I checked my outfit 3 different times, changing clothes and kept pestering the kids to get them ready. Mr. Safek nervously tied his tie. It had been a little while since he'd gone to the Synagogue. I didn't understand his apprehension. After all, I'd heard it was a holiday party. This should be fun, right?! … Continue reading The First Time I Went to a Synagogue
In the brief break between the Shabbos and last two Yom Tovs of Pesach...I was cooking up a storm. My husband's mind, however, was elsewhere. He'd found IT. The Shabbat RV 2.0 that he'd been looking for. And, he needed to wrap things up as much as possible before the Yom Tov began...on what was … Continue reading Why Begin Again…Up Here?
To boil or not to boil? Which customs shall we use? How stringent do we want to be this year? These are all relevant questions we face as we clean out cabinets and work to gobble up all the chametz (leavened foods) in our house prior to Passover. We're often on our own to try … Continue reading The Ups and Downs of “Practicing” Pesach
My heart is full today. Yes, it is snowing again and the roads are a mess and the Spring that seemed so close by last weekend now feels like it has fled south to the lower 48, but...this weekend is our first weekend in our Shabbat RV and we have invitations to both Seders from … Continue reading The Kindness of Strangers and Our First Shabbat in the RV
When you're a safek or part of a family with one, life is full of unanswered questions. I often talk with Jews who casually mention calling their Rav's for a question or that their Rabbi came by to show them how to do something and I have to remind myself that, one day, that may … Continue reading Unanswered Questions
The sun is now up past bedtime. It peeks through the little edges of the blackout shades, sneaking into the room, tiptoeing to my eyelids. Granted, bedtime at the Safek household is around 9-9:30pm. We hit the hay early and get up early. But still, the sun is coming back, regaining his dominion over life … Continue reading Passover Prep – Alaska Style!
We walked, silently, around and around the fortress-like building in which we both worked. He wasn't yet anything more to me than a stranger, a slightly unusual guy who sat a cube row over. We were only walking because he'd overheard my conversation on the phone and my sobs after. Unlike all the other men … Continue reading What’s In a Name?
Note - This post was also published on neshamas.com, a really wonderful website for Jewish creative writing. I never knew a person could be a question until I heard the words that made him one. In one sentence, decades of his life went from solid memory to fragile uncertainty. I watched, helpless, as the ground … Continue reading Safek – When a Man Becomes a Question
Safek can also be translated as "doubt." It's most often a doubt over whether something is certain or not, that then leads to a question that needs answered. It's the kind of doubt that can't just sit, that can't be ignored. The term is most often used when there's a doubt about whether or not … Continue reading Doubt
Why is this blog called "Safek?"
