Sharing for Shavuot

A quick note before I send you to TC Jewfolk to see my recent post on coveting. Crooked Lines: A Single Mom's Jewish Journey has received six awards and honors:

1. First prize for a memoir in the Overcoming Adversity/Tragedy Category from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards
2. Silver Award in the Religious Spiritual Category from the Nautilus Book Awards
3. Bronze award in the Personal Adult Non-fiction category from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs)
4. First prize in Parenting/Family Category from the Firebird Award
5. Honorable Mention from the Eric Hoffer Book Awards
6. Finalist in the Adult Nonfiction category from the Wishing Shelf Awards in the United Kingdom

I am beyond grateful for this news, and for all the people who take the time to read and judge authors' work year after year, and respond with heads and hearts.

I also want to share a link to one of the chapters in the book, in honor of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Weeks), which celebrates the Torah (Jewish Bible) making its first appearance at Mount Sinai.

"Honoring parents, observing Shabbat, not lying or cheating on your spouse, or killing — all these make much more sense to me than not coveting. Yet, it made the Big Ten. There must be some reason it’s way up there, above so many other things we are commanded to do and not to do.

"Isn’t coveting something you can accomplish in the privacy of your own home without it bothering anyone or anything else? 

"Is anyone really going to know I’m coveting my neighbor’s house, or how she can sleep in when I’m driving to work in the morning? I try not to be, but I’m covetous of friends’ luck sometimes. There are days I want that luck because some of them don’t have to work and can devote their lives to art. Sometimes I want their successes.

"I guess this makes me a very bad person, or very great sinner — maybe both. How do you stop coveting, and most of all, why?"

Read the full article here.  And, as always, I hope you'll write and share any thoughts you have.