And we thought that our cats were weird.
Baby's got moves.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Cool things that I'm learning
From Liturgy class, where we deconstructed everyone's High Holy Days' services:
- The Kol Nidre prayer, which is a prayer releasing people from obligations, isn't really a prayer at all, but a legal contract. This is why it's sung three times in some congregations, so it will have more weight. (In class I compared this to saying "Beetlejuice" and "There's no place like home" three times, and the professor said that yes, there was truth to that, that superstition and "magic" were very closely related.)
From Talmud class, where we're discussing the contents of Tractate (chapter) Moed:
- The Hebrew term for Jewish holidays is moed. It comes from the mem/ayin/dalet root, which means "time." But it also comes from ayin/dalet, which means "witness." When we celebrate a Jewish holiday, we bear witness to divine intervention in the world. That's why all holidays are reenactments (e.g. Passover reenacting the exodus, Sukkot the harvest, etc) because we are marking moments of transcendence in time, moments when there was more than just human activity.
- Someone asked why the Talmud lacked clarity. Why does it have so many layers if it is, in essence, a legal contract? The answer : Yes, the Talmud is a social contract that is 1500 years old. The U.S. Constitution is also a social contract, from barely 250 years ago. It was written in English by people who were not totally dissimilar from us. Now, are we aware of any litigation surrounding the U.S. Constitution? (The prof is sharp!)
- During a tangential comment, I found out why so many Jews are allergic to nuts - apparently the nut allergy has been traced back to Eastern Europe, which is why it's only American Jews who are so susceptible (cuz that's where we all came from). Sephardic (Spain/North Africa) Jewry, including most Israelis, don't have the allergy.
From Homiletics class:
- "Never underestimate the intelligence of the congregation. Never overestimate their knowledge." Basically, there are no taboo academic topics. Whether or not it connects depends on how you say it.
- You can preach with or against a text. I.e., "Abraham's great, do what he did" versus "Abraham sucks, don't do what he did." We talked about the pros and cons of preaching against; on one hand, it makes the Biblical heroes human. On the other hand, it invites people to go outside of Judaism to find their wisdom.
From Hellenism class, where we study what the Greeks and Romans thought about Jews:
- The Jewish exodus from Egypt is actually quite well known to the Greeks, especially the historians Hecataeus and Strabo who traveled the world (and whom I'd never heard of before this class, so don't feel badly if you haven't either!). According to them and other "pagan" sources we've been reading, the Jews were thought to be Egyptian in origin and expelled because a plague was going around, and people were afraid they were the source. Because others shunned them they kept to themselves, and later on, that became habit. Only one source says that they weren't expelled, but that the "legislator Moses" brought them out of Egypt because he disliked the Egyptian religion and its customs. Who knew?!
- An HUC doctoral candidate sat in on our class today. He's an assistant pastor at a Baptist church, and he brought the senior pastor with him. Next to them there was another rabbinical student, then myself. Then an evangelical Christian PhD student. And next to him was another PhD student, an ordained pastor who happens to be taking a few years off from his ministry to go back to school. At one point we all got into a great discussion on how Hellenized Jews (assimilated Greek Jews) were different from Greek pagans. It led into explanations of how they might have visualized God, which then segued into how Christianity and Judaism visualize God today in light of the Greek influence. Intellectual bliss.
From non-school things:
- It was 56 degrees today. Jonathan loved it. I hated it. This weekend is all about buying Xander winter clothes.
- At the hotel on erev Yom Kippur, Xander would not go to sleep. It was midnight, and we had been rocking him on and off since 8, it was miserable. Finally Jonathan called my mom... and Bubby sang him to sleep on speaker phone from 2000 miles away! The funny part is that I fell asleep before Xander did. :)
- My computer died a tragic death last week, and was resurrected. Jonathan is the computer god: he managed to get all my documents off the hard drive before it crashed, then he bought a new hard drive and put it all back together.
