u/one_small_sunflower

Hello dignified dressers! I'd like to add more modest clothes to my wardrobe, but I have a preference for fabrics like bamboo, cotton, and wool. Doesn't have to be 100% but I've noticed that a lot of the modest clothes that I find online are polyester based.

Sometimes that's ok, but then sometimes I find I order clothes and they feel really plasticky or non-breathable, and it feels gross to me 🤷‍♀️

I like to wear clothing that is around a tznuit (orthodox Jewish) standard of modesty, but I'm not super strict about it. I also quite like Islamic women's clothing and this request actually came out of looking at some beautiful clothes aimed at Muslim women that unfortunately looked like the dreaded poly chiffon that seems to disagree with me.

I'd love any recs you have. And if you want to say, "it's synthetic but it's breathable", that's completely fine too 😊 I don't hate synthetics; I'm just trying to avoid disappointment and I do enjoy the feel of natural fibres.

Thank you! Have a wonderful day, whatever faith you follow and whatever fashion feels right 🤍

Last night, I had my first negative experience in a Jewish environment, and I'm feeling shaken up. I'm processing and feeling unsure about what it means. Perspectives, thoughts and support would be welcome.

It was a shiur where there were negative comments about:

• Arab and Druze people.
• Reform.
• Big bang / evolution.
• People who believe in big bang / evolution / scientific theories.
• People who reject or don't follow Kabbalah.
• Other cultural traditions, i.e. a superstition for finding lost things that was connected to Judaism "really works", but an African one was "just voodoo."

I found it intolerant and narrow-minded. I felt like a puzzle piece in the wrong puzzle. Nobody was unkind to me, but I felt really uncomfortable.

Judaism is often celebrated as a religion where debate and challenge is welcome, but this environment felt like it was oriented towards conformity and groupthink. Tbh, it felt culturally similar to the Christianity I left behind, not in terms of the content of beliefs but the way that beliefs were held.

Until now, my experiences with Judaism have been positive and intelligent. I guess I'm afraid that maybe I was wrong, and I'm not a good fit for orthodoxy or Judaism at all. For the first time, I feel mis-aligned and it's frightening because I love Judaism so much.

I want to be serious and observant, but I think critically. I value science. I hate stereotyping or dismissing other people's ways of relating to Gd. Above all else I will not be stereotyping entire ethnic or religious groups.

I was feeling raw and unsettled generally because the day prior, I found a horrifically injured wild animal, and had to take it to a vet to be put down. Relocating is hard, and there have been some big personally difficulties and shocks. I can see those factors amplifying my response by quite a bit, as I was teary and upset before this experience. But I also think that it's a distressing experience anyway, and one I'm having a hard time processing.

Support and perspective would be welcome. Thank you so much.

Hey guys, I found an injured feral dove today. I'm waiting to find out what's happened to it, but I'm expecting to find out that it was put down. I'm super upset, and I'd be grateful for reassurance and support from other people who love doves too.

It was lying on a piece of tile in my parents' backyard. It tried to move at my touch, but couldn't walk or fly. I scooped it up as gently using a towel. Put it in on a cushion in a box lined with blankets but. Kept it dark but made sure it had air. Took it to the vet.

The vet said she could see blood and suggested a cat. I told them to call me if it could be saved, as I'd consider paying for treatment and caring for it. She said the bird vet would see what he could do, but she had that look on her face that tells you what is going to happen 😞

I've never had to put an animal down before and I just remember the last few moments that I had with it. It looked at me so trustingly and I told it that it had been a good dove and it was okay now. I know I did the right thing but I also feel like I murdered it. Any support you can provide would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi all – just chatting and sharing life experience 👋

My shul has been a smash hit. I feel really happy there. The congregation leans older but they are still lovely and inclusive. It is a traditional shul but also feels relaxed.

I'm interstate for a few weeks visiting family. I'm finding it hard being distant from Jewish community. Online shiurim help but I still am aching to see Jewish human beings and be part of Jewish life, even as a gentile.

Yesterday, I asked Chabad if they'd mind me coming to services while I'm here.

I am waiting to come before the Beit Din for approval to formally begin the conversion process. Tbh I was late in applying to them, so while I'm impatient, it's my own doing! 🤭

My family are more disengaged from conversion than they used to be. Overall, I feel that they are quietly negative about the whole thing, but this is real and this is happening. The disapproval is ok as long as they don't bother me.

I'm still reading the weekly parashah which I have been doing since the beginning of Shemot. Vayikra is harder going but I am getting a lot out of it. Korban, kedusha, tahara, tumah, kapparah* – these are important concepts but they take a while to grasp. I'm just at the beginning but beginnings are exciting places to be.

How are you going? I'd love to hear your journey and am wishing you well.🌻☺️👋🤗

*Loose English translations: sacrifice, holiness, purity, impurity, atonement. A lot gets lost in the translation though.