L613

I HIGHLY suggest Queens College. It’s one of the best secular universities for frum Jews to attend. Plus, it is a ten minute walk away from Main Street in Kew Garden Hills which is packed with Jewish stores, restaurants, etc. Many guys learn part time at some of the small yeshivos in the area.

If you have the money, I would alternatively suggest Touro College or YU (if you can withstand the hashkafic debate of the place).

Gavra – loved that book. A random old Jewish lady sitting next to me at Jury Duty recommended it to me.

As for me on Shabbos – I run groups for the girls in the neighborhood who are super bored on Shabbos afternoon (50+ girls attend). So most of my time I spend preparing. I also visit with friends.

My halacha teacher in high school (years ago!) said that a woman who is expecting should not go into a nail salon. Yes, that means no manicures for 9 months. You just don’t want to risk it!

I saw someone reading it on the Subway today! I was wondering what that was all about…

My eating philosophy is to find nutritious foods that fill me up substantially so I don’t eat again for a few hours. Pizza is the ultimate diet food! It is a complete meal – protein (cheese), carbs (bread – best if whole wheat), and veggies (if you have veggie pizza). It really does the trick and keeps you full for a few hours! The meal is best if you combine it with a nice salad and drink water.

As Heimishe Mom put it – everything in moderation (which I think is a very “heimish” perspective). Don’t make yourself crazy! You want to develop good eating habits that last.

zeeslick is not ice cream. it’s gelato!

People think that about coffee, but the latest science shows that it’s not. Weight Watchers used to count 1 cup of coffee as a 1/2 cup towards an 8 cup daily drinking requirement, but they recently took that away. Now 1 cup of coffee counts as 1 full cup of liquid.

Someone once explained it to me.

You are NOT an accountant (or whatever else it is that you do…). First and foremost you are an eved Hashem. Therefore, you are an Eved Hashem who WORKS IN ACCOUNTING. So I guess if anyone asks you, just say, I work in [fill in whatever it is you do that gives you parnassa] rather than I am a [whatever you do]…

With that said, I am an Eved Hashem, and I find extreme fulfillment as an educator, i.e. I teach for a living… and I LOVE it!

Do what works for you.

I eat 5 small meals a day. I just lost a significant amount of weight B”H.

I now know that Pashuteh Yid is saying a whole bunch of meshugasim once I read the most recent post. And FYI, eating breakfast late in the morning and a late dinner as well is one of the worst things you can do to yourself.

To prove my point:

http://www.htsti.com/?q=eating+late+breakfast+slows+metabolism

Try a HEALTHY diet like Weight Watchers. Their new Points Plus Plan is really great and I’m finding a lot of success with it.

All my NYC tefillos concern the Subway…

-PLEASE Hashem let the train come fast!

-PLEASE Hashem, HOLD THE TRAIN and let my metrocard word on the first try!!!!!!

-Please Hashem, let this be a smooth ride home with no mexican singers or homeless solicitors.

-Please Hashem, allow for this train to have k’vitzas haderech!!!!

I like to call them “professional rejectors.”

Yes, I know they are not all like this, but the vast majority of them are.

Do they ever get married? Usually. To someone who it’s “comfortable” for them to be with.

I recently went out with one such guy. He was a little older than the norm; very set in his ways and proud of himself. He is looking for someone very specific and I fit that description very well. But he said no without giving me a second date. I can’t imagine how he came to the conclusion that “our personalities did not match” because he didn’t ask me any questions about myself, and even so, our conversation flowed very nicely… it was very strange. I wish him all the best.

If you think about it, these guys have gone out on MANY dates, probably over a hundred. What’s the common denominator of all these dates? HIM! So there must be something going on there. Just saying.

Also – I’m NOT denying the fact that for some people it takes longer. This is sooo true. I’ve seen countless guys get married in their late 20’s, early 30’s… it just took them longer to find their basherte.

Ultimately, Hashem is running the world and we have to do our hishtadlus (which means not to reject so easily!!!!!)