- Simcha looped the handles of a paper bag around his neck then ran through the house, terrified. Best we can figure out, he thought the paper bag was chasing him.
Time for bed. Goodnight!
- The Kol Nidre prayer, which is a prayer releasing people from obligations, isn't really a prayer at all, but a legal contract. This is why it's sung three times in some congregations, so it will have more weight. (In class I compared this to saying "Beetlejuice" and "There's no place like home" three times, and the professor said that yes, there was truth to that, that superstition and "magic" were very closely related.)
From Talmud class, where we're discussing the contents of Tractate (chapter) Moed:
- The Hebrew term for Jewish holidays is moed. It comes from the mem/ayin/dalet root, which means "time." But it also comes from ayin/dalet, which means "witness." When we celebrate a Jewish holiday, we bear witness to divine intervention in the world. That's why all holidays are reenactments (e.g. Passover reenacting the exodus, Sukkot the harvest, etc) because we are marking moments of transcendence in time, moments when there was more than just human activity.
- Someone asked why the Talmud lacked clarity. Why does it have so many layers if it is, in essence, a legal contract? The answer : Yes, the Talmud is a social contract that is 1500 years old. The U.S. Constitution is also a social contract, from barely 250 years ago. It was written in English by people who were not totally dissimilar from us. Now, are we aware of any litigation surrounding the U.S. Constitution? (The prof is sharp!)
- During a tangential comment, I found out why so many Jews are allergic to nuts - apparently the nut allergy has been traced back to Eastern Europe, which is why it's only American Jews who are so susceptible (cuz that's where we all came from). Sephardic (Spain/North Africa) Jewry, including most Israelis, don't have the allergy.
From Homiletics class:
- "Never underestimate the intelligence of the congregation. Never overestimate their knowledge." Basically, there are no taboo academic topics. Whether or not it connects depends on how you say it.
- You can preach with or against a text. I.e., "Abraham's great, do what he did" versus "Abraham sucks, don't do what he did." We talked about the pros and cons of preaching against; on one hand, it makes the Biblical heroes human. On the other hand, it invites people to go outside of Judaism to find their wisdom.
From Hellenism class, where we study what the Greeks and Romans thought about Jews:
- The Jewish exodus from Egypt is actually quite well known to the Greeks, especially the historians Hecataeus and Strabo who traveled the world (and whom I'd never heard of before this class, so don't feel badly if you haven't either!). According to them and other "pagan" sources we've been reading, the Jews were thought to be Egyptian in origin and expelled because a plague was going around, and people were afraid they were the source. Because others shunned them they kept to themselves, and later on, that became habit. Only one source says that they weren't expelled, but that the "legislator Moses" brought them out of Egypt because he disliked the Egyptian religion and its customs. Who knew?!
- An HUC doctoral candidate sat in on our class today. He's an assistant pastor at a Baptist church, and he brought the senior pastor with him. Next to them there was another rabbinical student, then myself. Then an evangelical Christian PhD student. And next to him was another PhD student, an ordained pastor who happens to be taking a few years off from his ministry to go back to school. At one point we all got into a great discussion on how Hellenized Jews (assimilated Greek Jews) were different from Greek pagans. It led into explanations of how they might have visualized God, which then segued into how Christianity and Judaism visualize God today in light of the Greek influence. Intellectual bliss.
From non-school things:
- It was 56 degrees today. Jonathan loved it. I hated it. This weekend is all about buying Xander winter clothes.
- At the hotel on erev Yom Kippur, Xander would not go to sleep. It was midnight, and we had been rocking him on and off since 8, it was miserable. Finally Jonathan called my mom... and Bubby sang him to sleep on speaker phone from 2000 miles away! The funny part is that I fell asleep before Xander did. :)
- My computer died a tragic death last week, and was resurrected. Jonathan is the computer god: he managed to get all my documents off the hard drive before it crashed, then he bought a new hard drive and put it all back together.
