My earliest memories of Judaism are beautiful ones of Challa and grape juice associated with playing the role of Shabbos Queen on Friday mornings at the J.C.C. kindergarten. Although both of my parents loved me, an only child born late in life, they were deaf to my pleas to attend first grade at the Jewish Day School. It was far from our house, the public school was free, more modern and only a block from our house. Most importantly, who ever heard of giving a girl a Jewish Education? After all, she can't recite Kaddish.

Six days spent at Machon Chana in the Mountains cannot replace a lifetime of identity gained from public schools in small town America, where many of my classmates and my children's classmates believed Judaism to be a deviant branch of Christianity. My identity is more a negative identity of being not Christian, rather than a positive identity of being Jewish. My six days with Machon Chana did kindle a spark of hope that someday, perhaps only in the days of Moshiach, my family will all worship and follow the commandments of Hashem together.

The learning at Machon Chana in the Mountains was impassioned and exciting. The Rabbis, the families, the Madrichot, and the students were all incredible examples of the beauty of allowing Judaism to permeate one's existence. The feeling of spiritual oneness was a beautiful gift from Hashem. It is a gift that I pray for the strength to pass on to my children.

Although my six days at Machon Chana did not make me frum, it did help me to further encourage my two children who have become frum and to encourage my third child to visit Crown Heights and learn about the Lubavitch lifestyle. I daven every day now and I am often overwhelmed by the significance of the words. I never really knew Jews who truly thanked Hashem for not being born a gentile. My goal is to develop friendships with women, couples and families with older children to help my husband and I and our children to feel a sense of community and move towards a frum lifestyle.

If you chose Yeshivacation, you're not only correct, you're familiar with one of the most unique Jewish learning programs in the world. Yeshivacation, a program of Chabad's Machon Chana Women's Institute, is a twice-yearly opportunity for women from all religious backgrounds to experience intensive Torah learning in a yeshiva environment, in the heart of Crown Heights, international headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch.

I recently participated in the Winter program, spending ten days in classes ranging from Chassidus, to Laws of Kashrus, to Fasts & Feasts. Each evening, we were treated to special speakers and events covering topics from Medical Ethics, to Chassidic Music & Art, to Careers & Family. And, of course, Tzivia Jacobson (p.s. -- yes, it's a sheitel). I was fascinated by the intensity of the learning, the dedication of the students and teachers around me, and by the amount of knowledge that I was able to absorb in such a short period of time! Within a curriculum designed specifically for those who may have had little background in Chassidic thought or traditional sources, I was able to "connect the dots" of the concepts I'd been hearing so much about. I even learned to read a little Yiddish!

Yeshivacation is part of a much larger program, Machon Chana, which was founded by the Rebbe in 1972, and named in memory of his mother, Rebbetzin Chana. It was designed as an entry point for women who were becoming baalas teshuvah but required a yeshiva setting to bring their knowledge up to where their dedication was. Today, women come from around the world (current students include women from Uruguay, Russia, Peru, and Israel) to participate in the unique experience of an all-encompassing Chassidishe environment while learning to read and comprehend Hebrew, daven, study classic Chassidic texts such as Tanya, learn Chumash with Rashi, and prepare to build a traditional Jewish home founded on Torah.

Yes, I'm exhausted (thanks for asking) and it'll probably take me weeks just to read through the many packets and sources my rabbi-professors plied me with over those ten days (much less the many, many books I brought back with me!), but for the opprtunity to spend two Shabbosim at 770 Eastern Parkway (Rabbi Hecht's brother is the one in the black hat), hear speakers from around the world, and spend time in the homes of families truly "living with the times" of Torah, I'd gladly become exhausted all over again!