Dear Orthodox Judaism,

In case you were wondering as to my whereabouts these past several months, wonder no more. For now, I have left you. Not for another faith or another version of Judaism. No, you are still and always will be the undisputed and the most  authentic expression of Torah there is.

When I was about 47 years old, I, along with my wife embraced everything about you. And when we did, an entire new world open up to us. That world actually empowered me in a way. I met some of the nicest, caring and humorous people one could imagine.

Keeping kosher, wearing my yarmuke everywhere, tzistis, making certain to daven three time a day no matter where I was, wash, bentch ...., nothing could deter me. I do not work in a city where there are other frum Jews. My office is in a suburb that I'm sure has other Jews, but certainly not  one wearing his yarmuke pumping gas or shopping at Kroger. It empowered me when people would look at me, some with approval (evangelicals I'm sure), some with no interest at all and of course some with utter disgust. Whatever the reaction, I would nod and slightly smile back at them.

What to do with my four children at the time, two of which were entering the fifth grade, one the second grade and one pre K.? Pull them out of public school and place them in an orthodox day school of course! What a solution. This way I would be certain that they would learn respect for their parents in a Torah enviorment that would remain with them forever! I of course would have to do my part by setting the tone in the house in order for this  respect to endure till the end.

In the early stages of this new life style, we would go to the Toco Hills community that so thoroughly embraced us and urged us  to spend Shabbos with them by inviting us to their homes. This is where I met those people I referred to above. On Shabbos I would look around and see daughters clinging to their mothers, walking arm in arm with them and fathers walking with their boys, some holding a sefer, some not. It really didn't matter. What did matter was something even greater then the contents of that sefer, i.e a genuine love and respect for the ones that gave these kids life. In years to come, Boy O Boy, what a surprise my wife and I were in for.

To be continued........