My Dryer Broke. Don’t Worry, I’m Not Making You Get Rid of Yours.

Ellie Azerad

Sep 17

3 min read

Hello, hello! It's me again!

My dryer broke.

And before you tell yourself, “Oh no, here she goes. She’s going to tell us to get rid of our dryers…”

No.

I’m not.

I’m really not.

But if you know me by now, you know that when something breaks, this would normally be the part where I would tell you:

“Fellow Frum Minimalists, when something breaks, see how long you can live without it.”

Because really, that is a very Frum Minimalist thing to do.

When something breaks, don’t run to replace it right away.

Test it out.

Ask yourself:

Do I actually need this? Can I manage without it? Is there something else I can use instead?

And if you’ve been around here for a very long time, as in you are an OG Frum Minimalist, shout-out to you, please send me an email and tell me if you remember this story lol!

Story time.

A few years ago, when my dryer broke, I actually did test it out for a few days.

And yeah, I was kind of fine.

Kind of.

For a few days.

But after a couple of days, I realized…

Yeah. I really need a dryer.

And now?

Nope.

Nope nope nope.

I am not so fine.

Because listen.

I was trying very hard to be fine.

“Fellow Frum Minimalists, when something breaks, see how long you can live without it.”

I tried the scenic route!

Last email, we spoke about taking the scenic route.

And yes, hanging every single garment of clothing lovingly on the drying rack is definitely the scenic route.

Very scenic, super wholesome, and really old-timey.

Very “look at me, I’m one with nature. I’m going to start having green smoothies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and frolic in the grass barefoot in my linen dress.”

Which, by the way, as I’m typing this, (actually talking to texting this) I’m like…

That actually does sound kind of nice.

I do love linen dresses.

And I do love being barefoot.

But running a busy household with a broken dryer?

That is a little bit too scenic for me.

So thank You Hashem that I have a dryer.

And I am so grateful to be living in a first world country where we are Boruch Hashem able to easily fix it.

And yes, I am very excited to get it fixed.

Because for me, a dryer is a really, really wonderful necessity.

And yes, even so, I still say that when something breaks, it is a great opportunity to stretch your Frum Minimalism.

How do we stretch our Frum Minimalism?

You can ask:

Can I live without this? Can I borrow it? Can I use something else? Can I wait before replacing it? Do I even want this back in my life?

Remember when I told you I lost my ladle? (Someone borrowed it...)

Instead of running out to buy a new one, I started using a measuring cup. (I had no choice. I had to get the soup out.)

And guess what?

It worked perfectly fine.

And it’s still working perfectly fine.

Life went on, baruch Hashem.

But hanging my clothing to dry........ ehhhhhhhh.

Thank you Hashem for these problems, and I am really really grateful that I can easily fix it.

Now really, I could end the story right there.

But I’m going to continue because, as we all know, my emails are not minimalist.

Here’s what was interesting.

Because the dryer was broken, I had to wait longer for clothing to dry.

But I realized something.

We are okay B'h.

We have enough clothing B'h.

And of course, NATURALLY, because I am me, THE Frum Minimalist, my next thought was:

Wait.

Maybe we have too much clothing?

Maybe we can get rid of more?

I don’t know.

I’ll keep you updated.

Moving can do the same thing.

I was thinking about this.

A broken item gives you a chance to pause and re-decide. Moving gives you that same chance to pause and redecide, but for your whole entire house.

Have a beautiful Shabbos!

Sending you all love from Yerushalayim!

May we meet here very very very soon with Mashiach!

And, btw, this moving class is also excellent prep for Mashiach.

You are going to want to get yourself right over here to Yerushalayim, sharing your Challah with the Kohanim, and listening to the Leviim singing, (ahahhha! I can not wait for Mashiach already!) and not be bogged down by STUFF:)

Warmly,

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