- Simcha looped the handles of a paper bag around his neck then ran through the house, terrified. Best we can figure out, he thought the paper bag was chasing him.
Time for bed. Goodnight!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The High Holidays are OVER
And I am so, so relieved.
Don't get me wrong - I really enjoyed leading the actual services, as well as the process of creating the services and writing the sermons. But it just took so much time, and coming on the heels of Xander being sick, it wiped me out. I spent all of today in the HUC library doing regular schoolwork that I was behind on. I'm mostly caught up now.
In other news... Xander was a big hit at break the fast. The woman who hosted us for erev (evening) Yom Kippur dinner made the best noodle kugel that I have ever had in my life, bar none. I want her recipe. So that Jonathan can make it. :)
The only bad thing is that we forgot our diaper bag at the pulpit. Oh well. We'll be there again in less than two weeks!
Don't get me wrong - I really enjoyed leading the actual services, as well as the process of creating the services and writing the sermons. But it just took so much time, and coming on the heels of Xander being sick, it wiped me out. I spent all of today in the HUC library doing regular schoolwork that I was behind on. I'm mostly caught up now.
In other news... Xander was a big hit at break the fast. The woman who hosted us for erev (evening) Yom Kippur dinner made the best noodle kugel that I have ever had in my life, bar none. I want her recipe. So that Jonathan can make it. :)
The only bad thing is that we forgot our diaper bag at the pulpit. Oh well. We'll be there again in less than two weeks!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Another Friday, another pulpit visit
This one actually didn't go as well as Rosh Hashanah. My sermon went over great, but I think my timing was a little off on other things. Oh well. It's all a learning experience. We started the evening off with 3 people, and by the time the service ended there were 12. Quite a difference from Rosh Hashanah, when we had over 70! One cool thing was that because there were so few people, Xander was able to have full run of the sanctuary. At one point I and a congregant were lifting the Torah, and Xander was right with us, underneath the scroll, looking up in awe. A woman told me afterwards that that made the service for her, "it was literally generation to generation!" Personally, I think his presence was why I was so off - I was so distracted the whole time, it was hard to focus. Now I know to work on it for the future.
Jonathan has bought Xander a costume for Halloween. Three guesses what it is, and the first two don't count. A lion outfit! He'll be adorable.
When I was a girl my favorite cat, Boychick, loved to steal socks. He would even eat them. Well, Yentl is his rightful inheritor. She started by stealing Xander's socks and carrying them everywhere in her mouth. And today we noticed that she had taken one of mine! They were in the cardboard box that she likes to play in (the one in the video, actually). I greatly disappointed her when I fetched it back and deemed it healthy enough to be put in the laundry and worn again.
And last but not least, Xander eats like a little person now, real food at each meal plus snacks! While all our cloth bibs have been working perfectly from newborn-drool until now, they've been getting so soggy and messy with each meal, I was doing tons of laundry. So I caved and bought him two plastic ones that are easy to wipe off. They also have a pocket to catch food bits. It's this style, but I got the generic at our grocery store for $2 each. :)
Speaking of baby, I think I hear someone puttering around, waking up from his nap....
Jonathan has bought Xander a costume for Halloween. Three guesses what it is, and the first two don't count. A lion outfit! He'll be adorable.
When I was a girl my favorite cat, Boychick, loved to steal socks. He would even eat them. Well, Yentl is his rightful inheritor. She started by stealing Xander's socks and carrying them everywhere in her mouth. And today we noticed that she had taken one of mine! They were in the cardboard box that she likes to play in (the one in the video, actually). I greatly disappointed her when I fetched it back and deemed it healthy enough to be put in the laundry and worn again.
