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magidI always forget just how exhausting the holidays can be... I need to figure out how to make the rest of the month easier.
I came home to cook a couple of meals, then in the waning minutes before Shabbat/Rosh Hashana, delivered one to friends in for the holiday. Dash home again for a much-needed shower before walking to services in Pound Hall, at the law school. It's not a beautiful space, by any means, but it is (mostly) large enough, and simple, not distracting. Unfortunately, the c hairs were set up in ways that were annoying (no center aisle, so rows were really long, and the outside aisle barely a person wide). Ah, well.
A new thing this year was a little light blue pamphlet for people to take. It included the schedule of servic es (times and locations, through Yom Kippur), a list of who was leading what, bios of said people, a list of the minyan board members, and some other information about the minyan (satellite minyanim, home hospitality, etc). It was useful, both for the information and the distraction value during slow bits of the morning services. But it was also annoying. One friend thought it a bit too much like a theater program, with the performers' bios. My gripe with the bios was that, by definition, featuring those leading davening meant no women were included. I'd rather have had bios of the board members, which is more useful, anyway.
After maariv, Queue and I walked to dinner with my friends-from-out-of-town E and Y. They had borrowed an apartment to stay in (with their 2 small kids), and her dad was taking care of the kids when we got there. The food was decent, and it was particularly good to see E, but there were some odd moments. I just don't care at all about the state elections in CA in 1968, for example, which turned into a big topic of discussion. I was a bit annoyed that, having 5 adults at the meal, only 3 of whom were talking, none of the participants decided to change the topic to a more inclusive one, of more general interest. Feh.
I'd also forgotten that E and Y talk to their kids exclusively in Hebrew. The last time I saw them, I couldn't figure out if it was ok that I didn't. It's clearer now that this is fine. In some ways I'm jealous, thinking of how the kids will be bilingual, though I can't imagine me doing that (my vocabulary just isn't good enough).
I woke up early enough to make it to shul just about on time (we start a half hour earlier than usual).
I realized this year that I like the basic structure of the RH davening. What annoys me is the overly long and mostly incomprehensible piyyutim [1] (even the extremely-learned rabbi's wife says she reads them in English) stuck in. They just add time to services, nothing else I ca n figure out. There are some additions that work (are clear Hebrew and/or are singable, emotive), but most of these just don't.
There were lots of cohanim [2] for duchaning [3] the first day (more than the second, which seemed odd). I'm always entertained by whatever the group is finding its voice. The words are a given, but making something that sounds reasonable takes a moment or two sometimes.
[1] liturgical poems, mostly in medieval Hebrew
[2] members of the priestly caste
[3] aka birkat cohanim, the blessing of the priests. These days, the priests do 2 things: a blessing during prayers (every day in Israel, on holidays elsewhere), and redeeming a first-born son [4]. They get the first aliyah (being called up to the Torah), which is considered an honor.
[4] First-born sons would otherwise be destined to serve in the Temple (that we don't got these days). A ceremony happens when the boy is a month old. The father gives a cohen some $ (usually in the form of silver dollars), and says he redeems his son from this service. [5]
[5] layers and layers. I'll stop now.
I went to lunch at the rabbi's. Services hadn't ended until around 1, so I was very hungry. They've moved since the last time I visited them, but it wa s still a longish walk in the midday sun, and I was so ready for lunch. But there were 3 little kids that had to be organized first. At least I was able to distract myself by looking around their new house, not far off Somerville Ave. An actual house, wit h a fenced in yard and everything. The neighborhood is pretty eh, but they have space enough for all of them, which is good.
Eventually lunch happened. Foodly highlights included a pull-apart challah made in a tube pan, whipped honey, and some amazing b rownies. Other stuff not worth writing about. I met a woman who just moved to Cambridge and wants to illustrate kid books, and talked more with a guy I know more by face than anything else. He'd gone on a month-long survival course, and there was much discussion of the benefits of doing one, not just surviving and getting in better shape, but the confidence that you can take care of yourself. He also skydives. I hadn't realized how many adventures he's had. Lots of interesting stories...
I could've gone back to shul for the rabbi's talk, followed by davening, but I needed some down time, so headed home. Good to have some quiet time, even though I ended up missing mincha (the afternoon service).
I was late to maariv (evening service, usually not long after mincha, for convenience), then went home to light candles for the second day and get the greens I'd made for dinner. Over to S and J's for dinner; it turned out I was the first one there. The original plan was dinn er starting before 9, but that didn't happen (so it's no surprise that I didn't get home until after midnight...).
