Well, I just experienced my first Shabbos here. Not exactly what I was expecting, but a good time nevertheless.
On Friday night, B made a little bit of dinner for A, myself, and the neighbor woman, R. R is an Israeli/American woman who has just decided to become more religious, and she spends every Friday night here at our house. The dinner was good - I'm a huge fan of challah, hummus and salads on Friday nights, and B happened to make a delicious salad.
Saturday morning, R came over and we walked to the synagogue together. It is a Chabad House, which I was pretty excited about. I love Chabad's ideals and the way they are so open and welcoming. Lots of Jewish reading I've done over the past two years has been from Chabad. One issue, however, is the fact that my husband is Sephardic. My teacher, Sarah, told me last month that it is necessary for me to convert through Sephardic tradition so I can be the same as my husband. The problem is, the family I'm living with and my immediate community will be going to the Chabad House, but my teacher is Sephardic. My husband currently goes to a Sephardic community but shows an interest in joining the Chabad synagogue that is closer to our home. I know it may not sound so complicated - why not just go Sephardic and that's the end of it?
Well, as many of you out there may know, it isn't so simple. We want to buy a house after the conversion is completed, we marry religiously and are finally able to live together. Buying a house is a big step. WHERE we buy that house is even more important. It is where we will go to synagogue, be surrounded by a Jewish community, send our children to school, and spend, bezrat Hashem, many years of our lives. I want us to be comfortable in our choice of community. Both places are Orthodox, and both places we would be living as observant, Orthodox Jews. Is there any reason to worry that one is really better than the other? Please clue me in if there is.
I literally have nothing to do until tomorrow night, when my first class begins. That means my "quick" shopping trip to pick up the few items I forgot in Orlando will probably be dragged out quite a bit, and I will wander aimlessly around my new neighborhood. Truthfully, I am just dying to go spend more time with my new "brother" and his family. Their children are so adorable I just want to eat them up, and I already miss them after less than 24 hours of being apart. This could end up being a problem when I need to move away... :( Hopefully I will find some cool things to take pictures of today. I'll take my new camera with me and see what happens.
Shavua tov everyone!
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