And last but not least, Xander eats like a little person now, real food at each meal plus snacks! While all our cloth bibs have been working perfectly from newborn-drool until now, they've been getting so soggy and messy with each meal, I was doing tons of laundry. So I caved and bought him two plastic ones that are easy to wipe off. They also have a pocket to catch food bits. It's this style, but I got the generic at our grocery store for $2 each. :)
Speaking of baby, I think I hear someone puttering around, waking up from his nap....
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A day in the life.
Getting this cat was SUCH a good idea.
Not one of Simcha's smartest moments.
Bottle caps are AMAZING.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The long-awaited pictures
Unfortunately there actually aren't that many pictures from the last month or so that I can post here - most of them show Xander with other little kids, and I haven't gotten permission from their parents to put them up on this public forum. But these are the best of the individual shots, in no particular order.
Painting at daycare. He's making X's for his name.
Our little Steak and Shake pirate!
Hangin' with Antonio. Click on the picture to make it larger, and you can see his three bottom teeth!
Leaving LAX.
His first art piece: Shabbat candles.
Rosh Hashanah at our house. The gorgeous platter is courtesy of Gwen and Sylvan.
Videos to follow.
Painting at daycare. He's making X's for his name.
Our little Steak and Shake pirate!
Hangin' with Antonio. Click on the picture to make it larger, and you can see his three bottom teeth!
Leaving LAX.
His first art piece: Shabbat candles.
Rosh Hashanah at our house. The gorgeous platter is courtesy of Gwen and Sylvan.Videos to follow.
Mashed potato madness
Xander was eating mashed potatoes with his hands. This was fine.
However, Yentl jumped up on the windowsill behind him. And he petted her. Gently. So I felt I had to congratulate him for the gentle petting, instead of confusing him by berating him for the now mashed-potato-covered cat.
He then dropped his sippy cup. Stupidly, I bent to retrieve it. I had my hair in a ponytail. He yanked on it, and threaded his fingers through my hair. I now have mashed-potato-covered hair.
All this happened at once, in less than two minutes flat.
It was a very, very messy two minutes.
However, Yentl jumped up on the windowsill behind him. And he petted her. Gently. So I felt I had to congratulate him for the gentle petting, instead of confusing him by berating him for the now mashed-potato-covered cat.
He then dropped his sippy cup. Stupidly, I bent to retrieve it. I had my hair in a ponytail. He yanked on it, and threaded his fingers through my hair. I now have mashed-potato-covered hair.
All this happened at once, in less than two minutes flat.
It was a very, very messy two minutes.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Shanah tovah
It's not dark yet, so in Cincinnati it's still Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. The blog title means "[have a] good year," and is the traditional greeting. Jonathan, Xander and I went to Richmond, Indiana for services, and it was wonderful! I was nervous, of course - new people, new place, my Hebrew isn't stellar, it's public speaking, I was working with a cantor (singer)... but the cantorial soloist and I clicked, and they liked my sermons and how I led the service. Hooray!
The only down note was that the morning service was 10-12, right during Xander's naptime, and he was so cranky that Jonathan took him out 5 minutes in and then he never came back (Xander fell asleep on his shoulder, but would have woken up in a minute had he heard my voice or people singing, not to mention the shofar.) A college student from the local university blew the shofar, a really long Sephardic one like on the Wikipedia page, and her tekiah gadolah, the very last call which lasts as long as she can, must have been almost a full minute. She turned beet red. It was very impressive.
We go back Friday night for Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Day of Repentence), then again on Sunday/Monday for Yom Kippur itself. It will be a busy week of writing for me.
At some point though, I WILL take a break and download over three weeks of pictures. Mom, your complaints are being heard. :)
Oh, and one last thing - my grandmother forwarded a NY Times article called "A Soldier's Voice Rediscovered," about a Jewish service held during WWII. It's pretty interesting, and has a link to the audio broadcast. You can even hear the artillery shells going off as they sing.
