|
|
Post by louise on Dec 31, 2016 23:56:30 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
|
|
|
|
Post by louise on Jan 1, 2017 0:12:43 GMT -5
On this last day of Hanukkah I thought I would offer some more holiday thoughts (Seasonal Affect Discussions). Hanukkah is a victory of the small against the large. We add to the Amidah and to grace after meals: “You in Your great mercy, championed Israel’s cause and defended them, dealing retribution and delivering the mighty into the hand of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked in to the hands of the righteous, and the tyrants into the hands of the followers of the Torah.[we could add to this a religious minority standing up to a hostile majority]. By Your great deliverance of Israel You made Your Name great and holy in the world to this very day, for afterward Your people came to the Temple, cleansed and purified the sanctuary, and kindled lights in the holy courts, instituting these eight days of dedication for thanks and praise to Your great name."
Do you ever feel that you are the sole voice of sanity amongst a bunch of crazies? That your skill set keeps a big organization (or family) running? That if you hadn’t spoken up something big would have gone awry? I know sometimes I feel my contributions are very small – but I also know that at least sometimes the effect can be big.
You were expecting maybe something about the new year?
|
|
|
|
Post by peachymom1 on Jan 1, 2017 1:24:24 GMT -5
Hi Louise, shavua tov! I'm getting sleepy and will never make it to midnight, so I'm going to bed soon. It's not even 10:30 my time. (Yawn!)
Funny you should mention this topic -- I was just feeling today that I am the glue that keeps things together sometimes. Of course that's not really true, but DH is sick right now, two close friends are struggling with severe difficulties right now and leaning on me, and I'm feeling like a lone tree in a forest. People need me to be strong and be there for them right now, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and could use another tree.
In the morning, I have to drive one DS26 to his sister's apartment to feed the cats while she's out of town, then I have to drive the other DS26 and his girlfriend home. On the way home, I have to stop at whatever grocery store is open and do the weekly shopping without DH. I wish the DS26 who lives at home had a driver's license (he has no interest at all in learning to drive) -- if he did, he could drive himself over to his sister's, then drive his brother and GF home, and all I'd have to do is the shopping. Sigh.
OK, I'm done complaining. I'm waving goodbye to 2016 and going to bed. I'll be back in the morning, hopefully with a more optimistic view. Happy 2017 to all!
|
|
|
|
Post by hollygail on Jan 1, 2017 1:32:59 GMT -5
Just got home (it's 10:20 pm Saturday night here) from dinner at a vegetarian Thai restaurant with five other couples. Delicious food, fun people (from the Conservative shul where I daven weekday mornings). And it's raining cats and dogs outside!
No, I wasn't expecting anything about 2017. I was expecting something Jewish. I've been reading the extra paragraph in the amidah all week, wanting to transcribe it for the rest of the Jewish Musings readers, so thank you, Louise, for writing it out.
Yes, I have definitely felt that I've been the sole voice of sanity among crazies, and that my skill set has kept an organization running, and that I hadn't spoke up, somehting big would have gone awry... And having said so, I will also say that I felt it more in my 20s, 30s and 40s. It's not that I sit on my can doing nothing, it's that I used to be so much more vocal about things. Now, when something bothers me, I may very well tell some friends and/or family members, as compared with being what some people labeled a troublemaker when I was younger. I marched on Washington, I took part in Civil Rights demonstrations, I was in the forefront of the women's movement where I lived, things like that. Now, I teach bnai mitzvah kids, I teach Jewish ethics and values and mitzvot, I lead services for rabbis when they're ill or on vacation or called away for some reason, I lead shiva minyanim, etc. Last night, I told a group (25 people? 35?) of adults (after everyone joined together in saying the blessings and lighting their chanukiot) that you don't say amen if you've said the entire brachah because "amen" is like "I agree" and you wouldn't say "I agree" with yourself; if you didn't agree with yourself, you wouldn't say the brachah to begin with. Somehow, I don't consider that earth-shattering or revolutionary or whatever...
|
|
|
|
Post by gazelle18 on Jan 1, 2017 2:15:36 GMT -5
Happy (secular) new year to my cyber chavurah!
I definitely feel at times that I am the lone sane person in a world of crazies, and I definitely feel like I am the glue that holds things together.
Sometimes, I have developed an exaggerated sense of my own importance in the cosmic world. For example, I used the keep my fingers crossed when I was in an airplane, until the announcement came on that we had reached 10,000 feet. Since we did not crash on any such occasion, I believed it was my act of finger crossing that kept the plane in the sky. I finally talked myself out of this annoying and illogical ritual.
