I post a lot about feelings.  This blog is basically my online journal and showcases how alike you and I might be with our differences in beliefs.  Yet, I forget to let you in on some of the extraordinary portions of my life – the details that are specific to being Hebrew.

What I find to be one of the more complicated matters of Hebrew life is that of clothing.

The command not to mix fibers leaves a modern gal mostly flummoxed when confronting the clothing aisles.  Linen/wool blends, linen blends, wool blends, cotton/poly blends, linen/cotton/wool blends… it’s like looking for a sinew needle in a 500 gallon bin full of multi-fiber yarn.

I can tell you that I have to be in the mood to shop when it comes time to buy clothes.  The time I spend poring tediously over every content label would unnerve me to no end if I were simply running an errand on a tight schedule.

Since I work in an office, I typically settle on man-made clothing blends, hoping for a label of 100% unnatural vs mixing the natural cloth fibers.  Poly, nylon and spandex are my primary work-a-day options.

When I find the rare item that is 100% single fabric, I’m overjoyed.

The most recent find was on clearance as well.  Label me the proud owner of 9 (yes, nine) new pairs of 100% cotton jeans, purchased for $6.67 per pair, plus shipping and taxes.

Come now, don’t hate – I cannot find jeans without that tidbit of spandex added to the cotton.  When I do…

Call it prepping, call it hoarding – I call it practical.  It will save me hours of search time over the next few years.  With that practical mindset, I also varied the sizes, to account for minor fluctuations on the scale over time.  I like my chocolate and I’m prone to the occasional baked goods binge.  It’s not going to leave me pant-less.

But wait, there’s ‘More’.

While commanded, there is no penalty listed for this guideline.  Should I find myself facing no options but mixed fibers, it would not be a death penalty.  There is no slap on the wrist listed.  Many of the guidelines in Torah have no retribution, contrary to what some might believe.  I like to think that Almighty was keen to the possibility that there would be times when it would be difficult to live those ‘lesser’ commands.

Would I know?  Certainly.  There is that.  I would know that I had tried, but not met my obligation.  I’d have to live with that.

What a beautiful methodology.