My Conversion Story Journal

November 4, 2024

This entry is just a learning dump. I've learned a few things over the past couple of months and I don't know if I have written them down yet.

1. The 100 blessings a day is from King David when he said that his day was complete after blessing Hashem 100 times. It is possible to do so every day if you say the morning blessings and prayers, the Sacharite, Mincha, and Maariv, the bathroom prayer, each time you eat, and when retiring at night. It is not a meaningless something to do just because, but is a check to make sure you do all of your prayers each day.

2. I learned that there is a phrase you say during the repetition of the Amidah. I took my Siddur to shul last Shabbat so that I could mark the places. It just happened to be Rosh Chodesh, so we did not do the regular Amidah. I marked the places for that prayer anyway, and I will take it again next week.

3. The significance of the number 3 in Judaism comes from the classification of the 3 types of Jews: Kohanim, Levite, and Israel (everyone else).

4. Shechinah means the Devine Presence, not that I fully understand what that means.

5. Rosh Chodesh is supposed to be a women's holiday (every month) where women do less work or not work at all. I haven't heard of this, and I don't think anyone in my community follows this custom. If they do, I haven't heard about it.