Jewish Musings, Monday, April 8

[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 that 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]

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 that 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]

What a period of natural wonders. The earthquake on Friday and the solar eclipse this afternoon. I had to look some things up to get my head around it – the eclipse happens during a new moon – how can NO moon cover up the sun? The moon is so much smaller than the sun, how can it block it out? Why doesn’t it happen more often? I finally got the picture straight in my mind so I get how these thngs work, especially about the sun being maybe 400 times larger but also maybe 400 times further away. We are supposed to have clouds this afternoon, maybe even rain. I hope, of course, that it all clears up! It’s going to be special no matter what. I think I will still with the same barucha for this as for the earthquake:

Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, shekocho ooh g’vuratoh mahlay olam.
Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the Universe, whose strength and glory fills the universe.

Wishing you all special blesings for this day! May you find wonder in what you see.

[hollygail]

Yesterday, San Diego's Jewish Community had a day of learning (locally called Tapestry, although I have no idea how that name became its name). There were three separate study sessions, and registrants were offered numerous choices for each of the three. I loved the first one I attended. Its name was "How Can We Recognize the Awe and Wonder in the Everyday?" It was presented by Hanan Harchol (hananharchol.com and/or on youtube just type in "Jewish Food For Thought"). He does animation. There are two characters who talk to each other in each of the animated vignettes. It's a father and son duo. The son is an adult (presumably Hanan himself) and the father is drawn as an old wise man (presumably Hanan's real father). He showed us one of his films (the one about awe/wonder) and we spent almost the entire remainder of the session discussing not only awe and wonder, but everything connected. It may have been the single best study session I've ever attended! (and I've been attending study sessions for teachers of Judaics since the early 1990s.)

The second one was titled "The Broken Well / A Personal Perspective on October 7." The man (Dr./Professor Dan Rabinowitz / Dept of Sociology and Anthropology, Tel-Aviv University). He went through his family's history from about 1926 when his grandparents or great-grandparents immigrated from Europe to Palestine and where they settled and how they and their neighbors built up the land, had kids, etc. He spoke about this one cousin with whom he'd been close all their lives (they were both born in 1955). He told us about where the cousin lived and spent more time about his relationship with his cousin and his cousin's friends starting from when they were very little up through school, and that the "5 from 1955" (as his cousin and the cousin's co-residents of the children's section of the kibbutz were called) became his friends too, and how when the schooling included another 10 kids within five years younger and older than his cousin also became his friends. And then he gave us updates on at least five of the 15 kids in the present. If you've heard of Carmel Gat, you've probably read that she led hostages in yoga in the tunnels after October 7. She is still a hostage (what is this, day 183? 184?) and there are events around the world (the one in San Diego is scheduled for April 21) called something like "Yoga for her" or maybe with her name. I was moved to tears several times during his presentation.

The third one I attended was about humor. It turned out to be how to use humor in a relationship, how to use humor to bring the two people closer (there were some tips I can use as a teacher in a classroom to form better bonds with my students). I had difficulty getting involved because of the presenter's style, but the information came home with me.

And my alarm just went off. It's time to get into the shower, then dress, make and eat breakfast to get to weekday morning minyan. Have a great day, chaverot!

[lee058]

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

Re today's topic: I'm looking forward to the eclipse (going to watch on TV as the DC area won't reach totality), and appreciate the prayers!!

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[gazelle18]

I just looked through my special eclipse sunglasses, and saw a partial eclipse,c which is about as good as it is going to get where I am. It was still awesome!

[louise]

We had complete cloud cover so even though I was in the totality path we did not actually see it. We did see the quality of the light changing and then the sky did go dark - like a rheostat adjusted down and then back up. Still a good day.

[peachymom1]

I think the blessing Louise cited is perfectly appropriate for an eclipse, better than the one I thought of, which ends, "...she-kacha lo be-olamo," "...who has such as this in his universe."  I read an article on the Chabad website that states there is no blessing for an eclipse, according to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but I disagree. Anytime one feels awe or wonder deserves to be expressed by a blessing, IMO.