Jewish Musings Thursday March 16

[hollygail]

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

And for those of you who stop by to read this thread without posting — you are certainly welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in!

[hollygail]

1. I finally got around to posting Wednesday’s topic; feel free to look at yesterday’s thread.
2. Here’s the sixth aliyah.

- - -

Chapter 31
1 Adonai spoke to Moses:
2 See, I have singled out by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
3 I have endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft;
4 to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper,
5 to cut stones for setting and to carve wood—to work in every kind of craft.
6 Moreover, I have assigned to him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have also granted skill to all who are skillful, that they may make everything that I have commanded you:
7 the Tent of Meeting, the Ark for the Pact and the cover upon it, and all the furnishings of the Tent;
8 the table and its utensils, the pure lampstand and all its fittings, and the altar of incense;
9 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand;
10 the service vestments, the sacral vestments of Aaron the priest and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests;
11 as well as the anointing oil and the aromatic incense for the sanctuary. Just as I have commanded you, they shall do.

- - -

Bezalel is the Hebrew name my son chose for his father (Bill, an artist; actually, a writer, whose mother didn't give him a Hebrew name) with the help of my former rabbi. Do you have any skills (or fill in the blank here) that set you apart from other people? Maybe you knit the best cowl scarves of anyone you know, or perhaps your stuffed peppers are the best in your community or family, or you’re the only person you know (on an amateur level) who rolls your own sushi… (my sister rolls sushi and I don’t know anyone else who does, outside of employees in sushi restaurants, that is).

[peachymom1]

I am really good at constructing logic problems. I've always loved solving them in crossword puzzles books, but when I was out of work the last time, I got the idea of trying to actually write one myself, to keep mind occupied so I wouldn't get depressed over not finding a job. It's really hard! And I made a lot of mistakes. But over time, I got better and better, and even though I've had a job for over 13 years, I still write logic problems in my spare time. It makes me so happy to do this. I'll never make any money doing this, and it makes no contribution to humanity, but I just love doing it.

I'm also very good at organizing things, and this is something I do at work on a daily basis. Although technically I was hired to organize and run the lives of just the executives, I actually organize nearly everyone in my department, and a few people who aren't in my department. I like to see things organized and in their places, and I like to get things done helpfully and efficiently. This gives me great satisfaction.

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well. Re today's topic: I am really good at getting a lot of things done by making lists. You should see mine for today and tomorrow, not to mention those through the end of the month! I have a lot going on, medically and otherwise. And speaking of medical stuff, I am feeling better today than yesterday, now that I saw my doctor, got some pain meds, made an appointment for an MRI next week, and generally feel more like I am not living in near-total painful chaos. I still woke up in the middle of the night and had to use the ice pack on my shoulder, but the meds did take the edge off the pain.

I'll check in later when I have time. Have a peaceful day, Lee

[gazelle18]

I am really good at public speaking and can tell a great joke. I am good at giving other people advice, but not as good at following said advice myself. I am an expert at keeping my mouth shut around my adult children.

Some of the aforesaid abilities came naturally. The one about keeping my mouth shut around my adult kids has been a learned skill.

[savtele]

Boker Tov All! I'm good at a joke, and I have a snarky streak that runs deep through my psyche. I figure that it's an inherited trait - my dad was great with straight-faced irony and sarcasm. I don't know if it's nature or nurture, if I inherited a gene or just heard him do it so long, it stuck with me.

I knit & crochet, embroider, do fine hand-sewing. I don't know if I'm particularly better than other people at that - but I can look at a picture and figure out how to "do" the pattern.

Today I'm tired - I closed the antique mall last night. (a new skill I am learning.)

After all the rain we've had, the river is roaring by. The sun is sparkling through the trees in the fog - song-worthy! I'm going to pour another cup of coffee & just enjoy this view for a few minutes!

Have a good day ladies!

[happysavta]

I don't have any particular talent or skill, nothing that sets me apart.