My hosts had taken a year in Costa Rica, doing a public health program they'd gotten some kind of grant for. She's now finishing her residency, and he's switched from computer geek to public health person. They have interesting lives that help people, and lots of stories. And other guests weren't boring either: one woman works for the city of NY, in the department that investigates potential police misconduct. She had some fascinating stories. And the food was excellent: a thin mushroom barley soup, homemade gnocci in a spicy tomato sauce with pesto on the side, winter squash, the autumn poem I'd brought. The desserts weren't so impressive, but I'd had lots of gnocci and didn't care... Oh, and I was pleased that (a) my hosts had said they were glad they finally had me over (these are people I seem never to be able to have over, and I was starting to wonder....) and (b) they asked me to lead grace after meals [6].
[6] An honor. When there are 3 or more men, traditionally a man leads. When there are only one or 2 people, they say grace indpendently. Depending on the source, some rabbis opine that if there are 3 or more women (and insufficient men), they should lead, while others are less clear. In very religious communities, a woman leading in this circumstance is still a novelty, and therefore bad. At this meal, there were 2 men and 5 women....
I was exhausted when I got up early, needing to get the place ready for lunch. But I managed to do it. And made it to services relatively on time. It was weird having someone not Jerry do p'sukai d'zimrah [7]; he's led for years and years and years...
It was amazing to do some of the things not done on Shabbat, how intense it felt to sing Aveinu Malkenu [8], the shofar service. There were still annoying piyyutim (different ones; that's some of the annoying part), but I was able to ignore them for a bit. I've not heard a shofar sound so much like a foghorn before, either.
The service is shorter, but everyone is more tired. It was good to hear the shofar, it was good to see all the kids (more of them than the day before, since it wasn't Shabbat (the eruv still isn't finished)), but I was so ready to go home by the time davening was over...
[7] lit. "verses of song." An introductory service, mostly chapters of psalms.
[8] lit. "Our Father, Our King," a series of sentences starting with that phrase. Some are said responsively, some to oneself, and the last one is usually sung, with a tune that seems to have no variations, is perfectly moving just as it is.
Lunch went well, in that the food was good, and the talk was good. Unfortunately, the sun was also vigorous, so the dining area was hotter than comfortable. Still, good to see Ahron & Jason & Yonah. And once they'd left, I could nap! Of course, in that heat, I woke up a bit cranky and feeling gross; I didn't start feeling better until a shower after yom tov ended...
I still find it disconcerting to have done so much, yet nothing much at all, and the weekend is over. I'm tired. Hope it's a good week...
I came home to cook a couple of meals, then in the waning minutes before Shabbat/Rosh Hashana, delivered one to friends in for the holiday. Dash home again for a much-needed shower before walking to services in Pound Hall, at the law school. It's not a beautiful space, by any means, but it is (mostly) large enough, and simple, not distracting. Unfortunately, the c hairs were set up in ways that were annoying (no center aisle, so rows were really long, and the outside aisle barely a person wide). Ah, well.
A new thing this year was a little light blue pamphlet for people to take. It included the schedule of servic es (times and locations, through Yom Kippur), a list of who was leading what, bios of said people, a list of the minyan board members, and some other information about the minyan (satellite minyanim, home hospitality, etc). It was useful, both for the information and the distraction value during slow bits of the morning services. But it was also annoying. One friend thought it a bit too much like a theater program, with the performers' bios. My gripe with the bios was that, by definition, featuring those leading davening meant no women were included. I'd rather have had bios of the board members, which is more useful, anyway.
After maariv, Queue and I walked to dinner with my friends-from-out-of-town E and Y. They had borrowed an apartment to stay in (with their 2 small kids), and her dad was taking care of the kids when we got there. The food was decent, and it was particularly good to see E, but there were some odd moments. I just don't care at all about the state elections in CA in 1968, for example, which turned into a big topic of discussion. I was a bit annoyed that, having 5 adults at the meal, only 3 of whom were talking, none of the participants decided to change the topic to a more inclusive one, of more general interest. Feh.
I'd also forgotten that E and Y talk to their kids exclusively in Hebrew. The last time I saw them, I couldn't figure out if it was ok that I didn't. It's clearer now that this is fine. In some ways I'm jealous, thinking of how the kids will be bilingual, though I can't imagine me doing that (my vocabulary just isn't good enough).
I woke up early enough to make it to shul just about on time (we start a half hour earlier than usual).
I realized this year that I like the basic structure of the RH davening. What annoys me is the overly long and mostly incomprehensible piyyutim [1] (even the extremely-learned rabbi's wife says she reads them in English) stuck in. They just add time to services, nothing else I ca n figure out. There are some additions that work (are clear Hebrew and/or are singable, emotive), but most of these just don't.
