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Beginning with the Basics
Feb. 7th, 2008 10:22 amThis is the first in what I'm planning to be a series of posts about my religious beliefs and practices. I'm calling the series "Flying my Frumkeit." So, I'll start with some basics.
Things that are true about me:
-- I have always kept both kosher and Shabbat to some degree.
-- I've covered my hair since 1996 and haven't worn pants (in other words, worn only skirts) since 1995 or so, but I wear short sleeves (well, to my elbow) and sandals in the appropriate season (short as that season may be in the Boston area).
-- I prefer to daven where there's a mechitzah (a physical separation between men and women), and have since I was a teenager, but I can lein (recite with cantillation in front of the congregation) Torah and Haftarah, and I've taught others how to lein Haftarah.
-- I went to Orthodox day schools from Kindergarten through 12th grade, but I made a conscious decision to go to Israel with an unaffiliated Zionist organization instead of going to one of the girls' yeshivot that many of my classmates attended.
-- I often feel like I fall in between categories. I'm not really "frum from birth" ("FFB"), but neither am I a ba'alat teshuvah. I've been observant to some level my whole life; it's the exact level that's changed over time.
-- People frequently make mistaken assumptions about me/my life based on how I dress; sometimes I shock them by proving them wrong.
Things that are true about me:
-- I have always kept both kosher and Shabbat to some degree.
-- I've covered my hair since 1996 and haven't worn pants (in other words, worn only skirts) since 1995 or so, but I wear short sleeves (well, to my elbow) and sandals in the appropriate season (short as that season may be in the Boston area).
-- I prefer to daven where there's a mechitzah (a physical separation between men and women), and have since I was a teenager, but I can lein (recite with cantillation in front of the congregation) Torah and Haftarah, and I've taught others how to lein Haftarah.
-- I went to Orthodox day schools from Kindergarten through 12th grade, but I made a conscious decision to go to Israel with an unaffiliated Zionist organization instead of going to one of the girls' yeshivot that many of my classmates attended.
-- I often feel like I fall in between categories. I'm not really "frum from birth" ("FFB"), but neither am I a ba'alat teshuvah. I've been observant to some level my whole life; it's the exact level that's changed over time.
-- People frequently make mistaken assumptions about me/my life based on how I dress; sometimes I shock them by proving them wrong.
