magid

I tried an experiment, changing when my bedroom light turned off to before 10p, and it worked: I woke up around 6a, had time to laze in bed, and still be a bit early to 7a davening (no, autocorrect, I do not mean “deveining”….), making it to Shabbat davening in shul for the first time in too long. I was the second person there, and ended setting up the mechitzah. People arrived steadily enough that there wasn’t a wait at shacharit, which was great, especially since some regulars weren’t available (it’s not a large minyan).

We read parshat Mishpatim today, and two pesukim stood out from the rest of the laws being discussed, ones that perhaps the people who still support some of the actions of the current regime yet claim to revere their holy texts should remember.

Shmot/Exodus 22:21
וְגֵ֥ר לֹא־תוֹנֶ֖ה וְלֹ֣א תִלְחָצֶ֑נּוּ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Shmot/Exodus 23:2
לֹֽא־תִהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרֵֽי־רַבִּ֖ים לְרָעֹ֑ת וְלֹא־תַעֲנֶ֣ה עַל־רִ֗ב לִנְטֹ֛ת אַחֲרֵ֥י רַבִּ֖ים לְהַטֹּֽת׃
You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong—you shall not give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty—

(and the next pasuk is about not favoring the poor either; I think that is currently not our issue)
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i decided to go to a new "satellite" minyan held for the first time this week.

[background: long, long ago, harvard had one ortho minyan for any given service, barring things like shiva minyans (for a mourner, at the house, during the 1st week after burial). then things started changing. there's a women's tefilla group that meets once or twice/month. some guys wanted an earlier mincha on shabbat, right after kiddush. someone decided to have a carlebach davening in someone's home. etc. so this year, the board decided to regularize the situation, having someone on the board to coordinate satellite minyanim, also ensuring they got into the announcements, so everyone could choose whether or not to attend, rather than depending on friend groups to spread the word. so this year there's been a lot more alternatives, with a satellite minyan seeming to happen every 2 weeks, at least. plus someone's starteda weekly kids' service, too.]

this minyan was billed as more inclusive than the usual, while committed to halacha. a woman led kabbalat shabbat, a man led maariv. a man counted the omer [today's the 17th day, 2 weeks and 3 days], and a woman lead the line-by-line saying of a chapter of psalms, thinking of americans serving in afghanistan, israelis called to the army, etc, in the hope of peace.

the davening was excellent. the woman who led kabbalat shabbat had a beautiful voice, also took her time. it was a carlebach style, so much singing, even some dancing (though the room wasn't well set up for that. plus there were many more people than expected.). and the guy leading maariv was great in a completely different way, more traditional, but thoughtful, also great voice. i think i had my first good, focused amidah (silent prayer) in months...

of course, it went rather late (and this on the first "late" shabbat, after the time change. i got to my friends' house around 30 minutes later than i had expected.... to find that their baby was being fussy, so she stayed upstairs calming the baby. later, she fell asleep, so he and i had dinner, having interesting conversations that were completely different topics than what we would've talked about had she been there. a break for some rounds of set, then home.

i tried to sleep in shabbat morning. failed (in that 7 am giving up sort of way, tigerbright!). perhaps it is time to move to the summer bedroom...

i'd made the salmon gefilte fish i'd had in the freezer, tried it for lunch. i'd made it with extra dill and white pepper, and the taste was fine, but the texture was off, somehow, more crumbly or something, in a way i don't care for.

then a fun game afternoon in davis sq, playing 3 new-to-me games, the names of which escape me, except carcassonne. all were fun.

spring is here: the annual reappearance of big ugly black ants has started :-(

i finished the 2nd course of antibiotics... hopefully that will be the last of them!


birds' nests visible
in skeletal tree branches.
soon hidden by spring.

(i had a different version of this friday afternoon as i walked to shul, but somehow i didn't manage to hold onto it completely until after shabbat...)

i wonder what birds' criteria are for trees-to-build-nests-in