Earlier this year I had signed up with one of my classmates to lead services for Shabbat morning. We spent a lot of time putting together what we thought would be a meaningful and enjoyable experience. I know that I had a lot of fun working with a cantor (cantorial student) for the first time. It is quite incredible working with someone else who can help lead, especially someone with such an amazing voice.
A few weeks ago two of my classmates had used an arrangement of Dan Nichols's Or Zarua. We decided to use Dave's arrangement for our opening song before services started. Working with Ari, Ben, Brian, Jay and Mike I had a lot of fun preparing and I think we did a really good job with it.
Or Zarua video on Youtube
The service itself, I think, went really well. As always, there are things that I need to work on, but that's the point of school. Right? We've spent all year studying and working hard at improving our skills for leading a community in prayer. I had the chance to share the melody Rabbi Dr. Levine shared with my class a few weeks ago, which I also think went well.
I cannot wait until next fall when I have the opportunity to continue leading services for a community. I received my pulpit assignment for next year and I am very excited to get to work!
Showing posts with label Services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Services. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
A Gift
While I love many of the professors that I have had this year, there are a few that I have really enjoyed learning from. On Thursday at the beginning of my Late Antiquity History and Rabbinic Literature lecture, our teacher started talking about services that morning and talked about certain prayers. He brought a copy of Nishmat Kol Chai from Siddur Sim Shalom and talked about the beautiful poem that precedes it in Sim Shalom.
I'm on a mission to write my own melody for it, the poem is incredible.
Then he told us that he had one more gift to share with us. After a few seconds to compose himself he started singing a niggun. Slow, quiet, mournful and beautiful. It took more than 5 minutes to sing through the entire prayer, and it was one of the best moments of the entire school year.
Some of my classmates made recordings of him singing, and my goal is to try to learn this melody and find a way to use it in services. The words in Sim Shalom are slightly different than we have in the Reform Movement's Mishkan T'fillah, so it is going to take a little work to make sure the melody still fits with the words we have, but it is worth the work. It was one of the most incredible things I've heard.
I'm on a mission to write my own melody for it, the poem is incredible.
Then he told us that he had one more gift to share with us. After a few seconds to compose himself he started singing a niggun. Slow, quiet, mournful and beautiful. It took more than 5 minutes to sing through the entire prayer, and it was one of the best moments of the entire school year.
Some of my classmates made recordings of him singing, and my goal is to try to learn this melody and find a way to use it in services. The words in Sim Shalom are slightly different than we have in the Reform Movement's Mishkan T'fillah, so it is going to take a little work to make sure the melody still fits with the words we have, but it is worth the work. It was one of the most incredible things I've heard.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Services
I feel really comfortable behind an instrument. I enjoy leading prayers and services. I like making a connection with people. I loved preparing and leading services last Monday.
I opened services with a duet combination of the prayers Asher Yatzar and Elohai N'Shamah (the Debbie Friedman melodies) with one of my classmates and I had so much fun rehearsing with her. I added a few sections that I spoke a little bit during and had worked hard to perfect the nusach for some of the sections I chanted without the guitar.
It was one of those moments that I looked at myself when it was done and said, "I know I'm heading in the right direction." It felt really good when I was finished with the services and I can't wait until I get to lead them again.
I opened services with a duet combination of the prayers Asher Yatzar and Elohai N'Shamah (the Debbie Friedman melodies) with one of my classmates and I had so much fun rehearsing with her. I added a few sections that I spoke a little bit during and had worked hard to perfect the nusach for some of the sections I chanted without the guitar.
It was one of those moments that I looked at myself when it was done and said, "I know I'm heading in the right direction." It felt really good when I was finished with the services and I can't wait until I get to lead them again.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
In Joshua's Shoes: 5-Minute Drash
I know I've already posted my drash in video and printed form on this blog. But are you curious about the process?
Check out my new post at TC Jewfolk.
You can see the new talit I bought a few weeks ago.
In Joshua's Shoes: 5-Minute Drash
Check out my new post at TC Jewfolk.
You can see the new talit I bought a few weeks ago.
In Joshua's Shoes: 5-Minute Drash
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
My Drash on Parshat Mikeitz
This is the video of my D'var Torah from Monday on Parshat Mikeitz. I've included the text that I wrote as well.
