Post Purim Post

11 PM - Just got home a short while ago from a seudah that felt right.  Thank G-d. it feels good to be in the right place, to have done what had to be done to get there.

I did Maariv at YU at 10, then came home. Did a couple of work emails that were responses to emails that came in today.  Returned a phone call, which was a request to give a shiur- a very special request about a shiur that's done in memory of a dear friend of mine who passed away on Pesach some 14 (?) years ago.  I was honored to be asked.  Now I have to rise to the occasion of giving a shiur worthy of my friend and those who loved him.  A friend called about finding a minyan, as he's a aveil.  Trying to help.  it's involved some calls back and forth and around, may involve staying up late to car-sit during Maariv.

11:11 PM - Going to take my boots off, though I may need to put them on and go out again.

11:35 PM - Still not sure about aveil/minyan situation. As of last I heard i will be needed at midnight to sit and mind my friend's car as he catches the last minyan in NYC.

11:56 PM (and beyond) - Just got word, friend is too jetlagged to make it up here from lower in city for midnight minyan.

The seudah today was so nice.  i want to write honestly about it, and yet I want to be respectful. There were nine people there- eople around my age. It was the right place to be, rather than well meaning friends or family.  I was with people that i need to be with.  I was in a place that could hold the answer to my prayers.

It was beautiful.  Torah shared from the heart and soul.  Someone talked about how one of the lessons of Purim was that you move on.  Esther in particular and the Jews in general did not have a perfect happy ending after the miracle we celebrate.  It's similar to Yitchak who had a hard life after the Akeidah...

I am filled with great gratefulness, whole hope, and considerable contentedness.  So much i want to write and share- about the former student who was there, about my eating and feeling better, about the conversation regarding happiness and joy and and and and and. But now I need to lay me down to sleep and get ready for miracles and answered prayers and a new start in life.