Tzitzis

One of the things that I compromise on at work is my Tzitzis strings. Usually, I pull the strings out from beneath my shirt at each of their four corners and let them hang loose where they can be seen. This is the essential Mitzvah, commandment, of the Tzitzis, to be seen and serve as a visual reminder of all of Gd's commandments. But at work this comes across as too sloppy. (I guess you could ask the question of whether this is real or just perception.) So I bring them out together only on the two sides, tuck them under my belt, and stick the remainging exposed portion into my front pockets. So technically they are still sticking out where they can be seen. But they are much cleaner looking. It may be a nice look, but the inconsistency still bothers me. But haven't had any comments about them yet...

Miscelaneous Jew

Today we had our group lunch in the cafeteria. I was smart. I abandoned my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in favor of the pasta I had made for breakfast. This way I would have a shorter blessing to make after my meal. Usually you don't want to minimize the blessings you say...by nature, they are an opportunity to praise Gd, which we can seize. But when you're eating with three other people, who either abandon you alone at the table while you "talk to yourself" reading from a little book or must sit and wait for you to finish, the short version comes in handy.

I also got into a discussion about the confidentiality of confessional and pastor/rabbinical conversations. I told my co-worker that there is no Jewish belief that such conversations should be protected from a court of law. This conversation also evolved into the issue of religious groups and their exemption from general discrimination rules. We both pondered the free speech/non-discrimination implications of these distinctions. Overall, very informative.

Finally, I wanted to write about an awkward situation that comes up pretty much every day. Multiple times. Saying Berachos (prayers) leaves me in a difficult position. During prayers, I cannot respond to anything around me. This is most difficult when saying the Beracha after using the washroom (we praise Gd for even the simplest of daily activities, out of respect for the profound complexity of these biological wonders). The Beracha is fairly long, and by nature, I'm not in a private place (it is not respectful to say prayers in the washroom itself, leaving me in the hallway). So I must find the locations where I am least likely to run into somebody on the way. Also, when I wash my hands before eating bread for lunch (as the Priests did in the temple to assure ritual cleanliness before dealing with the holy sacrifices), I cannot talk until after eating the bread. But I must wash down the hall in the break room. And the blessing for the bread is ideally made in the same place where one will eat. Hence, I have a little walk from where I wash my hands to where I will eat. Also, making it difficult to avoid ignoring anybody along the way. Often, I'll fill a cup with water, and walk quickly with my eyes on the cup as if I'm afraid of it spilling. This averts eye contact, which avoids a need to acknowledge somebody passing. Of course, I'll probably be lucky enough to walk past the CEO during this time...

Settling In?

I put in my first 12+ hour day at work. I came in right after praying in the morning - at 6:45 Am. And I didn't leave until after 7:15, when I went home, ate a quick dinner and headed off to pray again. Not a bad day. Unfortunately there usually isn't a reason to stay that long. Not that there was a particularly good one today.

The office ordered dinner again today. And it seemed like they've picked up on the fact that I can't eat it. My boss is already on top of it - promising we could expense our own dinner if we want to. I'd rather go home...

After dinner at home, I went to learn for a few minutes. I have been learning Mishnah Berurah, a modern summary of daily Jewish laws. I only spent 15 minutes studying, but I guess the plus side was that I sat down and did it with no one pushing me to. Hopefully, it will be a sign that I'm shifting away from the learning in my spare time theme.

Avoiding the Group

Today was Thursday. Which means Bible Study day in our group. The woman who trains me arranges for a preacher to come in and give a class on the bible. Most of the people in the group go. But there are Halachic problems with me going. It would be interesting to hear what they have to say. And I don't think there would be any problems with me sitting and listening in. But I do know it is forbidden to teach a non-jew torah, specifically the bible. So as soon as they ask me what Judaism has to say on a topic, I'd be in violation.

Of course, there is also the problem of my ignorance. I don't know the literal or figurative interpretations of every part of the bible. So I'd be left in a position where my ignorance signals emptiness on the part of my religion, or worse, weakness. So I'm not going to let my poor showing be, well, a poor showing for Judaism. So I'll just have a quiet lunch at my desk...and keep avoiding the invitation every week.