Boker Tov,
Whatever happened to that cousin you used to be close with? What about
your neighbor you spent so many summers with? What is going on in the
life of that guy you sat next to in Biology 101 Freshman year? As our lives
progress, it is easy to lose track of these people. Thanks to websites like
Facebook, it is easy to think that you are still connected to these people,
but are you really?
Imagine what your “Year In Israel” would have been like 10 years ago?
What about 20 years ago? With our hectic course load, field trips, trumah
projects, committee meetings, and additional responsibilities ON TOP OF
being thousands of miles away from home would have been very stressful.
Especially without reliable contact back home. What about before phones,
telegrams or post?
Joseph finds himself miles away from home with a completely new life. He
has a wife, two kids and on top of that, the stressful job of providing food for
all of Egypt during massive famine! He has no contact with his family and
claims to not remember them at all.
I hate to admit it, but earlier this year I fell into a similar trap. I’m not
comparing the stresses of HUC to the stresses of being in charge of
Pharaoh’s household and foodstuffs in all of Egypt, but it was easy to
quickly catch up with people back home. I would just chat with people
on facebook for a few minutes and then rush back to homework. I got
pretty good at typing, “We’ll catch up more later,” or “Can I talk to you next
week?”
Then, two weeks ago I realized I needed to make a change.
After Havdallah, I was on the phone with my mom. She told me that she
had been diagnosed with breast cancer. This is the first time in my adult
life that I have been forced to face the mortality of someone I love. While
thinking about the possibility of losing someone at any moment, I realized
that I need to be better at staying in touch with people stateside. The good
news is that I have a second chance. The prognosis is that eventually she
will be healthy.
Since then, I have been making a conscious effort to keep up on people’s
lives. This was an tough way to learn this lesson, although often it takes
a shock to wake us up to something that is wrong. Instead of waiting for
something like this to happen to you, you can learn from Joseph.
But how?
After more than 20 years without seeing his family, nine of Joseph’s
brothers arrive at his doorstep. The Torah describes reunion from Joseph’s
perspective,
“Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them.”
This should be enough, he sees his brothers and recognizes them. It’s not.
The very next passuk says again;
“And Joseph knew his brothers.”
Why does Joseph see and then recognize his brothers AND LATER know
them?
Ibn Ezra attempts to explain this,
“From the start he recognized that they were his brothers, and afterwards
he looked at each one and recognized him…’”
Joseph saw the men and very quickly recognized them as his brothers. But
it was only after taking the time to closely look at each one that he was able
to remember who they truly were. It takes a lot of work to establish a close
relationship, but even more to repair a broken one.
As you can imagine, Joseph is shaken by this experience, and he notices
that his full brother, Benjamin, is missing. In order that rest will bring
Benjamin to Egypt, Joseph devises a plan, imprisons his brother Simeon
and tells the rest that they are never to return without their youngest
brother.
The nine brothers return to Canaan with their food. But the famine persists
and they are hungry again. After a long discussion, Israel allows them to go
to Egypt with Benjamin. When they arrive to Joseph, he sees Benjamin and
asks,
“‘Is this your youngest brother you told me about?’
And he said, ‘God be gracious to you, my son!’
“Then Joseph hurried (from them) because he was stirred by his
compassion for his brother that he wanted to weep, and he went to his
chamber and wept there.”
I believe that Joseph is not only weeping in compassion for his brother.
There is more to it than that. He is also weeping because he regrets
not being there for Benjamin as he grew up, and because Joseph is
overwhelmed with happiness for the opportunity to connect with him at this
point.
Remembering to stay connected is important, especially when you are
busy. This is also something we need to keep in mind. We have all chosen
a career path that, like Joseph’s, will take us far away from our families and
friends. It has the potential to use every last ounce of our energy and every
second of our time. We will need to remember to make time for our friends
and family. Even though, as Ibn Ezra points out, it takes time and effort to
do so. It is easy to think that “Stop ‘n chats”, or a quick Facebook message
are enough, but they really are not.
If you do not put forth the effort, you might not be as lucky as Joseph.
There might not be a day, 20 years later, when you can reconnect with
someone. They might not be there. So why let them drift from your life in
the first place?
Boker Tov,
Whatever happened to that cousin you used to be close with? What about
your neighbor you spent so many summers with? What is going on in the
life of that guy you sat next to in Biology 101 Freshman year? As our lives
progress, it is easy to lose track of these people. Thanks to websites like
Facebook, it is easy to think that you are still connected to these people,
but are you really?
