Going Going Going

Yesterday was non-stop, pretty much. Started with minyan at 7:45, and had only a couple of 10-15 minute breaks until I came home at 8:30ish pm. There was community time which was Terribly attended, where a professor was talking about his experiences with Jewish-Muslim dialogue, which I thought was an interesting talk... And before that, minyan was Tiny until the folks from downstairs came up because they couldn't make a minyan. There was an obvious cause- the cantorial students were davening on their own, as were the first year rabbinical students, as were the education students. But still, you'd think that wouldn't be such a problem with the entire rest of rabbinical school, undergraduate program and maybe even some folks from the grad school still available... (Today minyan was very small also, and I don't know why.)

Then there was class, my psych test for admissions, class, more class, and a trip to the YU booksale. I now own my own Mishneh Torah, Mishnah Brurah, a set of mishnayot, interlinear Rashi on Chumash and Metsuda siddur, and my own copy of Ahavat Chesed. I find this very, very exciting.

And then I came home and made dinner and such...

Today will be nearly as busy, too. Class, layning to learn, a meal to plan if I can ever figure out if the people who haven't RSVP'd are coming or not (I have a guest, at least), and the cantorial school's concert tonight. Looking forward to the last. Now off to class.

Going Going Going

Yesterday was non-stop, pretty much. Started with minyan at 7:45, and had only a couple of 10-15 minute breaks until I came home at 8:30ish pm. There was community time which was Terribly attended, where a professor was talking about his experiences with Jewish-Muslim dialogue, which I thought was an interesting talk... And before that, minyan was Tiny until the folks from downstairs came up because they couldn't make a minyan. There was an obvious cause- the cantorial students were davening on their own, as were the first year rabbinical students, as were the education students. But still, you'd think that wouldn't be such a problem with the entire rest of rabbinical school, undergraduate program and maybe even some folks from the grad school still available... (Today minyan was very small also, and I don't know why.)

Then there was class, my psych test for admissions, class, more class, and a trip to the YU booksale. I now own my own Mishneh Torah, Mishnah Brurah, a set of mishnayot, interlinear Rashi on Chumash and Metsuda siddur, and my own copy of Ahavat Chesed. I find this very, very exciting.

And then I came home and made dinner and such...

Today will be nearly as busy, too. Class, layning to learn, a meal to plan if I can ever figure out if the people who haven't RSVP'd are coming or not (I have a guest, at least), and the cantorial school's concert tonight. Looking forward to the last. Now off to class.

Lots of Class, and a Concert

Today was full of class, class and more class- there were some points where I really just wanted to run off and take a break for a while. But I didn't, and thanks to the good humor and good spirits of a classmate, I even got back into the spirit of class and enjoyed my last class.

Minyanim today remained abnormally small, and I don't know why. It's frustrating. I don't see why people who live in my building or the other dorm nearby don't come to minyan more often. If I can make the time nearly every minyan the community makes while in Mechina and trying to maintain Some sort of life in addition to that, they ought to be able to come a few times a week at least... I know many people have all sorts of complications and busy aspects of their lives, but well- when JTS can barely scrape together a minyan on a Torah reading day, that depressed me. There were barely more people there than there would be at a Brandeis Egal minyan...

On a brighter note, I went to the Cantorial School concert tonight, and it was really, really wonderful. Very impressive, and a lot of really good music. And I got to see a number of my friends perform, which was really exciting. It was a real thrill. And there was one piece that, if it's been recorded, I'd love to have, and to choreograph to at some point. Songs don't take me that way too often on a first listening. This would just be a really lovely and dramatic piece. I think it could pull off the hora skirt thing and still look classy rather than shtetl. And there were a whole series of times during the concert where I was totally cracking up- there were some Wonderful senses of humor involved. I was also really surprised at how shy some of the cantorial students seemed, and how unsure of themselves on stage, like they really hadn't developped their stage presence, which is sort of not what one thinks of in a cantor, usually. It was really interesting to watch. The body language across the span of the concert was fascinating.

Lots of Class, and a Concert

Today was full of class, class and more class- there were some points where I really just wanted to run off and take a break for a while. But I didn't, and thanks to the good humor and good spirits of a classmate, I even got back into the spirit of class and enjoyed my last class.

Minyanim today remained abnormally small, and I don't know why. It's frustrating. I don't see why people who live in my building or the other dorm nearby don't come to minyan more often. If I can make the time nearly every minyan the community makes while in Mechina and trying to maintain Some sort of life in addition to that, they ought to be able to come a few times a week at least... I know many people have all sorts of complications and busy aspects of their lives, but well- when JTS can barely scrape together a minyan on a Torah reading day, that depressed me. There were barely more people there than there would be at a Brandeis Egal minyan...

On a brighter note, I went to the Cantorial School concert tonight, and it was really, really wonderful. Very impressive, and a lot of really good music. And I got to see a number of my friends perform, which was really exciting. It was a real thrill. And there was one piece that, if it's been recorded, I'd love to have, and to choreograph to at some point. Songs don't take me that way too often on a first listening. This would just be a really lovely and dramatic piece. I think it could pull off the hora skirt thing and still look classy rather than shtetl. And there were a whole series of times during the concert where I was totally cracking up- there were some Wonderful senses of humor involved. I was also really surprised at how shy some of the cantorial students seemed, and how unsure of themselves on stage, like they really hadn't developped their stage presence, which is sort of not what one thinks of in a cantor, usually. It was really interesting to watch. The body language across the span of the concert was fascinating.