20 Comments
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Mary F Holley's avatar

Strong work! You're living my dream. At 65 I'm too old to make it that official (also husband not willing) but I can limp along the side lines and cheer!!!

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Toni Airaksinen's avatar

You can always convert! Our temple has converts up to age 70

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Tim Lieder's avatar

Mazel tov on the conversion. Mine took forever but it was definitely worth it. Currently having money troubles (so if you get enough paid subscribers consider getting a paid subscription to my substack:) ) and happy shavuot.

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Steve S's avatar

Kudos to you for standing up for your principles and beliefs. It takes courage and faith to convert to a faith that is much abused and the victim of such oppression. As for a donation, I suggest you add a button link to your substack so folk who aren't in a position to subscribe can easily send a donation. Some folk use a "Buy me a Coffee" button which they add to their substack.

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Toni Airaksinen's avatar

Hey steve, yes, there is a Buy Me a Coffee option right here https://buymeacoffee.com/toniairaksinen

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kathy's avatar

Mazel tov. No need to highlight my name. I am proud to quietly support you.

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Toni Airaksinen's avatar

thanks kathy!

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William Bernstein's avatar

I think this is great.

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Toni Airaksinen's avatar

thank you!

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max tzinman's avatar

Good luck! Sorry I cannot contribute at this point… ☹️🥰

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David Tobolowsky MD's avatar

If this is your first trip to Israel, tours typically take you to the touristy sites, but if time permits, I recommend spending half a day at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. If you haven’t already scheduled the trip, weather and airfares are generally better spring and fall. We’ve traveled throughout the land and would be happy to communicate more, maybe meet you at Ben’s sometime?

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Nunya Biznez's avatar

Wonderful, but I think if you covered your bare arms for the sake of modesty, you’d get more support. Not.a criticism, just a hint. :) and this will be even more important when you do make it to Israel. All the best to you!

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max tzinman's avatar

Depends where…

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Nunya Biznez's avatar

Definitely, I agree, but she’s trying to raise money to make the trip and I think a pic of her showing modesty might help her reach her goal. Just my intuition speaking

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Toni Airaksinen's avatar

Hi there, I understand what you mean. But I have a lot of hypertrophic scars on my upper arms that aren't visible from the front angle. If you've had those type of scars, you'd know how painful it can be for fabric (or anything) to rub against them. I've been wearing sleeveless dresses for the past 5-10 years almost exclusively. I would love to dress more modestly (and I do while swimming despite the pain), but I'm not going to put myself in pain to conform to how people think Jews should dress. It would drive me nuts, I wouldn't be able to sit through a shabbat service.

Here's an essay on the type of scars I have:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/scar-tissue-pain

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max tzinman's avatar

Sorry!

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max tzinman's avatar

From your note as you wrote, I did not understand that you mean her photo.

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Nunya Biznez's avatar

You’re right—I did mean in her photo she posted asking for financial support. My bad. I could have been clearer in what I wrote. Thank you. For Toni, I hope she reads our exchange to see what I meant to say.

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Toni Airaksinen's avatar

I read your comment and after a lot of internal debate, I decided to respond.

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max tzinman's avatar

👍

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