Keepin' it kosher

I had dinner last night at one of the kosher restaurants my rabbi had recommended, and had the best bologna sandwich I had ever had. Made Oscar Mayer look like nothing. Thick-cut and very tasty. Worth the $10 price, which was the cheapest thing on the menu. (A roast beef sandwich costs $20!) The lady at the counter was from Israel, and she was interested in the fact that I am an outsider studying Judaism, because she never knew anyone who did this (in Israel, most "outsiders" are Arabs, and she said they don't tend to study Judaism!). I got hungry again later in the evening, so I had rice-a-roni with cheese sauce. That should be all right. I have beef rice-a-roni, but wasn't sure if that would be okay, even though there's no real beef in it, just beef flavoring. My rabbi said to check for a kosher symbol on food to see if it's kosher or not. So I'll start doing that when grocery shopping.

I talked to an Orthodox Jewish lady at work (she says she's a convert). She invited me to lunch next week to talk about the faith. We'll go to the cafe at the Jewish Community Center. I look forward to it. (She told me, "Welcome to the tribe!")

Meanwhile, a bunch of books on various religions are available at the Scottsdale library for me to pick up - on Quakerism, Baha''i, and Judaism. So I'll be doing lots of reading this summer!