Distractions

As if officially announcing "I don't care about work" to my group, I finally brought in my mini-putting green into the office. So now I am the official sponsor of games for the group. Which basically tells everybody that I'd rather be playing than working, and additionally, will spend my time getting others to do the same. So much for the charade of being a team player.

Brown

Today I wore my brown pants, with a brown sweater. I wasn't sure which shoes to wear. I don't like how the brown shoes go with the pants. They're two different shades or something. I wore black shoes. But I felt like such a fool, so I pretty much hid in my cube all day.

I really don't know how to work with this business casual thing. It really conflicts with my religious sensibilities. I have to stretch my wardrobe to colors I would never otherwise wear. And I have no idea how to wear them and match at the same time.

I think I shouldn't have compromised on the clothes. I should just have stuck to black and white, albeit a nice dressy version. I stick out anyways. Why am I afraid of sticking out more? I'm worried that I might be doing it because I like the variety.

The Pace

After a full day of work yesterday, I guess I was lulled into a false sense of action. I did nothing today. I took a pre-lunch nap. Usually, it's not until siesta time that I get nappy. They say it will be a busy week next week. That still doesn't occupy my time now. I wish there was a way to let my coworkers understand that I'm not slacking, I just don't have anything to do. And that is with offering to help them with their work.

The Bosses Wife

So on my way into work today, my supervisor passes me as his wife is dropping him off. He calls me over to introduce me. I say Hi, she says Hi. Game over. But I got the feeling like it was a huge letdown for him. Like he'd been talking me up for months and we didn't hit it off. Oh well. She is married already.

But during the day his wife came back. With the kids. And the whole group gathered round to ogle them. But of course, being the bearded one, they gravitated towards me. So I felt all defensive, like I had to play silly little baby entertainer to justify the attention they were giving me. But they were cute.

I also gave a mini-kosher lesson to one of my co-workers. There wasn't much of a lesson. They just thought that the Kraft products I was eating at my desk weren't kosher. I showed them. Lesson over.

Kraft Kosher?

We had a department meeting at 9:00, for about 50 people. And we had a kosher breakfast! My manager had ordered breakfast, with bagels and cream cheese and danishes and orange juice. I was able to eat everything! So things are getting more kosher here. Maybe in numbers we are educating people. After the meeting the outgoing Director of the Department commented to me that the food must be kosher, since I was eating it. So I guess I am giving some healthy exposure to the group...

On another front, I booked a ticket to NY for the weekend during the day. The only catch is that I come back Tuesday morning. I negotiated with my supervisor to work remotely on Monday. So now I have the pressure to actually produce something that show's I was working. It should be a motivating challenge. But I also feel bad, like I'm giving the impression that I'm deserting my group, and not making them first priority. But a guy has to date. I just hope everyone understands.

Out of Office

Today my supervisor wasn't in. I pretty much did have work to do all day, which is nice, I guess. Although it was pretty much investigating the sloppy work of my coworkers, which taught me a good business principle - pay to get it right the first time!

Since I was bored, I left work early in order to pray at synagogue. It only meant I left an hour early, and since I didn't take lunch it wasn't crazy. Although my coworkers probably thought I was just sneaking out. They didn't know that shul (synagogue) started at 4:20. So I could've stopped what I was doing to pray in my cubicle and then gone home, or just gone to shul. I guess I should be more forthright in the future so that they don't just see me as a slacker. And so I can show how important prayer is.

Awkward Assumptions

I told my supervisor what I thought of my job. Well, I didn't really. I told him its boring. And asked him what other options are out there. But when it came down to quitting, I'm not there yet. After all, after we finished talking, I had to ask him to pray together.

We use his office to pray, so we can have some privacy. It assures me of some face time with the boss every day. As such, we've built quite a relationship. Which only makes more awkward situations such as having to let him know my feelings about the job he created...We'll see.

A little more intro...