Then again, I thought that if I read the news obsessively this fall, that my preferred candidate would win the presidency. I didn't dare take a day off of the news. Perhaps the victory by the other guy will at least serve to remind me that I cannot change the course of events by engaging in a ritual that has no logical connection to actually effecting an outcome!
But with my family, I CAN make a difference. For example, I singlehandedly put on Shabbat dinner every Friday night for my local family, and I am convinced that I am creating important memories and Jewish roots for my grandkids.
|
|
lee058
This space for rent
Posts: 23,285 
|
Post by lee058 on Jan 1, 2017 8:27:04 GMT -5
Good morning everybody, and here's wishing all of us a happy and healthy (secular) new year! I fell asleep around 9:30 last night, woke up at ten minutes to midnight and saw the ball drop in NYC, and then slept on and off until 6. I'm drinking coffee and had bagels, lox and cream cheese for breakfast. When I get off the computer, I'm going to start chopping onions and peppers to cook for lunch, but as of now, I don't feel like moving.
Re today's topic: Yes, sometimes I feel like I am the only one in my family who has her head on straight. Everyone else fusses a lot more than I do. I try to keep things going the best I can and to not make hassles for other people. Hopefully this year they will be more helpful and agreeable.
Anyway, life goes on! I'll check back later. Have a peaceful day, Lee
|
|
|
|
Post by savtele on Jan 1, 2017 11:53:03 GMT -5
Boker Tov All! Shevuah Tov! Happy 2017! (that's a lot of happy at 8:30 AM!)
I have 2 granddaughters who look and act a lot like me (don't know if they think that's so good!) And they also are the planners/doers in the family!
My sister's good at delegating - I'm learning to do that. I tend to be one of those who thinks that by the time I explain what needs to be done, I could have done it myself...
As to having my head on straight, sometimes I'm a bit skewed, I'm sure! It gives me my particular world-view. My brand of nutty is the one I am comfortable with!
I called mom last night - she watched the ball drop from her bed, glass of wine on nightstand, then turned over & went to sleep.
Today I am watching big puffy flakes fall from the sky. The world takes on a stillness & even the river sounds far away. John brought in several big totes of wood - we are all set for hibernation
Have a good day ladies!
|
|
|
|
Post by hollygail on Jan 1, 2017 13:13:16 GMT -5
|
|
lee058
This space for rent
Posts: 23,285
|
Post by lee058 on Jan 1, 2017 17:58:57 GMT -5
Hi again everybody. It's been a good but tiring day. I did a lot of cooking, and everything turned out really well, if I say so myself. We had a NY-style breakfast, as I said earlier, and a southern-style lunch: black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread. I enjoyed making different things, and of course, eating some of everything.
I don't have much else to add, just that I'm glad that we made it through this past year, and hopefully 2017 will be a good one.
Have a peaceful night, Lee
|
|
|
|
Post by hollygail on Jan 1, 2017 23:10:42 GMT -5
Okay. Finally... It's 8pm here. We just finished watching the Kennedy Center Honors (recorded, obviously). I really enjoyed it!
A woman in my Women's Chavurah lost her 24-year-old grandson Friday (she didn't know until early Saturday morning when his father rang her doorbell). DH and I visited yesterday and again today, and we'll be back tomorrow (she lives about 2.5 miles from my house). Waiting for autopsy results to determine cause of death (he'd been in an auto accident in July, was in excruciating pain, had back surgery Wednesday and went to his father and step-mother's the same day; Friday morning, he and his dad had breakfast together and he was in very good spirits; his dad went to work, and the step-mom checked on him around 12:30, wondering if he wanted some lunch but heard him snoring through the door so she let him sleep; his 18-year-old brother was in the next room, and when the dad came home from work and went upstairs to check, he was gone; the brother hadn't heard anything, like falling out of bed, or calling out, or anything at all). They can't plan the funeral until the autopsy results are in. Meanwhile, Gramma wants to sit shiva for him at her house, and the father's house isn't set up for receiving the number of guests who'd certainly come...
It's been difficult. Worse, of course, for the grandmothers, but not at all easy for me or any of our other friends from shul...
Everyone agrees that 2016 wasn't a good year, and we're all of us hoping that 2017 will be.
|
|
|
|
Post by hollygail on Jan 2, 2017 0:51:56 GMT -5
I just noticed that the listing shows 119 views. Who are the people who read our thread but don't post anything? If people are interested enough to read our thread, maybe some would be brave enough to tell us what they think, or why they opened our thread to begin with, or something... I was surprised to see such a large number...
|
|
