Early October Thoughts
I've been missing my old blog. There, I was relatively anonymous. Here, we've been quite up-front about where we live which wouldn't be a big deal except there are, b'li ayin hara, five frum (Orthodox) couples here. I'm afraid to say anything controversial for fear that it will come back to haunt me.
I didn't go to shul at all yesterday. Dehydration can bring on contractions and at 28 weeks pregnant I didn't want to take any chances by getting sweaty doing things like standing and davening (praying). Instead, I spent the day in bed and on the couch thinking about the question of what to do with Jews who are non-observant. I read several chapters in a book on Ahavas Yisrael (loving your fellow Jew no matter what)
We are part of a Chabad congregation and the overwhelming majority of the congregants aren't frum at all. I mean, AT ALL. The other Shabbos I had to stop one woman in the congregation from adding water to the cooking cholent when she arrived at shul. Another woman asked me if she could take the kiddush leftovers to her son so that she wouldn't have to cook for him that afternoon (she was going to carry them to her car and drive them home Shabbos afternoon). I had no idea what to say. I told her to ask the rabbi since the leftovers technically belonged to the shul...
I have a hard time knowing when to educate and when to let it ride. Granted, it's not really my job to preach frumkeit in this situation, but I'm forced into the position quite often.
I spoke to the rabbi about this at one point after he gave a drash (sermon) that I was SURE was directed at me - tolerance toward one's fellow Jew no matter what level he's at. I hypothesized that perhaps it was easier for people who were FFB (people who were born Orthodox) to exercise this tolerance because they had never known differently. Those of us who are BT (didn't grow up Orthodox) conciously rejected the path that these very same non-observant congregants are on. How do you tolerate what you have deliberately and conciously rejected? It's tough. Very tough. Nevertheless, I have to keep working at it.
On top of all this, I'm generally cranky these days. It's hard to sleep when you're pregnant. Rolling over takes on a whole new dimension and your bladder fills much more quickly. My little soccer player likes to get up around 4am, so at least I'm not awake alone.
But, the weather is fine and life is easy. We're heading to Home Depot tonight to buy sukkah materials and look at paint samples for the bedroom. The Stinky Dog and her new sister the Little Woozle stole a whole chocolate cake off the counter last night and are feeling the consequences today (Stinky is living up to her name...). I'm off to try my hand yet again at bread starter.
I didn't go to shul at all yesterday. Dehydration can bring on contractions and at 28 weeks pregnant I didn't want to take any chances by getting sweaty doing things like standing and davening (praying). Instead, I spent the day in bed and on the couch thinking about the question of what to do with Jews who are non-observant. I read several chapters in a book on Ahavas Yisrael (loving your fellow Jew no matter what)
We are part of a Chabad congregation and the overwhelming majority of the congregants aren't frum at all. I mean, AT ALL. The other Shabbos I had to stop one woman in the congregation from adding water to the cooking cholent when she arrived at shul. Another woman asked me if she could take the kiddush leftovers to her son so that she wouldn't have to cook for him that afternoon (she was going to carry them to her car and drive them home Shabbos afternoon). I had no idea what to say. I told her to ask the rabbi since the leftovers technically belonged to the shul...
I have a hard time knowing when to educate and when to let it ride. Granted, it's not really my job to preach frumkeit in this situation, but I'm forced into the position quite often.
I spoke to the rabbi about this at one point after he gave a drash (sermon) that I was SURE was directed at me - tolerance toward one's fellow Jew no matter what level he's at. I hypothesized that perhaps it was easier for people who were FFB (people who were born Orthodox) to exercise this tolerance because they had never known differently. Those of us who are BT (didn't grow up Orthodox) conciously rejected the path that these very same non-observant congregants are on. How do you tolerate what you have deliberately and conciously rejected? It's tough. Very tough. Nevertheless, I have to keep working at it.
On top of all this, I'm generally cranky these days. It's hard to sleep when you're pregnant. Rolling over takes on a whole new dimension and your bladder fills much more quickly. My little soccer player likes to get up around 4am, so at least I'm not awake alone.
But, the weather is fine and life is easy. We're heading to Home Depot tonight to buy sukkah materials and look at paint samples for the bedroom. The Stinky Dog and her new sister the Little Woozle stole a whole chocolate cake off the counter last night and are feeling the consequences today (Stinky is living up to her name...). I'm off to try my hand yet again at bread starter.
posted by Sarah at 14:57
2 Comments:
Mia - I hear what you're saying and you're definitely right about that being the reason people come to Chabad. I guess I need to continue to work on adjusting my attitude. :)
Elster - Sorry you don't like the Senate race stuff. It's honestly more for me than for anyone else - following politics is entertaining for me - probably kind of like some other people follow sports...
The novel at this point is non-existent. :( I can barely focus on keeping the house together let alone putting together coherent thoughts on paper...
I love the name Little Woozle! I think FFBs are even less tolerant in the situations you describe, because many, having not come from non-observant backgrounds, have serious difficulty understanding where non-religious Jews are coming from. Hope your pregnancy sleep gets easier. Any chance of pictures of the Home Depot sukkah and bread starter?....totally unrelated, but did you ever consider Sharon as a community to live in?
Post a Comment
<< Home