Pearly White is a beautiful color. It looks like your fingernails are mother-of-pearl. And it stays on for quite a while as well…

When researching, make sure to find out if he has mentors and role models, and families who he has spent time with outside of his home. Perhaps he was away in yeshiva and spent a lot of time in a certain home? Almost like a ben bayis. This is important so he knows what it means to run his own, properly functioning home.

I just taught this to my students today!

The rule is that a vuv with a dot on top can either be a cholom malei (“oh” sound nekuda for the previous letter), or it can be a vuv with a cholom chaser (“voh” sound). But a vuv with a dot in the middle is a shoorook (“ooh” sound), but it will NEVER make a “vooh” sound. It is just a vuv with a dagesh inside. So the word says “havos,” and the first vuv is a vuv with a dagesh, and the second vuv is its nekuda – a cholom malei.

Ice skating! (If you consider it tznius).

Start a babysitting club and market yourselves out to be available to babysit (and then you’ll make tons of money!).

Start a choir and practice to sing in an old age home (to the women only of course). Or a dance?

Make yourselves a scavenger hunt (use your imagination on this one).

Go to a huge supermarket and give each other topics (ex. something very random like “computer”). Each girl has to find 3 items that have to do with that topic for under $5. Go home and figure out what you can cook with all the items.

Have a get together to watch a really amazing Rabbi Wallerstein shiur on TorahAnytime.

Make a weekly motzei Shabbos pizza making activity.

Host a Home Kiruv Training seminar from Project Inspire.

Pretend you’re little kids and play little kids games like hide and seek.

My suggestion is that someone should go and claim it ASAP (even if it doesn’t belong to you – I mean how hard can it be to claim tefillin?), and then bring it to the New Square Hashavas Aveida organization. That way, we know it’s in safe, Jewish hands and will not be risked being disposed of in an unacceptable way. And they will try and find the owner.

I would go myself, but I think someone who actually works/lives in that neighborhood should go.

If you recently started shidduchim, here’s a bit of advice. Make sure you LISTEN when she talks. Like really LISTEN. This is super important. Don’t talk all about yourself the whole time. Ask her questions about herself. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about yourself, but don’t dominate the conversation.

On a different note, what does a guy usually look for in a girl??

I heard a story recently about a girl who was looking for a shidduch for a very long time. She wanted a very very frum bachur with a true love of torah and amazing middos. She finally found him – a ger tzedek (who also had a broken engagement). She was able to look past his background because he had everything she ever dreamed of. Rav Nosson Tzvi was mesader kiddushin at their wedding. He is now learning full time in the Mir and she is thrilled.

I know that the Young Israel of Brighton Beach (in Brooklyn) collects old clothes. They do pickups but I’m not sure if they go to Lakewood..

Young Israel Yeshiva of Brighton Beach

718-385-5002

Neptune Ave., Brooklyn. Will pick up clothing, shoes, blankets, linens, dishes, and toys predominantly in the Brooklyn area. Will take 2-3 bags per pickup.

I too fall under that category. However, I just entered the shidduch parsha so I don’t know if this is indeed true.

I certainly hope that the family I marry into will appreciate me for who I am and not focus on my lack of yichus and whatnot. I am proud of my parents and the life choices they made and I want my husband to feel the same. I would marry the son of ba’alei teshuva in a heartbeat (provided that everything else matches up, of course).

I do find, however, that shidduchim with regular yeshivish families (where the parents are ffb) is much simpler because they don’t have to get used the whole shidduch system. I find that the idea of support is not so scary as it is with ba’alei teshuva. It’s a difficult concept – primarily because it’s so foreign – of supporting your children AFTER they get married. In the secular world, you don’t get married until you’re ready to support a family. This is the world ba’alei teshuva come from. Unless the bt parents are 100% completely engrained in a yeshivish community and not involved with the secular world on any level, or are extremely well-off, this is very difficult to get passed. A regular yeshivish family will just take out a loan if they need because the idea of support is as normal as putting food on the table for shabbos.

That does make sense. There is a browser on the Sansa. It’s not as clear as an ipod, but I’m really happy with it… especially because it cost a fraction of the price of an ipod!