Ever since I converted, I’ve been racked with Jewish guilt. I never feel like I’m doing enough Jewish learning. It doesn’t help that I have a husband who studies “rabbi stuff” 10-12 hours a day. So, last week, after a year of trying to attend a local class on davening, I finally made it.

The class was being held in the home of another synagogue member and I arrived with just a minute to spare. I asked the doorman which side of the building the apartment would be on and I headed in the direction he pointed out. But as I walked away, I heard him call out to me, “Oh, look, she’s over there!”

I guessed that he meant the teacher was walking behind me but that didn’t make sense. Wouldn’t she be upstairs waiting for her students? I thought for a second about the jokes my rabbi used to make about Jewish Standard time and I quickly turned around.

And there she was, just as the doorman had yelled, the teacher giving me a big smile. “Aliza!” she called out to me. And that’s when I looked down. At the medium sized dog that looked like it should be pulling sleds in Alaska rather than women in Riverdale.

I never got to attend the class. I am disastrously allergic to dogs. Actually, I’m pretty much allergic to everything. I’m the kind of girl who sees her allergist once a week to make sure I stay breathing.

So, honestly, what is G-d trying to tell me about my Jewish learning?