I think it's important to give you a little bit more background to the creation of Kraft Kosher...not the blog, but the reality. One of my goals in taking the job at Kraft was to show that Orthodox Judaism is perfectly adaptable to every situation. And there are few situations potentially colder to the value of individualism than corporate America. I wanted to prove that without compromise I could fully integrate and excel into an environment where my beliefs and practices were foreign. Both as an inspiration to the gentiles and non-practicing Jewish people at Kraft, but also to those religious souls who feel there is no way to particpate in the world and remain fully committed to their faith. So the job sounded like a perfect opportunity to test my idealism.

First day on the job, I'm greeted at the door by a bearded guy. OK, I think, so my beard won't be that exceptional here. Then I find out that this guy is my supervisor. In his office, he confides in me that he is a religious Jew, although not wearing a head covering, I wouldn't have known. He is a Baal Tshuva (born again Jew, for lack of a better term) with the Lubavitch movement, and in our first meeting assures me that I will not have to worry about any conflicts with my religious practice from him.

So there goes my whole premise of breaking new ground. Everything is taken care of here. A company of 106,000 employees, and I'm working for the one frum man (actually, I've found one other, but that's a different story). So I'll still have issues, but some of the idealism is taken out of it.

Priorities

Today was a pretty slow day at work. I'll try and spread some more on that theme later (actually, I think I'd have a hard time covering up what I think of my work). My boss took the day off. So after a day of looking busy, which mainly consisted of me filling up my gumball machine, checking out every page on the corporate intranet, and sleeping while staring at a report printout, I decided that instead of praying in the office, I'd head out to synagogue. With services 15 minutes away at 4:25, I thought it would be doable. Either way, I just wanted out of the office. Even though at 3:30 I came up with something that needed doing. But I figured how often do I get this chance, and so I left. I made it almost on time. But it sure beats finding an empty cubicle.

Dress to Kill

Today I wore my browns. I didn't head off to work for UPS, I was just wearing my brown slacks, brown shoes, and brown sports coat. And boy did I clash. I got dressed in the dark this morning, but I still thought I might be off a bit. And when I got to work, and saw myself, I knew I was right. It was just wrong.

But it leaves an interesting point. I'm not used to wearing brown. I almost always wear exclusively black and white, for religious reasons. But the interesting conflict is that Kraft is a business casual outfit, so I would stick out (even more than I do anyways) wearing dark suits. So I've had to adapt my wardrobe. And it's difficult to do so-and still match.

For some quick background, the idea behind the black and white to begin with, at least in my opinion, is not from scriptural source, but from a religious worldview with certain moral priorities. In Judaism, a number of rules are at play. First is the idea of humbleness. Accordingly, clothes that are overly flashy or trendy contradict this perspective. But at the same time there is an importance placed on presenting yourself well, seeing the Jewish people as a princely people, direct servants of Gd. So sloppy, dirty, or casual wear are in conflict with this ethic. So a simple black and white should do the trick. Unless you work in Khaki and Polo land. (My first comment after coming back from my first day at Kraft was that it seemed like the land of bad holiday gifts...I've never seen so many ugly sweaters and ill fitting, four year old shirts.)

So I've had to revise my wardrobe. Not easy. It's still fairly dark. And it's almost all single color garments. But I've had to look harder to find clothes that will look like I change on a daily basis, but that still convey simplicity. I hope I do a good job.

Intro Post

Nothing really fancy in this-here post. You don't know me yet, so I don't want to overwhelm you. At this point, I'll just start with introductions. My name is Josh, I am currently 24. (If I'm still posting at that point, I'll let you know when I hit 25.) I just graduated from Yeshiva University in New York City in September with a degree in Finance. After graduating, I consulted for a few months for a private equity fund in New York, the Plymouth Group. However, after Thanksgiving a returned to Chicago to start the slow life at Kraft Foods, which is headquartered here on Chicago's North Shore. Yes, I'm Jewish, which is the Kosher half of the Blog's title. I'm also Orthodox, meaning I fully subscribe to the unaltered religious traditions upheld by our people. And that creates an interesting life-dynamic. And part of the goal of this blog will be to let you see how that affects my life, from the professional, social, familial, and, yes, even within the religious sphere. I love talking, but even more I like dialogue, so not only will I read your comments, but I'll probably also respond. See you again soon!