Imagine what your “Year In Israel” would have been like 10 years ago?
What about 20 years ago? With our hectic course load, field trips, trumah
projects, committee meetings, and additional responsibilities ON TOP OF
being thousands of miles away from home would have been very stressful.
Especially without reliable contact back home. What about before phones,
telegrams or post?
Joseph finds himself miles away from home with a completely new life. He
has a wife, two kids and on top of that, the stressful job of providing food for
all of Egypt during massive famine! He has no contact with his family and
claims to not remember them at all.
I hate to admit it, but earlier this year I fell into a similar trap. I’m not
comparing the stresses of HUC to the stresses of being in charge of
Pharaoh’s household and foodstuffs in all of Egypt, but it was easy to
quickly catch up with people back home. I would just chat with people
on facebook for a few minutes and then rush back to homework. I got
pretty good at typing, “We’ll catch up more later,” or “Can I talk to you next
week?”
Then, two weeks ago I realized I needed to make a change.
After Havdallah, I was on the phone with my mom. She told me that she
had been diagnosed with breast cancer. This is the first time in my adult
life that I have been forced to face the mortality of someone I love. While
thinking about the possibility of losing someone at any moment, I realized
that I need to be better at staying in touch with people stateside. The good
news is that I have a second chance. The prognosis is that eventually she
will be healthy.
Since then, I have been making a conscious effort to keep up on people’s
lives. This was an tough way to learn this lesson, although often it takes
a shock to wake us up to something that is wrong. Instead of waiting for
something like this to happen to you, you can learn from Joseph.
But how?
After more than 20 years without seeing his family, nine of Joseph’s
brothers arrive at his doorstep. The Torah describes reunion from Joseph’s
perspective,
“Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them.”
This should be enough, he sees his brothers and recognizes them. It’s not.
The very next passuk says again;
“And Joseph knew his brothers.”
Why does Joseph see and then recognize his brothers AND LATER know
them?
Ibn Ezra attempts to explain this,
“From the start he recognized that they were his brothers, and afterwards
he looked at each one and recognized him…’”
Joseph saw the men and very quickly recognized them as his brothers. But
it was only after taking the time to closely look at each one that he was able
to remember who they truly were. It takes a lot of work to establish a close
relationship, but even more to repair a broken one.
As you can imagine, Joseph is shaken by this experience, and he notices
that his full brother, Benjamin, is missing. In order that rest will bring
Benjamin to Egypt, Joseph devises a plan, imprisons his brother Simeon
and tells the rest that they are never to return without their youngest
brother.
The nine brothers return to Canaan with their food. But the famine persists
and they are hungry again. After a long discussion, Israel allows them to go
to Egypt with Benjamin. When they arrive to Joseph, he sees Benjamin and
asks,
“‘Is this your youngest brother you told me about?’
And he said, ‘God be gracious to you, my son!’
“Then Joseph hurried (from them) because he was stirred by his
compassion for his brother that he wanted to weep, and he went to his
chamber and wept there.”
I believe that Joseph is not only weeping in compassion for his brother.
There is more to it than that. He is also weeping because he regrets
not being there for Benjamin as he grew up, and because Joseph is
overwhelmed with happiness for the opportunity to connect with him at this
point.
Remembering to stay connected is important, especially when you are
busy. This is also something we need to keep in mind. We have all chosen
a career path that, like Joseph’s, will take us far away from our families and
friends. It has the potential to use every last ounce of our energy and every
second of our time. We will need to remember to make time for our friends
and family. Even though, as Ibn Ezra points out, it takes time and effort to
do so. It is easy to think that “Stop ‘n chats”, or a quick Facebook message
are enough, but they really are not.
If you do not put forth the effort, you might not be as lucky as Joseph.
There might not be a day, 20 years later, when you can reconnect with
someone. They might not be there. So why let them drift from your life in
the first place?
Monday, November 29, 2010
I Guess This Means I Need A Tie
One of the best parts about having a major role in services at HUC today is that I needed to dress up. Slacks, button down shirt, dress shoes and a tie. I was a little bummed that I didn't bring a sport coat to Israel with me. What was I doing today? Today was delivering a D'var Torah. I'm not going to spoil too much of the process since there will be a post up on TC Jewfolk later this week. It was exciting, nerve-wreaking and fun all at the same time. The hardest part, though, was watching myself afterwards.
