The Last 4 Weeks

Thanks for staying with me through the last few (blogless) weeks. It's been completely insane with school and working every weekend. Thursday was my first day off in over a month, and while life has been utterly exhausting and I so appreciated the rest, I'm feeling thankful for the opportunities handed to me in this time.

In the last four weeks I:

-Co-led daily t'fillah at school everyday for a week with my friend Marc

-Saw Chaim Topol as Tevye in a production of Fiddler on the Roof in Baltimore

-Co-led the first three B'nai Mitzvah of the year at TBI

-Wrote this :)

-Experienced and sang services honoring Kristallnacht and Thanksgiving

-Sang in a fundraising concert with Debbie Friedman that raised over $450,000 for the SSM

-Sang for a fundraising dinner for Jewish Theological Seminary that raised over $1,000,000

-Chanted Torah twice--once at my congregation, once in front of the firing squad known as the students and faculty of Hebrew Union College during Thursday t'fillah

-Started playing guitar during religious school at TBI

-Attended a beautiful dinner party in honor of the 85th birthday of one of my congregants at TBI--truly one of the most touching experiences of my life

-Taught the 4th grade class at TBI to sing "Ocho Kandelikas" for their service coming up December 4...they LOVE the song and sing it beautifully!

-Prepared my T'filat Geshem practicum, taking place on January

-Had a heart-to-heart conversation with Jeff, my rabbinic mentor at TBI, where I told him about the effects of the mishagas at Temple Israel last year and how they effect me even now. Painful for many reasons, but necessary and helpful for the future.

-Extended 4 hearty Mazal Tovs to 4 HUC friends on their engagements. including C-Squad goddess extraordinaire Julia!

-Wrote a fairly decent lesson plan on Noah's Ark for a Kindergarten religious school classroom

-Used my Crockpot more than I ever could have imagined

-Brought home my new baby, my sweet Lou-Lou (named after my favorite city in the world, obvi) that I purchased with Jeff's. Ain't she a beauty?

My pretty girl, a Fender 6-string with built-in tuner. Note the red strap--Grandpa Sid would be so pleased.

And so much more I can't even think of. It's been a whirlwind of a November.

I've spent this weekend relaxing, exercising, cooking good healthy food (Thanksgiving food aside, of course) and catching up with the family, friends, and TV shows (how awesome is Glee??) I've neglected the past few weeks. I've also had some time to reflect on what I've learned from being in a congregation 4 weeks in a row, but I'll save that for another post...I've gotta do something to keep you with me, clearly! ;)

After 4 days of remembering what it feels like to be a human being again, I feel ready and excited to go back to school tomorrow and finish the semester off strong!