The only down note was that the morning service was 10-12, right during Xander's naptime, and he was so cranky that Jonathan took him out 5 minutes in and then he never came back (Xander fell asleep on his shoulder, but would have woken up in a minute had he heard my voice or people singing, not to mention the shofar.) A college student from the local university blew the shofar, a really long Sephardic one like on the Wikipedia page, and her tekiah gadolah, the very last call which lasts as long as she can, must have been almost a full minute. She turned beet red. It was very impressive.
We go back Friday night for Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Day of Repentence), then again on Sunday/Monday for Yom Kippur itself. It will be a busy week of writing for me.
At some point though, I WILL take a break and download over three weeks of pictures. Mom, your complaints are being heard. :)
Oh, and one last thing - my grandmother forwarded a NY Times article called "A Soldier's Voice Rediscovered," about a Jewish service held during WWII. It's pretty interesting, and has a link to the audio broadcast. You can even hear the artillery shells going off as they sing.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Little things I've been meaning to post
Xander has five teeth now. Five! He also waves hello and goodbye if you wave to him first. And he's great with daycare, he has lots of fun and doesn't squawk at all when I leave him in the mornings.
The HUC library won't give me a carrel, since I'm not a 5th-year working on a thesis. Instead I've been camping out in one of the conference rooms, which I technically can get kicked out of anytime, but is actually much bigger than a carrel and has a window. It's not so bad seeing as I schlep all my books anyway.
My pulpit in Richmond, Indiana asked me to bring the Shabbat challah every time I visit because there's nowhere to buy challah there. You'd think I'd stop being surprised by stuff like this, but no. You'd be wrong.
The dean of our campus teaches my Homiletics class. Halfway through yesterday's session he wrote something on the board with a bad dry erase marker, and it was so light that I couldn't read it. I asked if he had another marker. Without missing a beat he turned around and said, huffily, "NO! We're having budget problems, haven't you heard?!" The whole class cracked up.
Jonathan and I own this role-playing board game called Age of Mythology which we'd never played before. Antonio's visit was the perfect reason to break it out. Antonio spent one evening reading the (extremely complicated) instructions. The night after that, we began to play. Last night we continued the game, and what do you know? Once I finally understood it, I did really well. Turns out I can get kind of competitive when my army of archers is being attacked by a Norse mythic Valkyrie. I can't believe that I avoided tabletop games all throughout college when I was involved in a role-playing group, and I finally fall prey to it ten years later.
Xander made an art project! He "painted" cardboard Shabbat candlesticks. They're utterly adorable. I love this part of being a parent.
The HUC library won't give me a carrel, since I'm not a 5th-year working on a thesis. Instead I've been camping out in one of the conference rooms, which I technically can get kicked out of anytime, but is actually much bigger than a carrel and has a window. It's not so bad seeing as I schlep all my books anyway.
My pulpit in Richmond, Indiana asked me to bring the Shabbat challah every time I visit because there's nowhere to buy challah there. You'd think I'd stop being surprised by stuff like this, but no. You'd be wrong.
The dean of our campus teaches my Homiletics class. Halfway through yesterday's session he wrote something on the board with a bad dry erase marker, and it was so light that I couldn't read it. I asked if he had another marker. Without missing a beat he turned around and said, huffily, "NO! We're having budget problems, haven't you heard?!" The whole class cracked up.
Jonathan and I own this role-playing board game called Age of Mythology which we'd never played before. Antonio's visit was the perfect reason to break it out. Antonio spent one evening reading the (extremely complicated) instructions. The night after that, we began to play. Last night we continued the game, and what do you know? Once I finally understood it, I did really well. Turns out I can get kind of competitive when my army of archers is being attacked by a Norse mythic Valkyrie. I can't believe that I avoided tabletop games all throughout college when I was involved in a role-playing group, and I finally fall prey to it ten years later.
Xander made an art project! He "painted" cardboard Shabbat candlesticks. They're utterly adorable. I love this part of being a parent.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Why?
