On an unrelated note, but an important note none the less, I have a couple of questions. Of course, I know that asking my rav is the key route for answering such questions, but I like to hear what you guys have to say about some of these things because I think you all are a wealth of information and you also allow me to come up with even more in-depth questions. So let me know what you think about some of the following. They're weighing on me!
- Why are there so many different versions of the Kaddish? Rabbi's, reader's, mourner's? Significance of each?
- How come when we have kiddush at shul after Saturday services we don't bensch afterward? How much food must you consume to require bensching?
- If you say a b'racha (borei p'ri ha'gafen), but not the motzei at kiddush, do you have to re-say it at home? Also, if you say a wine/grape juice blessing at kiddush, do you have to say anything else?
- Um ... what else ... I had so many questions!
I'm going to look about today for some books on kashrut, brachot, and the like. I'm a little worried about my knowledge of brachot over various foods since it's been one of the most difficult things for me to get into the swing of doing. Kashrut, as you'll note in my guest post at A Simple Jew, is something that, in my mind, allows an individual to fully envelope themselves in the holiness of all things. I'm the kind of person who seeks to practice what she preaches, so this is going to be my ultimate focus until I scoot off to Middlebury and can only read in Hebrew.