HUC records the D'var Torah that we deliver so we can learn from it. As my advisor said, it's more about the process this time. Clearly there were things that I didn't do the way that I wanted to. And there were little things that I wish I hadn't done, like go too far off what I wrote out and lose myself.
On the whole, it was a great experience. I'm trying to not dwell on some of the little things and remember that this is still a learning process. And now it's on to working on my service that I get to lead in late January. I probably don't need two months for it, but I love leading services. I'm going to have fun working on that!
HUC records the D'var Torah that we deliver so we can learn from it. As my advisor said, it's more about the process this time. Clearly there were things that I didn't do the way that I wanted to. And there were little things that I wish I hadn't done, like go too far off what I wrote out and lose myself.
On the whole, it was a great experience. I'm trying to not dwell on some of the little things and remember that this is still a learning process. And now it's on to working on my service that I get to lead in late January. I probably don't need two months for it, but I love leading services. I'm going to have fun working on that!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
I Read Torah!
It has been a very long time since I have read from the Torah for a service. I could be wrong, but it may have been since June 13, 1998. Why do I know this exact date? Because that was the date of my Bar Mitzvah. I don't think that I have read since then.
I've been working a little bit on the portion that I read for the last two or three weeks, but I finally put some serious effort in starting last week. All I can say is that it was a lot of fun to work towards that again. There were a few tricky parts that I needed to try to remember, and from what I have heard, I pretty much nailed it this morning. I know there were a few vowels that I pronounced to short, but aside from that, bam!
But I didn't just need to read/chant today. One skill that HUC-JIR wants us to learn how to do is to translate the Hebrew into English. It is really important to be able to read and translate the text since a many Jews in today's world do not understand Biblical Hebrew. This was actually the part of reading today that I was most worried about. There were some words that I needed to translate as a concept that were not the easiest to convey in a few words of English.
I think that went well too. I'm really glad I got one of those taken care of early in the year, we are required to chant twice during the school year, and I can't wait until I get the chance to do it again.
Not too much else has been going on this week. A lot of school and that's about it. Tomorrow is the ordination of the Israeli Rabbinic program. I'm excited to see how that goes. It will be all in Hebrew and I hope I can understand what is happening.
I've been working a little bit on the portion that I read for the last two or three weeks, but I finally put some serious effort in starting last week. All I can say is that it was a lot of fun to work towards that again. There were a few tricky parts that I needed to try to remember, and from what I have heard, I pretty much nailed it this morning. I know there were a few vowels that I pronounced to short, but aside from that, bam!
But I didn't just need to read/chant today. One skill that HUC-JIR wants us to learn how to do is to translate the Hebrew into English. It is really important to be able to read and translate the text since a many Jews in today's world do not understand Biblical Hebrew. This was actually the part of reading today that I was most worried about. There were some words that I needed to translate as a concept that were not the easiest to convey in a few words of English.
I think that went well too. I'm really glad I got one of those taken care of early in the year, we are required to chant twice during the school year, and I can't wait until I get the chance to do it again.
Not too much else has been going on this week. A lot of school and that's about it. Tomorrow is the ordination of the Israeli Rabbinic program. I'm excited to see how that goes. It will be all in Hebrew and I hope I can understand what is happening.
Monday, August 30, 2010
In Joshua's Shoes: Home Shul?
I just realized that I never posted that I had a new article up at TCJewfolk.com.
It's all about my experience trying to find a comfortable community to pray with outside HUC.
Check it out here atl
http://tcjewfolk.com/joshuas-shoes-home-shul/
Also;
Anyone reading here have any interesting ideas that I could write about there, give me a heads up.
It's all about my experience trying to find a comfortable community to pray with outside HUC.
Check it out here atl
http://tcjewfolk.com/joshuas-shoes-home-shul/
Also;
Anyone reading here have any interesting ideas that I could write about there, give me a heads up.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tel Aviv
After a very long week of class a bunch of us were headed up to Tel Aviv. One of the Israeli Rabbinical Students is a part of a community near Tel Aviv that leads Kabbalat Shabbat services at the Port during the summer. I had a fantastic experience at services, but that will come to the end of this post. In the morning we caught at Shirut to Tel Aviv. When we got there Ashley took us towards an art fair that is on the street every Friday during the summer. Brian A and I decided to check out the food Shuk before looking at the art.
