Hi I'm back. Long weekend, weather is getting cooler and it's easier to be outside without sweating your kiskas off. Geez, it gets just as hot here in Jacksonville as it does in South Florida, the only relieft you get in Jacksonville is winter. We do get a winter whereas South Florida does not. Maybe their relief comes in the form of a 10 degree difference from Jacksonville. We do have to wear sweaters and some form of a coat. Nothing like the North though. We do not get snow or that cutting cold air across your face with the wind blows, but just chilly enough that you need to put the heat on in your house. Very comfortable cold. Right now we are in the 70s lows 40s at night. Perfect weather for being outdoors. Especially with kids and bikes and dogs.

So back to the Bible Belt tale:

So we are here for 7 years, yada yada yada... and loving it. This Thursday First Baptist Church is having a "Stand with Israel" function and it is receiving mixed reviews from the Orthodox community. As far as I can tell, why not have Christians stand with Israel? I do see one small problem. The way I see it is that Christians feel that as long as the Jews have a jewish state (Israel, the land G-d promised Abraham) then they see that when the Messiah comes (back) he'll have a land to come back to. The Jews that have been "perfected" will be saved and the ones that have not been "perfected" will be damned. I guess when the Moshiach does come back all our questions will be answered. I just hope the ones who are corrected don't make a big deal about it and everyone can live in Gan Eden when the times comes. May he come in speedingly in our days.

That is the problem with accepting these situations. It all sounds wonderful until someone tries to pursuade us to believe in something we have strived all our lives to obtain. Living a kosher life. Believe me - it ain't easy. No going out to dinner! Shopping for kosher food, meaning trying to get meat/fish/cheese at a reasonable price. Going to a party and not being able to eat. Not being able to go to a company function because it's usually on a Friday night. No going to Christmas parties. Walking around town with two small boys wearing kippas and tzitzies. I have no clue as to the spelling of tzitzes, but hopefully you'll know what I mean. It's the strings you see hanging from their shirts. Anyway, it's hard. Especially if you never grew up living Kosher. In fact, most people today are what they refer to as "Baal Tchuva" which means returning. A lot of people have asked me if I converted when I became "observant" and by no means no. I have always been Jewish, thank G-d, but being observant is a whole different ballgame. Let me tell you.

First, we pray 3 times a day. Morning, afternoon and evening. You can pray more, but those are the standard prayers. The afternoon and evening are kind of said together too.

Then there is the kosher thing which kind of takes up our whole lives. Our kitchens are separated into 2 sometimes 3 (if you have the room). Meat, Dairy and Parve. We have separate dishes and utensils for all three. Some people will have a separate stove/oven for their meat and dairy. Not usually the parve. Some people just double wrap whatever they put in the oven and use one burner for the dairy and just keep it a meat oven since we cook more meat than dairy dishes. I bought a separate smaller oven for pizza and dairy dishes so I wouldn't have the bother and a small separate burner to make mac n cheese. We have a double sink with inserts for all three. Or one big sink that they won't use but will have separate plastic tubs for what they have to clean.

Our tables have separate tablecloths for whatever type of meal we are preparing. Glasses are non porous so you really don't have to have two sets of those.

A lot of observant women cover their hair. Most wear sheitals (wigs) and hopefully you can't tell they are wigs. I just started wearing one last year. I was getting use to it, but I miss my hair. I'm not fond of the sheitals and I hate wearing a snood. It's awful. Most women don't wear pants but long skirts to cover up their legs and long sleeve shirts or 3/4 length shirts. After awhile it becomes second nature to wear this type of clothing. I'm not fond of the long skirts either, but it helps in the winter because I hate stockings.

So, you see somewhere like Brooklyn or Miami - you can blend in. There are big communities where you can blend in. But not here in Jacksonville. But again I have to say, most of the people here are very respectful of all cultures. It may be small town mentality - but mostly it's a town filled with people who are very tolerant in their views. I'm proud to live here in Jacksonville Florida.