Painting cabinets takes patience. I know this because this is my first week trying it. First, there's the preparation, which I probably should have paid more attention to. I didn't sand, but instead went all in with gripper primer. Quickly, the cabinets that I'd chosen to start with in the Shabbat RV 2.0 began to … Continue reading The Painting Cabinets and Hisbodedut
Every moment is precious and is the only thing we really have in this life. I've been enjoying my Menuchas Hanefesh studies immensely. The mindfulness that observance brings to everyday life was a big part of what initially drew me to Judaism and this study only digs deeper into that idea. Interestingly enough, it also … Continue reading Menuchah and Watts
Without a doubt, one of the most difficult things about conversion that I've had to work on and help my children with is the reality of double standards. It's one of those things that I think every Orthodox conversion candidate has to come to a place of acceptance with because it's not something we can … Continue reading Reframing Double Standards and Painting Cabinets
It's so still outside that it's worth the insomnia that kept me up to see it and, more importantly hear it. Underneath the stillness, there are birds calling to each other, first just the dark blue jays, so much bigger than the jays I grew up with and missing the white. They're as large as … Continue reading Eruv Shabbos, the World Inhales
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?
It's sunny and warming up here in the frozen north. Everywhere I look, the snow is melting and we're seeing patches of green grass underneath, a glimpse of the world that will be ours in just a week or two if things continue. The world is waking up here after the long winter and birds … Continue reading Spring and the Sabbath Always Come
No, that picture isn't our RV. We took the Shabbat RV (version 1.0) into the RV shop to be looked at after the leaks and other problems we experienced trying it out our first Shabbos. You know it's never good news when the mechanic calls and says, "We stopped working and need you to come … Continue reading The DEATH of the Shabbat RV
Drip, drip, drip. I cocoon in my blanket, trying to ignore the leak, my sweet and very cuddly daughter cocooned next to me. We curl towards each other for warmth. So the night passes. We knew there would be kinks to work out in our Shabbat RV, but I don't think any of us expected … Continue reading Cold, Wet, and Dark – Our First Shabbat in the RV
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
We pack, box after box of costumes and props, a veritable panorama of Egypt into our RV and I marvel at the irony of us carrying with us the imagery of Mitzrayim in our own veritable mobile Sukkah. The Rabbi and his family were tired, up late the night before to prepare this experience for … Continue reading Joy of Small Communities
We don't live within walking distance of our shul. We want to be within walking distance of our shul on Shabbat. We weren't willing to pack up and move across town because it seemed wiser to wait and save up for a bigger move out to a bigger Jewish community. Enter... The Shabbosmobile. It actually … Continue reading Where G-d Has the Will, We Find a Way
The Safek 