Pesach is one of the biggest projects we undertake as frum families. One of the most powerful planning tools in my toolkit—one I use for managing projects both at work and at home—is the after-action report. While any project or endeavor I will undertake again in the future is fresh in my mind, I make notes about what worked, what didn’t work, and what could have worked better with a little bit of tweaking. This way, I can reduce, reuse, and refuse my way to a more sustainable, less stressful holiday.
Making Do
Pesach reminds me that limiting my choices and not having exactly what I want doesn’t have to mean feeling deprived.
Use It Up: The Purim Edition
My ideal would be to send mishloach manos in packaging that is both reused and reusable, but that’s not as easy as it sounds.
Sweet Rewards
With Chanukah coming up, my mind is turning to sweet treats: crispy doughnuts and cookies. I don’t make frosted cookies, but I do make frosted cakes, and in the past, I had always bought my frosting ready-made in a tub. In looking at plastic packaging I could eliminate, that seemed like a good candidate because... Continue Reading →
Regaining Momentum
Over Sukkot, I have to admit, I used both disposable plates and foil pans. Tishrei was the first time I had been in our local party goods store since Pesach. So while I was making strides in my spiritual life, my material life had a lot more garbage bags in it. But, my home and... Continue Reading →
As Right as Rain
I feel a bit of a letdown when we, during sefiras haomer, leave off from davening “mashiv haruach u’morid hageshem” in the Amidah. Those words have always touched me, evoking how HaShem’s spirit hovered on the face of the waters at the beginning of His acts of creation. Our rav, Rabbi Aaron David Lebovics, gave... Continue Reading →
Dayeinu?
“It would have been enough,” we sing each year at the seder table. At our seder, it’s one of the most spirited songs. Probably at your seder, too. But I wonder, have modern Jews, especially those of us in America, where consumption is a national pastime, lost the ability to tell what “enough” looks like?... Continue Reading →
A Very Late, Very Short, Mostly Low-Waste Purim Wrap-Up
One week before Purim, I had a goal: I wanted to make the mishloach manot that my husband and I give to friends as plastic-free and low-waste as possible. Unfortunately, what I didn’t have was a plan for how to make that happen. I had come up with two great ideas, but both ideas required... Continue Reading →
Perfection Paralysis
It’s almost Shavuos, but this week I have been thinking back to Lag b’Omer and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and Rabbi Elazar hiding for 12 years from the Romans in a cave. Where were we, digitally speaking, 12 years ago? We were already standing in the cave (l’havdil) that is the online world, and we’ve... Continue Reading →
Lashon Hara and Lag b’Omer
From the dryer to the fire. How to make great firestarters, plus thinking about lashon hara.