Home Again

Got home yesterday from the wedding of zachkessin and kmelion, which was quite lovely, and very much in a different mode from the other weddings I've been to. This one was sans the descriptions of what was going on or who was who, many of the English translations, and a seating arrangement, although I think that people went for that sort of seating anyways. That said, the photographer, I believe, missed the table full of Brandeis types for the table shots he was doing (aka the "classic spontaneous Cohen shot", as dubbed by my mother for my father's family's tendency to take such carefully staged table shots at every event where they possibly can). But well, there was dancing, and I think we sort of made sure that there kept being dancing- it got off to a sort of low-energy start, and some of us saw that, decided that we were going to dance, Now, and did so with enough energy that it went on for a pretty decent amount of time. All the practice I've gotten from being asked to encourage dancing and be out there with energy at some bnei mitzvah at home that I've been invited to, seems to have paid off in technique at least. The whole wedding felt very short- the ceremony maybe because there was less translation, and it was a traditional, not egal ceremony of course, which shortens things.

The oddest occurance of the wedding was right after Ma'ariv- I got back, and was putting my siddur and kippah away (I finally gave up on finding something that would look ok in an orthodox setting, look properly formal for a wedding, and still provide enough head coverage that I felt comfortable praying- no seems to have been deadly offended), and this girl came up to me, and asked me if I always prayed with a minyan (I said I'm working on it), and told me she'd never seen something like that. I said I was egalitarian- she'd never heard the word. I asked her if she knew anyone who davened (Prayed) at a Conservative shul- she said no. So I briefly explained the concept. But for a young woman (definitely over 15, probably under 18) not to know what egalitarianism is? It was frightening, rather. (She was, by the way, the daughter of the photographer, not family or a friend of either side.)

Dave's here, got in yesterday before dinner.

Home Again

Got home yesterday from the wedding of zachkessin and kmelion, which was quite lovely, and very much in a different mode from the other weddings I've been to. This one was sans the descriptions of what was going on or who was who, many of the English translations, and a seating arrangement, although I think that people went for that sort of seating anyways. That said, the photographer, I believe, missed the table full of Brandeis types for the table shots he was doing (aka the "classic spontaneous Cohen shot", as dubbed by my mother for my father's family's tendency to take such carefully staged table shots at every event where they possibly can). But well, there was dancing, and I think we sort of made sure that there kept being dancing- it got off to a sort of low-energy start, and some of us saw that, decided that we were going to dance, Now, and did so with enough energy that it went on for a pretty decent amount of time. All the practice I've gotten from being asked to encourage dancing and be out there with energy at some bnei mitzvah at home that I've been invited to, seems to have paid off in technique at least. The whole wedding felt very short- the ceremony maybe because there was less translation, and it was a traditional, not egal ceremony of course, which shortens things.

The oddest occurance of the wedding was right after Ma'ariv- I got back, and was putting my siddur and kippah away (I finally gave up on finding something that would look ok in an orthodox setting, look properly formal for a wedding, and still provide enough head coverage that I felt comfortable praying- no seems to have been deadly offended), and this girl came up to me, and asked me if I always prayed with a minyan (I said I'm working on it), and told me she'd never seen something like that. I said I was egalitarian- she'd never heard the word. I asked her if she knew anyone who davened (Prayed) at a Conservative shul- she said no. So I briefly explained the concept. But for a young woman (definitely over 15, probably under 18) not to know what egalitarianism is? It was frightening, rather. (She was, by the way, the daughter of the photographer, not family or a friend of either side.)

Dave's here, got in yesterday before dinner.