So it has been a long time since I was a regular poster on my blog.
I had a kid, got a job and became busy with life and Facebook.
I have now moved to Atlanta, GA where my wife is starting in a week as Congregation Shearith Israel's new assistant rabbi. (Between you, me and the Interweb, she's gonna be great.) The web address for the synagogue is shearithisrael.com.
After I get settled and start a routine, I hope to start up regular blogging again. It feels so weird to even be posting here.
By the way, they have fireflies in Atlanta! That's so cool to this Los Angeles native.
Jul 2, 2009
Jan 2, 2009
Dec 7, 2008
Nesya Losing at Fencing
No babies were harmed in the making of this film.
If you wish to contribute to her toy/training fund, please use the Amazon.com link on the lower left. A percentage of your purchase will go her learning how to beat her daddy with a whisk.
Jul 24, 2008
Jul 13, 2008
Kaddish
As someone who came to Judaism later in life (i.e. in high school), I have always had a different perspective on some aspects of the liturgy. One in particular is the part of the service called the Kaddish.
The kaddish is sanctification of God's name. There are different kinds of kaddish throughout the prayer service that serve different purposes...most of which I didn't not learn about and understand for many years after I started on my Jewish path. There is Kaddish D'Rabbanan (for after studying some rabbinic text), Mourner's Kaddish (said by people in various levels of mourning), Hatzi Kaddish (used as an internal bookmark to separate parts of the service), Kaddish Shalem (used as bookend at the beginning and end of the service) and few other kind of kaddish that are used on special occasions such as ending the study of a book of Talmud or at the gravesite.
Now, all of these variations on the kaddish have a thing in common: they are in Aramaic and not in Hebrew. This means a novice Jew who is trying to learn Hebrew will still have a hard time understanding what it says.
In my early years and to this day, I always see the mourner's kaddish as different from all the others (even when my untrained ear could not hear the difference).
During the Mourner's Kaddish, those who are mourning stand up and recite the kaddish. This is often an atonal and slower recitation because unlike the person who is leading the service the one saying mourner's kaddish is not likely to feel comfortable reading prayers out loud. If there are multiple mourners in the crowd, the pace of the mourner's kaddish is lowered to the lowest common denominator. Otherwise, the slowest mourner reading would feel self-conscious about reading. I have always liked this equalizing. It shows great consideration within the community.
As a person who went to Catholic school as a kid and who was not familiar with the Jewish liturgy, I remember being totally baffled by the standing and sitting and when to do either. It was never more so than when mourner's kaddish was being said. I was used to stand as a sign of respect for mourners. But the mourner's are standing whenever the mourner's kaddish is said. Was it better to stand and honor them, or sit and let them have the distinction of being mourners? In one sense, by allowing them to stand alone, the community is being informed that those standing are in mourning...which may color in a positive way the conversations one has with those people after the service.
But what if you find yourself standing right as mourner's kaddish starts? As someone who still thinks of standing for respect, sitting down during the mourner's kaddish feels like disrespect. I am always befuddled what to do at this point.
I should note that in almost 18 years of being Jewish (well, I was born Jewish, but 18 years since I started learning about Judaism) mourner's kaddish is the part of the service that people talk the least in. Many people sneak a few words to someone else next to them during the service. (e.g. a greeting, conveying a hello from someone else, asking who they are going to vote for, do they have a place for a shabbat meal...) This does not usually apply to the mourner's kaddish. I guess people feel that God, who gets to hear kaddish multiple times every day from millions of people, will be more understanding. Those saying mourner's kaddish may be the only one saying kaddish for the loved one who passed away.
One of the things that made me fall in love with Judaism was the way in which death and mourning is treated. After all these years, I still think so.
The kaddish is sanctification of God's name. There are different kinds of kaddish throughout the prayer service that serve different purposes...most of which I didn't not learn about and understand for many years after I started on my Jewish path. There is Kaddish D'Rabbanan (for after studying some rabbinic text), Mourner's Kaddish (said by people in various levels of mourning), Hatzi Kaddish (used as an internal bookmark to separate parts of the service), Kaddish Shalem (used as bookend at the beginning and end of the service) and few other kind of kaddish that are used on special occasions such as ending the study of a book of Talmud or at the gravesite.
Now, all of these variations on the kaddish have a thing in common: they are in Aramaic and not in Hebrew. This means a novice Jew who is trying to learn Hebrew will still have a hard time understanding what it says.
In my early years and to this day, I always see the mourner's kaddish as different from all the others (even when my untrained ear could not hear the difference).
During the Mourner's Kaddish, those who are mourning stand up and recite the kaddish. This is often an atonal and slower recitation because unlike the person who is leading the service the one saying mourner's kaddish is not likely to feel comfortable reading prayers out loud. If there are multiple mourners in the crowd, the pace of the mourner's kaddish is lowered to the lowest common denominator. Otherwise, the slowest mourner reading would feel self-conscious about reading. I have always liked this equalizing. It shows great consideration within the community.
As a person who went to Catholic school as a kid and who was not familiar with the Jewish liturgy, I remember being totally baffled by the standing and sitting and when to do either. It was never more so than when mourner's kaddish was being said. I was used to stand as a sign of respect for mourners. But the mourner's are standing whenever the mourner's kaddish is said. Was it better to stand and honor them, or sit and let them have the distinction of being mourners? In one sense, by allowing them to stand alone, the community is being informed that those standing are in mourning...which may color in a positive way the conversations one has with those people after the service.
