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My mom bought me the Magen David tree topper and an artificial tree as a gift. "Don't tell your dad or your brothers," my mom warned. She also asked, "Is there anything else you'd like to request before I hang up?"
"That you pay my phone bill," I joked.
"If you can pay for your own trip and sustainabilites with it, then you can pay your own phone bill." By "sustainabilities", she meant everything that would sustain the trip and me while I was on said trip-- food, lodging, gas for my car, and other necessities. "L'Laila tov, and be safe in Baltimore," she admonished.
I stayed at the Red Carpet Inn, which cost $45 per night. But I somehow managed to afford a $45-a-night room with just myself in that room. On Shabbatot, I would hide that I am Jewish and pose as a Kushi v'goy l'Shabbat to work at the local batei knesiyot and earn a few shekalim.
One night, I was at the Red Carpet Inn and dreamed a flashback: I was at home with a Kwanzaa candelabra and replaced the Black candle with an Olive candle, and the red and green candles with red-olive-and-green-blended candles. My dad yelled at me, "What are you doing?!"
I explained, "Olive is for the color of 'ami-- my people. We are Jewish." I was chased around the house by my very-angry dad after that.
With the few remaining shekalim that I had from the previous Shabbat, I bought a cup of coffee from a beit cafe in the Reisterstown Road shopping district. Then to take my mind off of the flashback, I called my mom and asked her a few questions which I had.
"You know why they couldn't have gone to the Reform or Conservative, or Modern Orthodox batei knesiyot around where you are. The batei knesiyot are modern and weren't there then, and your grandparents are very haredi-- which is why they went to B'nai Israel." She knew that I had Googled some things before I left.
One of the questions was obviously why they went and still go to a beit knesset that is so far away from their home.
"That you pay my phone bill," I joked.
"If you can pay for your own trip and sustainabilites with it, then you can pay your own phone bill." By "sustainabilities", she meant everything that would sustain the trip and me while I was on said trip-- food, lodging, gas for my car, and other necessities. "L'Laila tov, and be safe in Baltimore," she admonished.
I stayed at the Red Carpet Inn, which cost $45 per night. But I somehow managed to afford a $45-a-night room with just myself in that room. On Shabbatot, I would hide that I am Jewish and pose as a Kushi v'goy l'Shabbat to work at the local batei knesiyot and earn a few shekalim.
One night, I was at the Red Carpet Inn and dreamed a flashback: I was at home with a Kwanzaa candelabra and replaced the Black candle with an Olive candle, and the red and green candles with red-olive-and-green-blended candles. My dad yelled at me, "What are you doing?!"
I explained, "Olive is for the color of 'ami-- my people. We are Jewish." I was chased around the house by my very-angry dad after that.
With the few remaining shekalim that I had from the previous Shabbat, I bought a cup of coffee from a beit cafe in the Reisterstown Road shopping district. Then to take my mind off of the flashback, I called my mom and asked her a few questions which I had.
"You know why they couldn't have gone to the Reform or Conservative, or Modern Orthodox batei knesiyot around where you are. The batei knesiyot are modern and weren't there then, and your grandparents are very haredi-- which is why they went to B'nai Israel." She knew that I had Googled some things before I left.
One of the questions was obviously why they went and still go to a beit knesset that is so far away from their home.
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