That was a great idea since it was covered near the food Shuk. We found a great place to grab Falafel. It was pretty cheap and really good. There was a great Charif (spicy) sauce that he put in with our falafel and when they're made fresh as you order, it's hard to beat that taste. After a quick perusal through the art section, we decided to grab a coke and play some backgammon before meeting up with the women we came up with.
When we met up with them we went to chill on the beach. First of all, the beach was burning hot. Not just the sun on our backs, but also the sand. I guess there was a reason that they have the spouts of water near the beach. You're supposed to spray off your feet before you step on the sand. That helps get to your towel without frying the soles of your feet. A little bit of sunscreen and we were off to the water. I hadn't swam in the sea since last summer on Long Island and I have to say that was really different than the Mediterranean. The waves were awesome to float in and I know I had a great time just chilling in the water.
We spend a good three hours on the beach just relaxing, playing backgammon and every once in a while hopping in the water. I learned an important lesson though. Just because it feels like you put sunscreen on your back doesn't mean it actually rubbed into your skin. Ouch. I definitely didn't get enough on enough times. The good thing is that although I burned, it already doesn't hurt and I'm expecting some nice tan to show through in a few days.
A small group of us that were there walked down to the port to check out services. We were a little late, but it was worth it. Listening to a large group of people singing and praying together on the shores of the sea was fantastic. I know there were some other people in our group that didn't have as good of an experience. I think part of why it was so great for us at the back was that there was a small group of HUC students (April, Brian, Dana, Dusty, Gila, Ricky and April's wife Emily) clearly praying together at the back as we could hear the music from the leaders at the front lead a very large group of people. Some were singing and dancing, some praying and others just being a part of the services at sunset. I really liked some of the melodies they used and even heard for the first time that I heard someone sing "What a Wonderful World" in Hebrew. I am still looking for the lyrics in Hebrew, so if anyone knows where I can find them online that would be fantastic.
After T'fillah we hung around the port for a while. I really enjoyed watching another of the students' daughter run around and play. We saw a ton of people just our and being together. This was a very different shabbat experience than what we have back in Jerusalem. Tel Aviv was still bustling as we left the city. When we returned to Jerusalem it was quiet. Almost silent. I really want to go back up sometime to experience that Kabbalat Shabbat again. Look at the pictures below for a small sampling of what I was able to shoot. As always, there will shortly be updates on my facebook account.
It has been a great end to the first week of class and now there is homework to do today since class is tomorrow morning. I can't wait for Havdallah again tonight.
L'Shalom!
Sunset over the Mediterranean Sea during Kabbalat Shabbat Services
A large group of people dancing during some of the prayers
This sunset was amazing!
That was a great idea since it was covered near the food Shuk. We found a great place to grab Falafel. It was pretty cheap and really good. There was a great Charif (spicy) sauce that he put in with our falafel and when they're made fresh as you order, it's hard to beat that taste. After a quick perusal through the art section, we decided to grab a coke and play some backgammon before meeting up with the women we came up with.
When we met up with them we went to chill on the beach. First of all, the beach was burning hot. Not just the sun on our backs, but also the sand. I guess there was a reason that they have the spouts of water near the beach. You're supposed to spray off your feet before you step on the sand. That helps get to your towel without frying the soles of your feet. A little bit of sunscreen and we were off to the water. I hadn't swam in the sea since last summer on Long Island and I have to say that was really different than the Mediterranean. The waves were awesome to float in and I know I had a great time just chilling in the water.
We spend a good three hours on the beach just relaxing, playing backgammon and every once in a while hopping in the water. I learned an important lesson though. Just because it feels like you put sunscreen on your back doesn't mean it actually rubbed into your skin. Ouch. I definitely didn't get enough on enough times. The good thing is that although I burned, it already doesn't hurt and I'm expecting some nice tan to show through in a few days.
A small group of us that were there walked down to the port to check out services. We were a little late, but it was worth it. Listening to a large group of people singing and praying together on the shores of the sea was fantastic. I know there were some other people in our group that didn't have as good of an experience. I think part of why it was so great for us at the back was that there was a small group of HUC students (April, Brian, Dana, Dusty, Gila, Ricky and April's wife Emily) clearly praying together at the back as we could hear the music from the leaders at the front lead a very large group of people. Some were singing and dancing, some praying and others just being a part of the services at sunset. I really liked some of the melodies they used and even heard for the first time that I heard someone sing "What a Wonderful World" in Hebrew. I am still looking for the lyrics in Hebrew, so if anyone knows where I can find them online that would be fantastic.
