah." Here's my question: what's the the difference between the chametz and the matzah? Or rather, what's the difference between the carbs of Pesach and the carbs the rest of the year? Usually the jokes before, during, and after Pesach are about craving carbs. However, as I realised and then heard my rebbetzin say a few days later ...
All Things Jewish
Returning Home
Pesach [Passover] begins tomorrow evening. I'm listening to The Prince of Egypt soundtrack. Later, I'll be getting my last bagel before the upcoming 8 days of matzah (B''H). And for whatever reason, I can't stop thinking of home. I miss it. Of course, I don't mean Texas from where I hail. I mean Israel. I mean Jerusalem. These past few weeks, the desire to go back has been aching again. Then again, it never really goes away. It just ebbs and flows with intensity. It's been almost 3 ...
Gather the Sparks
There is a Jewish fairy tale about how Hashem gathered Himself [Ein Sof] into ten jars or vessels before He created the world. As He spoke those first words, "Let there be light," the ten vessels broke scattering the light of the Ein Sof throughout the physical world. It is now our role to find this light, to find it within ourselves and others, and let it shine to bring glory back to Hashem. I have written before about how I feel and know that it is my role on this Earth to write, ...
What’s on My Shelf: The Sisters of the Winter Wood
I promised to gush, and so I finally shall... Though I haven't updated "What's on My Shelf" recently, implying I have far more books to review than the title indicates, there is one book in particular which I have been needing to discuss for quite some time. As the Gregorian year comes to its close, I find myself looking back at all the books I have read in the past year, and even further to whenever I began this blog, asking myself which were my favourites. While there are a few which ...
Musings before the New Year
As I'm sitting here at home on this lovely rainy, September day, sick with who knows what, I'm grateful for this bit of quiet in my recently much noisy life, a life which keeps me from this, what I love most. It reminds me what this season is all about, of preparing one's soul for the coming New Year on Rosh Hashanah as we enter the courts of our King and ask Him to pardon us from all sins, iniquities, and unrighteousness from the past year. How? I have books to write reviews for, ...
