Jewish Musings, Monday, March 3

[louise]

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:
Frieda (hopefully)?
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you who stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[louise]

So you all know I volunteered to read some Megillah. I volunteered for 6 verses and was assigned a short chapter that had 10 verses witht he understanding the rabbi would take the balance if it was too much. I couldn’t “hear” the melody and had a lot going on at the time – I couldn’t learn it and was freaking out over it. So I finally told the rabbi that I couldn’t learn it. He was completely unfazed and told me not to give it a thought. I was so relieved to have that off my head. And then some days later I picked it up again and started to learn it. It felt different with the pressure off. I think I can learn the 6 verses I had volunteered for. Some of you will understand when I say though that there a couple of verses of Eicha trope thrown in so I have to go back and forth. I think since I am learning it that way I will be able to do it.

I figured out how to get the recording my rabbi made me onto my phone and I got finally got some ear buds with a lightning plug that fit my current phone (I don’t have any of those wireless ones) – I didn’t have either of these things worked out when I went to Israel. Of course I have much less time now but I have made some progress with the tune and will be able to study on the bus and on the plane (when I go to London this weekend).

It’s all twisted up but there’s something in there about the goals we set, how we do under pressure, sabotaging ourselves, recognizing what you can and can’t do, taking care of yourself. If you can relate to some part of this convoluted learning, please jump in!

[peachymom1]

Congrats to you, Louise, this is wonderful, and I bet you will have the most amazing feeling of accomplishment when you've mastered the text! Kol hakavod!

I, on the other hand, have not read Torah in over a month, and I have not called the ritual director to tell him we're back from San Diego. I also haven't been back to shul since we got back, because I caught a cold and am only just now feeling more like myself. I'm hoping to go to shul this Shabbat, and I'll talk to the ritual director then, unless he calls me this week, which is highly likely, now that I think of it.

But I also have been thinking about doing less Torah reading than I've been doing for so many years. I think it's time my shul came up with a better system of lining up Torah readers. The gabbai (ritual director) asks me to read because I do a good job and I'm reliable, but also because he knows that I appreciate the honor of reading Torah. We've known each other for over 40 years, and we have great respect for each other. I don't want to let him down, but I think it's time some other people stepped up to the task. I'm not sure how to bring this up with him, so I'll give it some thought first.

[gazelle18]

For better or worse (and sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s worse), I tend to work well under pressure. The converse is also true: I tend to procrastinate when I’m not under pressure! I realized at some point that I will often broadcast a date (e.g., set a meeting which I will be leading), and it is only once I have a deadline do I buckle down to work. Not terribly proud of all this, but I’m consistent here!

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

Re today's topic: I keep lots of notes and calendars, as you know. I couldn't manage without them. Just this morning, I spent two hours dealing with medical issues on the phone. I find it really helps me stay on track of my responsibilities when I can see reminders right in front of me.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[hollygail]

I too want to step down from some of the responsibilities I've taken on. There are very very few Torah readers in my home congregation, and since we don't have a lot of people who are Saturday shul goers, I'm okay about it most of the year. However, when we have a b. mitzvah student on a Saturday morning, I'm the one who has to line up readers for the first 5 aliyot (our students read #6, #7 and maftir). I got a late start this year, and I so far I have one (yes, count 'em, ONE) volunteer for the bat mitzvah on March 16. Two weeks ago I emailed the administrator (and I copied the rabbi) to put a note in the weekly email that goes out to the whole congregation) asking for volunteers. I mapped out the chapters and verses of the "open" aliyot (#1 and 3 through 5). Volunteers were supposed to email me. So far, I have received zero responses. I have to check with the rabbi when she gets back (she's taking a few days off this week) to find out if she had an alternate plan in mind... I'm not willing to learn more than one, maximum two (if they're both short) within the next two weeks...