Two entries in one day! Whatever next?!

I just have to get this off my chest. Even though I am just slowly stepping up my level of religious observance, sometimes I find being a practicing Jew very, very lonely. I did not attend the �holiday� office parties because they were both held on Friday evening, and I won�t attend the departmental summer function because it is an all-day Saturday event. It is very difficult to explain why I can�t attend for religious reasons, when every other Jew in the office will show up for events held on Shabbat and eat lobster (or pork, or chicken parmesan) for dinner with everyone else.

Those are specific examples. In a much broader sense, though, I feel surrounded by people who don�t care even marginally about the things that concern me the most. Like Israel. Every day I�m reading news from Israel, trying to become more informed about Israeli and Middle-Eastern politics, getting upset about everyone having to tote their gas masks, donating to charities that benefit victims of terror attacks, ordering whatever I can from Israeli companies . . . and I can�t share this with anyone I work with or even with my family. I feel like I�m hiding who I really am from everyone around me. No wonder I feel like something is missing from my life.

Duh.

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