After T'fillah we hung around the port for a while. I really enjoyed watching another of the students' daughter run around and play. We saw a ton of people just our and being together. This was a very different shabbat experience than what we have back in Jerusalem. Tel Aviv was still bustling as we left the city. When we returned to Jerusalem it was quiet. Almost silent. I really want to go back up sometime to experience that Kabbalat Shabbat again. Look at the pictures below for a small sampling of what I was able to shoot. As always, there will shortly be updates on my facebook account.
It has been a great end to the first week of class and now there is homework to do today since class is tomorrow morning. I can't wait for Havdallah again tonight.
L'Shalom!
Sunset over the Mediterranean Sea during Kabbalat Shabbat Services
A large group of people dancing during some of the prayers
This sunset was amazing!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Shabbos In Israel
Tonight is Shabbat, the end of my first week in Jerusalem. Since Marina knows a bunch of people in the area from camp, she wanted to have an OSRUI shabbat dinner. A bunch of her friends in the program and Israelis that she knows from camp came over and we made dinner in our apartment. A great excuse for us to clean out the kitchen and rearrange the apartment (I know I've been promising them, pictures will be up soon).
For t'fillah we went to Kol HaNishamah. I liked parts of their service and other parts were a bit too much for me. I really liked the different melodies that they used. There were ones that I didn't know and I was a bit lost, there were some standard melodies, some NFTY/camp melodies and even some conservative melodies that I haven't sung in a long time. I did like the service overall because it touched a lot of what I remember from my childhood at Adath, but also feels very Reform at the same time. I have some mixed feelings about it. I want to keep looking around Jerusalem for a place that I want to continue to go for services.
Tomorrow morning is a service at HUC. They're early and I want to go, but I'm not sure if I will be up in time. I've still been struggling with getting up in the morning when I need to. I will try the whole idea closing the window and not the shade. It will reduce the airflow, but I think it could help in the morning. We shall see.
We got back to the apartment and got dinner ready. I made my standard salad again. I have to say that it is a lot better with fresh vegetables from the Shuk in place of the ones from Trader Joe's that I used last time. I mean, Trader Joe's has great produce, but there is nothing better than the produce you can get fresh from a market.
Dinner was great. I like this whole pot luck thing. We all had little things ready and it turned out really well. It was a great way to break in the apartment as a small shabbat get together. Even though I didn't understand all of the inside jokes about OSRUI, I liked the community feel. Maybe I should find a way to work there next summer. It could be fun.
It's late and I want to get to services. We shall see how that works out.
Shabbat Shalom M'Yerushalayim!
For t'fillah we went to Kol HaNishamah. I liked parts of their service and other parts were a bit too much for me. I really liked the different melodies that they used. There were ones that I didn't know and I was a bit lost, there were some standard melodies, some NFTY/camp melodies and even some conservative melodies that I haven't sung in a long time. I did like the service overall because it touched a lot of what I remember from my childhood at Adath, but also feels very Reform at the same time. I have some mixed feelings about it. I want to keep looking around Jerusalem for a place that I want to continue to go for services.
Tomorrow morning is a service at HUC. They're early and I want to go, but I'm not sure if I will be up in time. I've still been struggling with getting up in the morning when I need to. I will try the whole idea closing the window and not the shade. It will reduce the airflow, but I think it could help in the morning. We shall see.
We got back to the apartment and got dinner ready. I made my standard salad again. I have to say that it is a lot better with fresh vegetables from the Shuk in place of the ones from Trader Joe's that I used last time. I mean, Trader Joe's has great produce, but there is nothing better than the produce you can get fresh from a market.
Dinner was great. I like this whole pot luck thing. We all had little things ready and it turned out really well. It was a great way to break in the apartment as a small shabbat get together. Even though I didn't understand all of the inside jokes about OSRUI, I liked the community feel. Maybe I should find a way to work there next summer. It could be fun.
It's late and I want to get to services. We shall see how that works out.
Shabbat Shalom M'Yerushalayim!
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