[hollygail]

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫
♫♪♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
♫♪♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
♫♪♫♪ Happy Birthday, dear Tamara ♪♫♪♫♪♫
♫♪♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

Hope you have a great day!

[louise]

Not much of a skill but I am known in my synagogue community for, among other things I guess, my chocolate dipped pretzels - in fact I have to make 150 of them over the next 2 weeks for a colleague's daughter's bat mitzvah - she wants them in Tiffany blue - will come as close as I can. Also making the girl a kippah for her special day - I guess that's another skill I am known for. I don't think I am especially talented, just patient enough to do these things.

Tonight we are having a sopher at our synagogue - we have one torah that needs a text correction and another with a split seam. I'm looking forward to seeing him work and there will be Q&A. btw, this event is paid for with donations that came in response to that torah falling.

[lee058]

Hi again everybody. Just looking in to say hello this afternoon. I am very tired but feel emotionally much better than yesterday. I used my talent of list-making and following through on my lists to get a lot done today. I also talked with my mom for a solid hour and a half on the phone (!!!), as she had many things that she wanted to talk about. Whew!!! That was exhausting although I love her very much.

DS took me out to lunch today at our favorite deli, and we had an excellent meal, with hamantashen for dessert. We brought home half of our sandwiches as they were gigantic, so we will eat them later. Yum!

Tomorrow at 7AM, I am going to get re-evaluated at the physical therapy place so that the orthopedic doctor can read on Monday what changes the therapists feel have happened these past several weeks. Then, I am going to bring my car in for an oil change and its annual inspection. Then home for lunch, and after that, if the timing works out and I'm not too tired, I'm going to take DS to the movies. Rogue One is playing at the cheap theater, and we are looking forward to seeing it again. Then I am probably going to take a nap! Busy day!

Hope all is well with everyone. Have a peaceful rest of the day, Lee

[happysavta]

Shalom, chaverot,

The class at the YMCA was excellent, about 10 participants and 2 instructors. It's a 1 year program to prevent Type 2 Diabetes and it's free. The goal by the end of the first six months is to lose 5-7% of your starting weight and to get at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week. By the end of the second six months, the goal is to keep off the weight you've lost, keep working toward your goal weight, keep getting at least 150 minutes of activity each week. Last night was Week 3, Tracking your Activity. We all downloaded an app called Sidekick on our phones.

BTW, the program and the materials are online. Just google "Prevent T2 program". This same class is being given all over the U.S., sponsored by the CDC and insurers. There's a big push to prevent people from developing diabetes and save health care costs.

Another thing the instructors do each week is bring in a vegetable and give you a recipe for it. Last week's was Roasted Cauliflower "Rice" with Garlic and Lemon. That was so delicious! Tasted just like rice, not like cauliflower at all. Yesterday they brought in a bag of broccolini and gave us a recipe for that. During the class session, they provided cuties and sliced jicama with lime and some sort of Mexican spice. We also were given a copy of an article from the New York Times,"To Lose Weight, Eating Less is Far More Important Than Exercising More." The statistic is that 80% of weight loss comes from eating less, 20% of weight loss comes from exercise.

We also got a hand-out about drinking water, and we were urged to drink water, lots of plain water, not coffee or tea. We were told that drinking lots of water will boost your metabolism! I was told that I could drink 9-10 cups a day. I doubt that my bladder could handle that, but since I don't drink water at all, I can easily increase my water intake.

[peachymom1]

I have such great admiration for all of you who have talent with sewing, knitting, crocheting, crafts, stained glass windows, etc., etc. I have no artistic talent whatsoever, and I really enjoy everyone else's handiwork. I had to take a semester of sewing in 7th grade and would have hated it to death if I hadn't had a wonderful, understanding teacher who let me make things that didn't require hard things like collars! Sewing makes me want to poke my eyes out -- I would have made a terrible pioneer woman!

I can sing, though, and I can read Torah really well! Not nearly as useful as the home arts, but enjoyable nonetheless. Both my parents and all my sisters can sing too, and growing up, singing with my sisters was one thing we did together that we all loved.