2006-10-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Shana tova, everybody. I hope everyone's holiday was good.

This isn't really my first post here. There were a few others. I decided to delete them and start again, fresh, with the new year.

Slouching Towards 5767.

I guess that makes this my first post, technically. I should probably give some kind of introductory remarks about this blog.

My name is Yoel. That's my Hebrew name, not my legal name, but it's the one I'm going to use here.

Why, you ask? I'll tell you. Because this blog is entirely (as far as I can conceive) about my experience becoming a Torah-observant Jew.

I was raised in a Conservative home and spent something in the area of seven years actively distancing myself from my religion and nation. A few years ago I decided it was silly to ignore my history and culture, and began reading actively about a myriad of Jewish subjects. A little over a year ago, I realized that I needed some kind of observance in my life. Everything I was reading was indicating to me that there was more to Jewish religion than the out-dated ritual I'd previously regarded it as. We had 4000 years of history, 3000 years of oppression, 2000 years without a homeland, countless attempts at wiping us out. We were still here. There seemed only one logical explanation and, in an attempt to investigate further, last year I attended my first High Holiday services in half a decade.

During Yom Kippur services, I literally felt Hashem's presence, and not-literally heard Him clearly tell me to pursue living my life according to Torah. After a few false starts, I picked up a steady rate of adopting more and more mitzvot, every day. First I began keeping kosher, then keeping shabbat. The most recent major thing came four months ago when, following the death of my grandmother A"H I began davening three times a day. I will admit that I still miss a mincha or two every now and then, but I pray at least once a day every day, and it's extremely rare that I don't at least do shacharit and maariv.

My parents bought me a beautiful pair of tefillin as a new years gift. I just got home from buying a sukkah kit. When I finish writing this, I'm going to go start putting it together in my front yard.

I started writing this post with something in mind to talk about, but I've forgotten what it was. This is probably enough for now, anyway.

Slouching Towards Zion