But what if you find yourself standing right as mourner's kaddish starts? As someone who still thinks of standing for respect, sitting down during the mourner's kaddish feels like disrespect. I am always befuddled what to do at this point.
I should note that in almost 18 years of being Jewish (well, I was born Jewish, but 18 years since I started learning about Judaism) mourner's kaddish is the part of the service that people talk the least in. Many people sneak a few words to someone else next to them during the service. (e.g. a greeting, conveying a hello from someone else, asking who they are going to vote for, do they have a place for a shabbat meal...) This does not usually apply to the mourner's kaddish. I guess people feel that God, who gets to hear kaddish multiple times every day from millions of people, will be more understanding. Those saying mourner's kaddish may be the only one saying kaddish for the loved one who passed away.
One of the things that made me fall in love with Judaism was the way in which death and mourning is treated. After all these years, I still think so.
Jul 4, 2008
The downside of hybrid vehicles
We love our Honda Civic Hybrid. We have had it for 6 years. It has 67,000 miles on it. It has averaged between 42-48 miles to the gallon depending in the type of driving we are doing. We can only sing its praises...
...except it is not a baby friendly car. The trunk is small, but it fits our stroller snugly. No, the problem is the auto-idle. This feature is one that causes the engine to go temporarily quit (and stop wasting precious gasoline) whenever the car comes to a stop at full stop. It can be a little eerie at a stop light at night with TOTAL silence. The car ceases all noise.
But the problem for us as parents is that when we are driving around with our screaming infant (who we love dearly), whenever we finally get her to fall asleep with the gentle vibrations of the car, we eventually get to a traffic light. The car stops, the engine idles and Nesya is jolted awake by the eerie quiet. So we have to endure the screaming until we can get going again and the vibrations slowly lull her to sleep again...
It's a vicious cycle. I bet no one thought about parents with screaming babies when they invented the eco-friendly and cost saving feature of the auto-idle. I think about them (the people who engineered the car), though, every time I have a screaming baby in the car...
P.S. For the record, we never drive for the sake of making our daughter sleep. Gas costs too much and it is bad for the environment. We do, however, always hope she will fall asleep as we are driving.
...except it is not a baby friendly car. The trunk is small, but it fits our stroller snugly. No, the problem is the auto-idle. This feature is one that causes the engine to go temporarily quit (and stop wasting precious gasoline) whenever the car comes to a stop at full stop. It can be a little eerie at a stop light at night with TOTAL silence. The car ceases all noise.
But the problem for us as parents is that when we are driving around with our screaming infant (who we love dearly), whenever we finally get her to fall asleep with the gentle vibrations of the car, we eventually get to a traffic light. The car stops, the engine idles and Nesya is jolted awake by the eerie quiet. So we have to endure the screaming until we can get going again and the vibrations slowly lull her to sleep again...
It's a vicious cycle. I bet no one thought about parents with screaming babies when they invented the eco-friendly and cost saving feature of the auto-idle. I think about them (the people who engineered the car), though, every time I have a screaming baby in the car...
P.S. For the record, we never drive for the sake of making our daughter sleep. Gas costs too much and it is bad for the environment. We do, however, always hope she will fall asleep as we are driving.
Jun 25, 2008
Jun 16, 2008
Nesya vs. Bare Naked Ladies and Weird Al Yankovic
Last week, upon the spur of the moment advice from our friend Paul Lerner, Elana and I took Nesya to her first rock concert. Ok, so it was a kid-friendly concert by the Bare Naked Ladies in promotion of their new children's book/album.
We arrived within 10 minutes of the show--which was at the Grove shopping mall. We were about 15 feet away from the stage and it was really fun. ...and that was even before Weird Al Yankovic jumped out of the crowd to join them on stage! (See center of picture in the back playing accordion.) What a treat!
We loved it! Nesya, not so much.
We arrived within 10 minutes of the show--which was at the Grove shopping mall. We were about 15 feet away from the stage and it was really fun. ...and that was even before Weird Al Yankovic jumped out of the crowd to join them on stage! (See center of picture in the back playing accordion.) What a treat!
We loved it! Nesya, not so much.
Jun 3, 2008
Where's the Chocolate?
Elana the Dementor is attempting to suck away Nesya's soul. Have no fear, I conjured my Patronus (a turtle) and now Nesya needs some chocolate.
Parking for Pregnants & Dental Kits for Kittens
It is not often that I stop and see something and think: "Well, how considerate of those shopping mall owners." I mean, they place escalators so that you have to walk all the way around the floor to go up to the next floor (in order to encourage you to see the shops along the way).
Here is something that I saw while Elana was still technically pregnant. (She was at the hospital at the time.)
Then I was walking down the aisle at a pet supply store looking for something to prevent my cat from vomiting hairballs 3 times a day. (Seti the long-haired cat was shedding her winter coat.) I saw this product and I smiled at the cleverness of the business people who came up with this silly product.
Here is something that I saw while Elana was still technically pregnant. (She was at the hospital at the time.)
Then I was walking down the aisle at a pet supply store looking for something to prevent my cat from vomiting hairballs 3 times a day. (Seti the long-haired cat was shedding her winter coat.) I saw this product and I smiled at the cleverness of the business people who came up with this silly product.
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