Mementos Will Turn To Dust
see them, then they're gone
magical films and rain days
magical films and rain days
too soon gone, like us
................................................................------------------------
A close friend made my night by calling especially to tell me that he's loving the book I recommended. He's going to use a story from it in his Rosh HaShana drashot. And he will buy ten copies of it and share with all who are near and dear to him. (It's a new release called I'm Proud Of You).
My privilege of teaching is exhausting but I am thankful that this is my vocation, and not because I get summers off. I might get thrown out of the union for this, but I'm actually happy to be back.
Public speaking students have spoken about themselves; what moving from a best friend felt like (the speaker practiced the speech on the phone with said friend, until tears made it untenable to go on), how music changed the life of a young man who was never into anything much, love of a home and almost losing that home, the feelings connected with seeing the Kotel in person for the first time, and more. It's a great group that's a more suitable size than last year's sections.
My twenty other periods a week are good too. But I singled out the speech class because it stands alone for many reasons. Each class stands alone, like each person. Another time we'll (what's this we Kimosabi?) talk about my one Gemorah and three Chumash classes.
In one of my classes today I mentioned Mister Rogers. And a kid said that Mr Rogers was a marine and that he had tattoos that totally covered both his arms. ("Why else would he always wear a sweater?") It's not so. Why do people love to disparage Mister Rogers?
In his neighborhood
there were seventy four years
of beautiful days
A close friend made my night by calling especially to tell me that he's loving the book I recommended. He's going to use a story from it in his Rosh HaShana drashot. And he will buy ten copies of it and share with all who are near and dear to him. (It's a new release called I'm Proud Of You).
My privilege of teaching is exhausting but I am thankful that this is my vocation, and not because I get summers off. I might get thrown out of the union for this, but I'm actually happy to be back.
Public speaking students have spoken about themselves; what moving from a best friend felt like (the speaker practiced the speech on the phone with said friend, until tears made it untenable to go on), how music changed the life of a young man who was never into anything much, love of a home and almost losing that home, the feelings connected with seeing the Kotel in person for the first time, and more. It's a great group that's a more suitable size than last year's sections.
My twenty other periods a week are good too. But I singled out the speech class because it stands alone for many reasons. Each class stands alone, like each person. Another time we'll (what's this we Kimosabi?) talk about my one Gemorah and three Chumash classes.
In one of my classes today I mentioned Mister Rogers. And a kid said that Mr Rogers was a marine and that he had tattoos that totally covered both his arms. ("Why else would he always wear a sweater?") It's not so. Why do people love to disparage Mister Rogers?
In his neighborhood
there were seventy four years
of beautiful days
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 9:44 PM
3 Comments:
My mom was never a fan of Mr. Rogers either. She enthusiastically encouraged me to watch Sesame Street but when Mr. Rogers came on she was never nearly as happy. She always said it was because he wasn't normal - no one was so calm and patient.
It's the residual adolescent rebellion in all of us. When we were the age of Mr. Roger's target audience, the world was calm, decent, safe, trustworthy. As we got older and more cynical, we had to look askance at the "kiddie shows" to show that we understood the real world is not as they portrayed it. Beyond adolesence, it's safe to appreciate Mr. Rogers for the model of decency he was. It's almost a refreshing change from the cynicism that seems to have taken over the world.
I highly recommend the book that I link to at the start of this post -it's about Mr. Rogers. I believe he really was what he appeared to be. When he died, the National Enquirer wrote an article about him, and it was nice! The National Enquirer! I bought The Enquirer that day and saved the article as proof of the greatness of this man.
Thanks for your comments Shoshana and Anonymous. I respectfully disagree with your mom (even though I loved Sesame and EC)Shoshana, and I think there's a lot to what you're saying anonymous.
Post a Comment
<< Home