My Conversion Story Journal

January 16, 2024

I absolutely love my new Tehillim book. There is a thrill of the smell of a new book, and when it has a beautiful cover and perfect typesetting, it makes it even better! The nikkud in the Hebrew side of the book is so easy to read that I am able to get through a chapter much faster. I have been reading just the first chapter at work during my lunch and will continue doing it until I have it memorized in Hebrew.

My Hebrew classes were cancelled tonight so I attended Talmud at the shul. It has been a long time since I have attended a Talmud class, and every other class that I have attended has been online. It was a really good class on how women were the heroes during the time of slavery in Egypt. It was such a different experience hearing it in person compared to listening to online. For one, I wasn't distracted by dishes, work, or my phone. I was also able to hear people commenting on his lesson and hear the questions. It was really good.

I think I finally figured out how to cook parve food in my kitchen. I did have to buy a few small appliances and am still working on getting everything I need to make it run smoothly. I know some things I should wait to buy until after my conversion, but I need to cook and to make my kitchen work while keeping it kosher. Some things, I guess I just don't have a choice. I don't have everything I need yet, and I found my new issue is with knives. I need to be mindful when I use a knife to cut something, and I need to make sure I have enough knives to keep them separated. I don't have it yet to my satisfaction.

This morning the roads were terrible, and the weather was bad. The traffic was extra heave, I was late to work, and everyoen seemed grumpy. Driving to work always makes me miss the country. But tomorrow night Shabbat begins. One more day of telling kids to take their headphones off, and to take their earbuds out, and to be respectful of their classmates, and then... then there is peace, and rest, and prayer, and more prayer, and a little bit of food, and great people. When the city wears on me and when I'm asked if I like it here, I just think about shul and my community and Shabbat. I don't want to be anywhere else. This is my home. This is my community. No, I don't want to be anywhere else.