By Racheli Spiro
It is both an honor and a privilege to celebrate and reflect upon the transformative power of Chassidus in our lives. For me, tonight’s celebration is a reminder of how profoundly different my life has become in ways I could never have imagined. I feel immense gratitude, and I want to share with you why.
I grew up in Beaconsfield, in Montreal, where there were very few other Jews, and people didn’t really know or care that we were Jewish. My parents began keeping Shabbos when I was quite young but it was a gradual process; we learned new things every week and tried to incorporate them into this 25-hour spiritual oasis. For 25 hours a week, I immersed myself in everything Jewish. However, as I got older, I compartmentalized my life. On Saturday night, I would change out of my Shabbos clothes, meet up with my non-Jewish friends, and move on. Shabbos felt holy, but the rest of the week didn’t.
We moved to Hampstead when I was in early elementary. Now some of my friends were Jewish but not observant. I went to public school.
