Cost of living

I saw recently on the Internet various blog posts and further discussions regarding the (high) costs of becoming a Jew or of turning to an observant life. I don't want at all to address the persons who started such conversations and their more or less obvious reasons. The beauty of life is that all we are different, thinking differently and having different reactions.

But, honestly, from the very beginning I was surprised by the interest dedicated to such topics, as I never had the idea to evaluate the costs of the observant life (I don't know nothing about converstion). The above mentioned posts are mentioning a long list of investments: the costs of taking classes with a rabbi, the books, plates, clothes and many many other aspects. The writers are American so maybe from an US perspective everything should look as a business plan and even though the writing pieces were not articles in the proper sense of the word (who cares about doing journalism when we can say and write anything we want - including lashon hara - on our personal blogs), I would have been very happy to read experiences from people who didn't think the whole spiritual adventure as an investment counting every single $$ spent.

It doesn't mean I deny or diminish the importance of money in almost everything we do. But, generally, when you turn to the observant life, you do it not because you have a surplus of money, but because you are convinced that something is missing in your life. And you decide to do it, whatever the costs (that, I repeat, I never took into consideration). It is an investment, indeed, but for ever, in a life worth living.

I will not address the costs for conversions because I don't know too much about this, but will think a bit about the return to faith (recently, I saw also some discussions about how problematic is to be baal teshuva and how many people avoid to call themselves under this term fearing discrimination and suspicion within their communities; as long as you do it with modesty and you avoid by any means gossips and irrelevant thoughts, nobody should be afraid of what it is and what used to be; and if you have a tensed relationship with your current community, go to find another one) in practical terms (I avoid to count the $).

Indeed, we need a lot of objects - candles, mezuzot, cups, spices box, plates. And adequate clothes - unless you was used to go almost nacked, for sure you will find in your wardrobe many adaptable items. And books - if you have a Jewish library at the community center and free Internet access, performing that task would be easier. And kosher food - expensive and hard to find in galut; but also try to think about the money you save after you stop eating out too often (or at all, as in galut, kosher restaurants are very rare) or you decline the invitations to go clubbing on Friday or Saturday night. And for classes too - but, again, the free Internet access can save a lot - and many Orthodox shuls are offering periodically free lessons and Rosh Chodesh gatherings. You don't have to do it overnight - at least, we didn't. The process of return is progressive and you will discover what do you need while you advance in your journey. When we started to observe a strict Shabbat, we went to buy everything we needed for this and in one month time we realized what are the other practical necessities - for instance, a battery-powered alarm clock. Openly speaking, the most challenging part was to adjust our working schedule to the cycle of the hagim or to the Shabbat time and the hard task was for our employers to understand that we are not available at all on Saturdays. But it didn't produce any financial consequence; in exchange, we won respect for becoming committed persons, with a healthy family life.

In many hasidic stories, you read about people working hard and in very hostile conditions, enjoying a piece of challah and a fish and the blessing of prayers during Shabbos. In my humble understanding, everything you do is getting a sense up to the aim, which is not to show off and impress other fellow Jews.

Whatever I try, I still can't find any relevance in all the financial evaluations of the observant life. Any relevance at all. When I am convinced of what I have to do and I have the proper guidance for being sure that what I'm doing is correct, the whole life is adjusting and I will find the ways to practice what I am talking about. Period.