Another One Of Those Things Where I Babble About Shabbos

It was an interesting Shabbos... There were senior sermons both Friday night and Saturday morning, so davening was a pretty different crowd, sometimes really lacking in kavannah. At other times it was fine though, and there were a Lot of really Adorable small children (who were a cause of distraction much of the time, but also of a lot of grins- it's hard to feel bad about G-d, the state of Judaism today, or the excess noise in shul when there are 5 2-3 year olds on the bima being totally enchanted by the torahs in the open ark). But both sermons were reasonable to listen to, and even had moments that really shone. So- not bad.

I went to the school run Shabbos dinner with Tu Bishvat seder. It was pretty dull, as far as religious experiences go, and mildly awkward socially. It wasn't terrible, but nor was it terribly worthwhile, besides the value of not having to eat alone- but that's significant. And then I got to learn my laynen and still get a good night of sleep.

Lunch, which I made, went pretty well. I ended up with 6 people total (including myself) instead of the 4 I was expecting (one had declined due to previous plans that then fell through, and the other had been unsure and was eventually able to come after all), but it balanced things out well, and I had plenty of food, so all was well. It was a bit of a quieter meal than expected, but people were tired, one was sick and such. But I enjoyed it, and I think other folks did- or at least didn't mind it. The dynamics were interesting, but things worked.

There is this interesting pattern that seems to be forming that, no matter how far in advance I try to plan a Shabbos meal, it all comes together totally last-minutely. This time I sent out an email invite on Tuesday night, and by Wednesday I had one guest, and 3 folks who couldn't make it. But that's how things stayed until Thursday evening, and the final complement of folks didn't actually shape up until the meal had actually begun already. It would be nice someday to know who'd be at my meal ahead of time, but well, as long as people keep showing up, it's functional.

Another One Of Those Things Where I Babble About Shabbos

It was an interesting Shabbos... There were senior sermons both Friday night and Saturday morning, so davening was a pretty different crowd, sometimes really lacking in kavannah. At other times it was fine though, and there were a Lot of really Adorable small children (who were a cause of distraction much of the time, but also of a lot of grins- it's hard to feel bad about G-d, the state of Judaism today, or the excess noise in shul when there are 5 2-3 year olds on the bima being totally enchanted by the torahs in the open ark). But both sermons were reasonable to listen to, and even had moments that really shone. So- not bad.

I went to the school run Shabbos dinner with Tu Bishvat seder. It was pretty dull, as far as religious experiences go, and mildly awkward socially. It wasn't terrible, but nor was it terribly worthwhile, besides the value of not having to eat alone- but that's significant. And then I got to learn my laynen and still get a good night of sleep.

Lunch, which I made, went pretty well. I ended up with 6 people total (including myself) instead of the 4 I was expecting (one had declined due to previous plans that then fell through, and the other had been unsure and was eventually able to come after all), but it balanced things out well, and I had plenty of food, so all was well. It was a bit of a quieter meal than expected, but people were tired, one was sick and such. But I enjoyed it, and I think other folks did- or at least didn't mind it. The dynamics were interesting, but things worked.

There is this interesting pattern that seems to be forming that, no matter how far in advance I try to plan a Shabbos meal, it all comes together totally last-minutely. This time I sent out an email invite on Tuesday night, and by Wednesday I had one guest, and 3 folks who couldn't make it. But that's how things stayed until Thursday evening, and the final complement of folks didn't actually shape up until the meal had actually begun already. It would be nice someday to know who'd be at my meal ahead of time, but well, as long as people keep showing up, it's functional.