Ask Chaviva Anything! Go on, Ask Already!

A few people have requested it, and I'm ready to offer it. Consider it a new series of sorts!

Now, I've had a FormSpring.com account for a while, but it became hugely problematic because question lengths were limited and half the time I had no clue what the asker was asking. So I've been exploring other options, so that you, the reader, can ask me anything anonymously without a word limit, and there isn't much out there. So I went with a Google Form, which hopefully will allow you to be anonymous, but give you enough space to write whatever you want! Just click the Ask Chaviva Anything! image above and you'll be taken to the form. 

Note: Just because you ask it doesn't mean I will answer it publicly here on the blog. Sometimes people want to ask controversial questions to get a rise out of me, and as you all know -- I'm open to discussing just about anything. But if you're out to push my buttons, go bother another blogger! I can suggest some if you're interested. 

Can You Still Treat Your Sweet?

In this vlog, I pose a question that I'm sure lingers in the minds of newly marrieds. Help!

Food + Class: What Would You Do?

I told a classmate back at the beginning of the semester that I was going to blog about this, and she was game, but I sort of put it off and put it off, and now I'm ready. Ready?

We're all put in situations where we have to have meals with non-kosher-keeping coworkers or friends. We're all also put in situations where we have to have meals with our friends and coworkers who do keep kosher, but maybe not the same type of kosher that we keep. This issue is compounded, especially, with family. Most of the time, it's doable to either talk those who don't hold to your kashrut into going to a restaurant where you feel comfortable, or having them come to your house, but it doesn't always work out that way. Sure, you can meet people at a coffee shop or a bar for a cup o' Joe or beer (of which kosher versions are abundant), but what about a classroom?

I'm in a class right now where every single student is Jewish, but of varying types of observance and views on Judaism. From the most cultural/secular to graduates of YU and, well, me. We're working on final papers/projects right now, which involve everything from gefilte fish and kugel to delis to Ovadiah ha'Ger. The point? Jewish primary sources (which means a document or even food) built around the idea of what community means.

For our final class, it has been suggested that we bring in gobs of food for noshing. This was brought up a long time ago, but with the impending end of the semester, I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach this with the class. Not everyone will eat the food that anyone makes. There's talk of making gefilte or kugel to bring in. I know in most situations, the best option is to just call up Murray's or something and get some food catered in, but it seems that people really really really want to make food and bring it in.

Sure, I can not eat the food, but I don't want to get into that kind of a situation, especially in an all-Jewish class. Comprende? 


So what should I do? How should I go about starting this conversation? Time is a'tickin' folks.

Asking Tough Questions!

Last night Tuvia had an anecdote to share about one of his coworkers, who is from India: She said that she'd rather be broke, living in a 300-square-foot apartment with her entire family (which she did) than be here. I'm guessing she was happy there, among her people, her culture, her life. This is a sentiment that I completely get. I wake up most days thinking "What would my day be like if I were waking up in Israel?" I count the days until I go back (late November, this year, baruch HaShem), and I plot in my mind my career path for if when I make aliyah. So I have a question for you all.

Would you rather be living seriously on the cheap in Israel 

or 

wealthy and/or comfortable in the United States (or your respective country, the U.K. or Canada or Australia or wherever)? 

I have to follow this up by saying that anyone, I mean ANYONE, can make it work, no matter where they are. I'm a hard worker with a lot of irritating medical crud, but I don't let it stand in the way of success and happiness. I remember the hard days my family had with basically zero dollars and financial support, and I remember having to borrow money from friends to help pay my rent because my credit cards were maxed out. I got a job I hated, but I paid off ALL of my credit card debt, which was really hard to do. It can be done. I've had my highs, my lows, and I know that I can survive on nothing and everything.

Q&A: With my Readers!

Okay, so you guys are really good at these Q&A posts, and although I might not respond to every little thing every single one of you says, believe me, I'm absorbing it all and processing it, too! (Believe me, I'm going to respond to posts on my family/conversion/chaos post, it's just going to take me a little bit of time.)

But because you're all so good at answering questions, and because I value your opinions so much, I have a new question for you, which relates to a few panels I'm going to take part in over the coming months. Are you ready?

What has Twitter, Blogging, or other Social Media (that is, Web 2.0) done for your Judaism (or other religious/spiritual experiences)? Has it brightened it? Made it more dark? Connected you to people, or broken friendships? How has Judaism 2.0 effected (yes, as in changed) your life?

A Few Questions + My Guest Post!

I am pleased to announce that a guest post by your blog's faithful leader (that's me) is up over at A Simple Jew.

On an unrelated note, but an important note none the less, I have a couple of questions. Of course, I know that asking my rav is the key route for answering such questions, but I like to hear what you guys have to say about some of these things because I think you all are a wealth of information and you also allow me to come up with even more in-depth questions. So let me know what you think about some of the following. They're weighing on me!

• Why are there so many different versions of the Kaddish? Rabbi's, reader's, mourner's? Significance of each?
• How come when we have kiddush at shul after Saturday services we don't bensch afterward? How much food must you consume to require bensching? 
• If you say a b'racha (borei p'ri ha'gafen), but not the motzei at kiddush, do you have to re-say it at home? Also, if you say a wine/grape juice blessing at kiddush, do you have to say anything else? 
• Um ... what else ... I had so many questions! 

I'm going to look about today for some books on kashrut, brachot, and the like. I'm a little worried about my knowledge of brachot over various foods since it's been one of the most difficult things for me to get into the swing of doing. Kashrut, as you'll note in my guest post at A Simple Jew, is something that, in my mind, allows an individual to fully envelope themselves in the holiness of all things. I'm the kind of person who seeks to practice what she preaches, so this is going to be my ultimate focus until I scoot off to Middlebury and can only read in Hebrew.