613 Thoughts

Captain's Log 6:13 Pm. We've entered a large atmosphere surrounded by walls and filled with rooms and chairs with small desks attached. Been here from 7:35 AM, now we're looking at 6:10 with no end in sight till after nine. Coming up on the screen are living beings from a parallel universe, resembling but not identical to these who inhabited this space in the earlier part of this day....

It's simulated school night. The school just provided a nice dinner for teachers and in about an hour the parents will be here. I'll do four presentations and be done some time after nine. I was thinking of fighting the desire to blog, but I decided to treat myself. This is my mental health break of the day.

Yesterday I overheard several students of a certain gender talking with excitement about what they were going to wear today. Today was the rally near the UN to protest the leader of Iran. All the schools attended and all the camp friends looked forward to a reunion. In the end it was a crowded affair. The traveling time was much longer than the forty minutes that were spent there.

My colleague Tony was responsible for a bus-load of kids, but it was so crowded that he couldn't move and couldn't know where the kids were. He was scrunching through the crowd, walking shoulder to shoulder next to an older man that he didn't know. Finally he struck up a conversation with the man. "This is ridiculous," he said (actually he said it in a bit of a harsher way) and the old man agreed. "I've got a group of 40 kids. I can't get to them," Tony grumbled as he inched through the crowd. The other fellow replied, "You think that's bad, I'm the guest speaker!" Tony looked up to find that he was walking alongside Elie Weisel.

I owe answers to students. How does the Gemorah say that just like monetary damage requires three judges, so too physical damage requires three judges? A student wants the answer. Isn't physical damage worse? Shouldn't it require a greater court?

So much to do in life. And here I sit in a little office, blogging. On the tape recorder plays a talk from Reb Shlomo Carlebach. He's citing Rav Nachman MiBreslov as saying that it never says that G-d created water because there's something deep about water and that it predates creation. (Although he concedes that water may be included in heaven and earth).

I am reminded of the time that I heard Rav Shlomo speak in a hall at the Museum of Natural History. There were a lot of museum members there and he spoke in a broad, universal way. When I stepped outside for a moment the guard on duty told me that he always arranged to be on duty when "the rabbi" spoke because even though he wasn't Jewish he loved listening to "the rabbi." A few weeks later Reb Shlomo was gone from this world.

Today I told a story that I used to teach in Cental Hebrew High - Hebrew School, but I never told in the ten years I've been in my present school. It's called Even Higher. It's about Selichot and a Rebbe that was missing in action during that early morning time. I also quoted my father (HSLABW) and his early memories of Selichot that he has shared with me on several occasions.

Now Reb Shlomo is speaking about how Einstein could have been a fine garbage collector but the world is better off with him being what he was. He's introducing the niggun - Veyivtechu Bechah and talking about trust that G-d will help us be who we're meant to be...

And Now...

Ten Rosh HaShana Questions

1. What's your fondest Rosh HaShana memory?
2. What's your favorite part of the Rosh HaShana meal?
3. What's your earliest Rosh haShana memory?
4. Is Rosh HaShana joyous or somber/serious? Explain.
5. Is it wrong to sleep on Rosh HaShana?
6. Essay: Talk about Tashlich. What sources and symbolisms can you share? Is there a social element to Tashlich? Bring in personal experience.
7. What do you think about while the shofar is sounded?
8. What tunes have stayed with you since childhood?
9. Can you name any songs that come from Rosh HaShana's Haftora's?
10. Why doesn't a Kittel have pockets?