There were lots of cohanim [2] for duchaning [3] the first day (more than the second, which seemed odd). I'm always entertained by whatever the group is finding its voice. The words are a given, but making something that sounds reasonable takes a moment or two sometimes.
[1] liturgical poems, mostly in medieval Hebrew
[2] members of the priestly caste
[3] aka birkat cohanim, the blessing of the priests. These days, the priests do 2 things: a blessing during prayers (every day in Israel, on holidays elsewhere), and redeeming a first-born son [4]. They get the first aliyah (being called up to the Torah), which is considered an honor.
[4] First-born sons would otherwise be destined to serve in the Temple (that we don't got these days). A ceremony happens when the boy is a month old. The father gives a cohen some $ (usually in the form of silver dollars), and says he redeems his son from this service. [5]
[5] layers and layers. I'll stop now.
I went to lunch at the rabbi's. Services hadn't ended until around 1, so I was very hungry. They've moved since the last time I visited them, but it wa s still a longish walk in the midday sun, and I was so ready for lunch. But there were 3 little kids that had to be organized first. At least I was able to distract myself by looking around their new house, not far off Somerville Ave. An actual house, wit h a fenced in yard and everything. The neighborhood is pretty eh, but they have space enough for all of them, which is good.
Eventually lunch happened. Foodly highlights included a pull-apart challah made in a tube pan, whipped honey, and some amazing b rownies. Other stuff not worth writing about. I met a woman who just moved to Cambridge and wants to illustrate kid books, and talked more with a guy I know more by face than anything else. He'd gone on a month-long survival course, and there was much discussion of the benefits of doing one, not just surviving and getting in better shape, but the confidence that you can take care of yourself. He also skydives. I hadn't realized how many adventures he's had. Lots of interesting stories...
I could've gone back to shul for the rabbi's talk, followed by davening, but I needed some down time, so headed home. Good to have some quiet time, even though I ended up missing mincha (the afternoon service).
I was late to maariv (evening service, usually not long after mincha, for convenience), then went home to light candles for the second day and get the greens I'd made for dinner. Over to S and J's for dinner; it turned out I was the first one there. The original plan was dinn er starting before 9, but that didn't happen (so it's no surprise that I didn't get home until after midnight...).
My hosts had taken a year in Costa Rica, doing a public health program they'd gotten some kind of grant for. She's now finishing her residency, and he's switched from computer geek to public health person. They have interesting lives that help people, and lots of stories. And other guests weren't boring either: one woman works for the city of NY, in the department that investigates potential police misconduct. She had some fascinating stories. And the food was excellent: a thin mushroom barley soup, homemade gnocci in a spicy tomato sauce with pesto on the side, winter squash, the autumn poem I'd brought. The desserts weren't so impressive, but I'd had lots of gnocci and didn't care... Oh, and I was pleased that (a) my hosts had said they were glad they finally had me over (these are people I seem never to be able to have over, and I was starting to wonder....) and (b) they asked me to lead grace after meals [6].
[6] An honor. When there are 3 or more men, traditionally a man leads. When there are only one or 2 people, they say grace indpendently. Depending on the source, some rabbis opine that if there are 3 or more women (and insufficient men), they should lead, while others are less clear. In very religious communities, a woman leading in this circumstance is still a novelty, and therefore bad. At this meal, there were 2 men and 5 women....
I was exhausted when I got up early, needing to get the place ready for lunch. But I managed to do it. And made it to services relatively on time. It was weird having someone not Jerry do p'sukai d'zimrah [7]; he's led for years and years and years...
It was amazing to do some of the things not done on Shabbat, how intense it felt to sing Aveinu Malkenu [8], the shofar service. There were still annoying piyyutim (different ones; that's some of the annoying part), but I was able to ignore them for a bit. I've not heard a shofar sound so much like a foghorn before, either.
The service is shorter, but everyone is more tired. It was good to hear the shofar, it was good to see all the kids (more of them than the day before, since it wasn't Shabbat (the eruv still isn't finished)), but I was so ready to go home by the time davening was over...
[7] lit. "verses of song." An introductory service, mostly chapters of psalms.
[8] lit. "Our Father, Our King," a series of sentences starting with that phrase. Some are said responsively, some to oneself, and the last one is usually sung, with a tune that seems to have no variations, is perfectly moving just as it is.
Lunch went well, in that the food was good, and the talk was good. Unfortunately, the sun was also vigorous, so the dining area was hotter than comfortable. Still, good to see Ahron & Jason & Yonah. And once they'd left, I could nap! Of course, in that heat, I woke up a bit cranky and feeling gross; I didn't start feeling better until a shower after yom tov ended...
I still find it disconcerting to have done so much, yet nothing much at all, and the weekend is over. I'm tired. Hope it's a good week...