Why do pictures languish in the camera instead of being uploaded? Why do emails remain unread and unresponded to in my inbox? Why does the blog remain un-updated and Facebook remain ignored? Let me inform thee, dear grasshopper.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Tis the reason.
To be more specific, the need to create or learn....
5 sermons.
8 service outlines.
1 adult education Torah study.
3 Torah portions.
Add to that being two weeks behind on homework, not having seen Jonathan in over a week, having a recovering kidlet who is super-clingy, and (though this is a very fun reason) our friend Antonio is visiting.
There is a phrase called "good stress," yes?
I think I can now define it.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Tis the reason.
To be more specific, the need to create or learn....
5 sermons.
8 service outlines.
1 adult education Torah study.
3 Torah portions.
Add to that being two weeks behind on homework, not having seen Jonathan in over a week, having a recovering kidlet who is super-clingy, and (though this is a very fun reason) our friend Antonio is visiting.
There is a phrase called "good stress," yes?
I think I can now define it.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Home sweet home (never thought I'd say that about the midwest)
We're on our way! Xander and I leave LAX tomorrow and will get into Cinci tomorrow evening. After a pediatrician visit on Monday, hopefully Xander will get the all-clear to go back to daycare, which means I can return to school.
His getting better is good, because I need to switch my focus, and fast. Rosh Hashanah is on Friday. FRIDAY. ONE WEEK FROM TODAY. And then Shabbat Shuvah and Yom Kippur are right after. And I have a student pulpit in Indiana. OMG I'm unprepared.
(And on a totally different note, I felt the Space Shuttle land today! At first we thought it was an earthquake. But no. Welcome home Discovery!)
His getting better is good, because I need to switch my focus, and fast. Rosh Hashanah is on Friday. FRIDAY. ONE WEEK FROM TODAY. And then Shabbat Shuvah and Yom Kippur are right after. And I have a student pulpit in Indiana. OMG I'm unprepared.
(And on a totally different note, I felt the Space Shuttle land today! At first we thought it was an earthquake. But no. Welcome home Discovery!)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
We're being discharged!
Off to my mom's house. The antibiotics end on Saturday morning, and then once the pediatrician says his ear infection is gone we'll be able to fly home.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Update
Xander is feeling much better. Even after three X-rays, they can't tell if he has pneumonia or not, so they're treating him as if he does. He's on antibiotics for the pneumonia and ear infection, and still on steriods to open up his airways. We have the room to ourselves because he tested positive for para-influenza, which means visitors, including all the nurses, have to wear a gown and mask. I hope to be out of here in two days, maybe even tonight.
The best part of my day was my mother's face after she tasted the sausage links from the hospital breakfast. She didn't like them, they were too spicy!
The best part of my day was my mother's face after she tasted the sausage links from the hospital breakfast. She didn't like them, they were too spicy!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Humor break
I think everyone needs a break today from the tense situation around Xanders stay at the hospital. I turned to humor today to help me not think of my son’s illness and the fact I’m on the opposite side of the nation. As I know I’m not the only one needing some humor, I thought I would share on the blog what made me laugh today.
I have recently come to know that “speed walking” is a sport. Speed walking is the sport of “walking as fast as you can without actually running.” And no, I’m not making this up. I learned this like I learn most things today on “Wait…Wait…Don’t Tell Me” the NPR news quiz show.
Apparently this is such a huge sport that they actually hold competitions on who is the fastest speed walker in the world. The Japanese sports casters were very fascinated with this, and (probably because their Japanese representative didn’t get the title) thought they would see if they could improve the world record holders track time by chasing him with sword wielding samurais. Again, I’m not making this up.
To do this they invited him to come to Japan and do a demonstration of his “mad skilz” (<- cool Internet slang) in speed walking. The lesson learned here is this: If the Japanese invite you over to see you demonstrate a stupid sport, they are only trying to kill you.
