"And on the Sabbath, the iPhones Shall Rest"

Interesting New York Times article about "Keeping the Sabbath"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/fashion/18sabbath.html

More than the article itself, I liked that the article about keeping the "Sabbath" was placed in the fashion section.  Is it in mode to be Shabbos observant these days....?   

Homemaker vs. Feminist

So, I've been feeling a bit under the weather due to a minor surgery I had recently. My husband has been amazing. He hasn't let me lift a finger for 2 weeks now. I'm talking no laundry, no dishes, or other piles that are slowly building up around our apartment. I didn't realize how much of a homemaker I've become in the last year until I wasn't allowed to do anything around the house anymore. I'm just aching to do dishes and laundry and clean clean clean. Pesach is coming!!!

The question I have to ask myself though, since I never really was much of a neat freak, is: Am I just aching to clean because I can't? I hope that isn't the case, because that eliminates the theory that I've grown so much into the role of wife-keeper-of-house-etc... Once upon a time that kind of title would have left me fuming. I would be horrified at the very idea of being called a "homemaker." However, besides becoming religious, a different reality has dawned upon me after being married for almost a year. If I don't do it, who will? Furthermore, I like a clean house. Beyond even that, I like to make my husband happy by keeping a clean house. When the house is clean, he is grateful and I am grateful that he is grateful. Thus, good feelings all around.

This is where I can't help but relate all this to the sage wisdom Judaism supplies us with. No matter how much I used to believe women should empower themselves by shedding traditional roles, its just so much easier and more fulfilling to give in! I love my role as a Jewish woman. I am better at it than my husband will ever be. My husband is better at his role than I will ever be.

One more quick note: My husband has also been doing all the cooking for the last couple of weeks. I love his cooking, but I'm so glad that we mutually agree that I will be the main cook in the family. Yes, we had a discussion, and there is an agreed non-equality in our kitchen. I get first dibs at cooking and even when he does cook, he downplays his role and gives me most of the credit for it. I miss having control over what goes on in my kitchen so much....yes, the feminist that I once called myself is very much gone. Thank G-d for that!

A great Aish article about the gender role differences by Tzippora Heller, one of my mentors:
Men and Women: A Jewish View on Gender Differences

Opinionated...

I hear the word "opinionated" a lot from people I am close to.  I am.  I have strong convictions in what I believe in, and I can generally back up what I am saying.  Generally.  For the last few years, there has really been only one hot topic that I've debated with many about: Judaism.  It is such a central point in my life.  I find myself relating anything and everything to it.  The funny thing is, my husband is exactly the same way.  Sometimes I wonder if our secular family and friends ever hear anything out of our mouths that does not in some way or another pertain to Judaism.

I remember when I was still in the process of growing, I didn't want to be one of those religious people who couldn't talk about anything besides religion.  The thing is - back then, it was just another religion.  To this day I still have a negative association when I hear the word "religion" or "religious."  I think about the bible belt and people preaching about the devil, among other weird images.  I think archaic and outdated.  I think people who are brainwashed and fanatical, and further, not very smart.

Judaism, yiddishkeit, is not that.  I want to remove it from the category of religion and put it into its very own category.  There are religions, and there is Judaism.

There are so many different ways to be a Jew.  There is so much more to Judaism than one can perceive from the outside.  Judaism is about learning, about self discovery, spiritual connection with a higher being, family, self improvement.  It isn't about keeping kosher or dressing in a certain way - those are just means to an end.  Its about a deeper connection to something beyond ourselves.