By Rabbi Yossi Marcus
During non-vacation life, our spiritual needs are at times neglected. Do yourself a favor and import some spiritual practices to upgrade your vacation. You won't regret it and its impact will be felt long after the vacation is over. If you're going with kids, doing something Jewish during the vacation will go along way toward their Jewish education!
TOP TEN
1. Wherever your visiting, find a synagogue or other Jewish site to visit.
2. Make it a practice to set a side a dollar before you leave (maybe give one to each child) to be placed
in a charity box at your destination.
3. Read the Shema each morning (i would say night too but don't want to push it).
4. Dust off your tefillin and bring along with you.
5. Study Torah each day. Bring along a book or just visit www.chabadnp.com for a daily dose.
6. Patronize a kosher restaurant (good luck with that--try Gam Gam in Venice, or The Kitchen Table in Mountain View, CA).
7. Say a blessing on some kosher food. Who knows--the place you'll be might have been waiting since the dawn of creation for a blessing to be said in that place.
8. Do a selfless act of kindness for a stranger.
9. Do the same for a non-stranger.
10. Plan to import some of these spiritual practices into your "real" life.
Bon voyage!
Vernon Soudyn wrote...