Here is the video below:
It's bronchitis, not pneumonia
So the official diagnosis is croup and bronchiolitis (bronchitis for babies). He's still in isolation because of the croup (and because they haven't ruled out certain flues as the cause of it all). But we leave ICU for an isolation room on the regular floor this afternoon. He probably can't fly for a week at least, but we've been webcamming with Jonathan in the meantime. Yay for healing!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Please send good thoughts to Xander.
He's in the pediatric ICU with a confirmed case of croup and what they think is either pneumonia or swine flu, they'll get the test results back later today.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Spoon and spatula symphony
(written yesterday)
Xander and I are back in CA for a whopping three days. A family friend flew me out to officiate at a Bar Mitzvah. So far we’ve flown in, gone to In N’Out, swung by my home temple to get paperwork, taken a nap, and gone to the JCC where the event will take place. Today’s the rehearsal, tomorrow’s the Bar Mitzvah itself, and then I fly out tomorrow night after the party – to go straight to Pittsburgh for Maura’s wedding. What jetsetters my son and I have become!
Because I have neither the time nor the energy to write full paragraphs about everything, here is another list:
1)Jonathan, Xander, and I visited my new pulpit in Richmond, Indiana last Sunday. They are so nice! It’s a much bigger congregation than Mattoon. The building even has a rabbi’s study. I feel so official.
2) While writing an essay titled “My Thoughts on Preaching,” I realized I don’t actually like the term, “preaching.” I feel like that word is connected to a black-clad Calvinist minister pointing his finger up at the sky and telling everyone that they’re going to hell. Is this a common conception among Jews? I know that among Protestants the word is almost an honorific. How weird that I can do it, but can’t use the term. What do you associate with the word “preaching”?
3) Please send prayers to Holly's family. Her grandfather just passed away. I consider it his last gift that when she came out to be with her family, we were able to see each other for a couple of hours. Her son has gotten so big!
4) Everyone is aging. Cleo, the cat I grew up with, is 23 and is old and decrepit. She makes me realize just how youthful our cats are - the poor thing can't even jump onto the couch anymore, she just sits there and meows until one of us picks her up.
5) My mother can conduct music like no other, using nothing but kitchen utensils. Xander is in love. I have a feeling that when we get home, our spoons and spatulas will be serving double duty.
Xander and I are back in CA for a whopping three days. A family friend flew me out to officiate at a Bar Mitzvah. So far we’ve flown in, gone to In N’Out, swung by my home temple to get paperwork, taken a nap, and gone to the JCC where the event will take place. Today’s the rehearsal, tomorrow’s the Bar Mitzvah itself, and then I fly out tomorrow night after the party – to go straight to Pittsburgh for Maura’s wedding. What jetsetters my son and I have become!
Because I have neither the time nor the energy to write full paragraphs about everything, here is another list:
1)Jonathan, Xander, and I visited my new pulpit in Richmond, Indiana last Sunday. They are so nice! It’s a much bigger congregation than Mattoon. The building even has a rabbi’s study. I feel so official.
2) While writing an essay titled “My Thoughts on Preaching,” I realized I don’t actually like the term, “preaching.” I feel like that word is connected to a black-clad Calvinist minister pointing his finger up at the sky and telling everyone that they’re going to hell. Is this a common conception among Jews? I know that among Protestants the word is almost an honorific. How weird that I can do it, but can’t use the term. What do you associate with the word “preaching”?
3) Please send prayers to Holly's family. Her grandfather just passed away. I consider it his last gift that when she came out to be with her family, we were able to see each other for a couple of hours. Her son has gotten so big!
4) Everyone is aging. Cleo, the cat I grew up with, is 23 and is old and decrepit. She makes me realize just how youthful our cats are - the poor thing can't even jump onto the couch anymore, she just sits there and meows until one of us picks her up.
5) My mother can conduct music like no other, using nothing but kitchen utensils. Xander is in love. I have a feeling that when we get home, our spoons and spatulas will be serving double duty.
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