Kollel

I grew up 'normal'- with fast food, 2 cars, a 3-story house, TV, a dishwasher, a microwave, and everything a middle-class American would expect. Now, I actually cook 3 meals a day (and it's fun), with only a toaster oven and 2 burners. We don't have a car (I have a monthly bus pass), we don't have a dryer (I use clothes pins and a drying rack), we don't have television, we don't have a microwave, our apartment has the size and inner dimensions of a caravan, and we are HAPPY.

What?

Some of this sparcity is due to our newlywed status (to date, we've been married almost 9 months), some of it is a cultural adjustment to Israeli standards of living, and some of it is ideological. We will one day move, we will one day have a dryer, we may live in a house at some point, but we will never let a television into our lives. Even a microwave- we both agree it breeds a certain impatience, and our goal is to one day leave this world with better character traits than those we had upon entry.

And this materially simple life that we live is actually a choice. My husband is studying full-time in Yeshiva, and we are living in one of the most expensive (aesthetically...gray, but expensive nonetheless, due to the high-demand in the religious community to be near synagogues and houses of study) and overcrowded areas in Jerusalem. So on my three part-part-time salaries, a small stipend that he receives as a Yeshiva student, plus whatever comes our way, this is what life looks like. And honestly- every week that he is in Yeshiva is ecstasy for me. His Yeshiva education is an investment in his ability to be a husband, father, and better person. And what he brings home at the end of a day of breaking his intellect over ancient texts in Aramaic, translated to Hebrew, translated to English (which is his third language to begin with) is a distilled spiritual energy that bolsters our moment-to-moment consciousness of G-d.

I'm not saying I never take cabs. Or that I never buy clothes and never splurge on smoothies. But it is definitely a lifestyle adjustment, especially for an American. This lifestyle is called Kollel. And I hope we can stick it out for a long time.