Shabbat: Edition X In An Endless, Relentless Series

(The subject line is evocative of what at least used to be/may still be a late-night radio program on a local college station near home, not me trying to say that shabbos felt relentless or anything of the sort. I don't know how many times I've even actually heard the program, but it's a joke the parents occasionally make, and it seems to have just quietly slipped into my vocabulary of phrases- funny how that happens.)

Shabbos dinner was davening, and dinner with a Tv Bishvat seder worked in, at Steve's apartment. Given the folks co-hosting and my adventures with them in the recent past, I was mildly nervous that it was going to turn out to be uncomfortable in the "this is outside my religious framework" sort of way, but it turned out to be very much within my comfort zone, and a great deal of fun. The company was lovely, the seder packet was actually interesting without being horridly tacky (as so many Tu Bishvat seders seem to be) (I now really want a copy of said seder packet- I should email and acquire one), and I even had folks with whom to walk most of the way home. The walk home was a little awkward, in that the other folks were two from column B and one from column W (not quite as far away as column A and column X), but certainly not unpleasant.

I went to jakal88's local relatives (aunt, uncle and cousins aged 11 and 8) for lunch- the first time that I've actually be over to their place on my own. Said aunt works at Schechter, so when I was introduced to their other guests, there was this slightly awkward moment of "she's a student at JTS, but she's also our nephew's girlfriend", of the "we're not just inviting a random student" sort of feeling. As things worked out, lunch was quite pleasant, and I ended up staying to talk through havdalah (we talked a bunch about their extended family, and getting a perspective besides jakal88's was fairly enlightening in a general sort of way, and about structuring Jewish community and the like) - not what I'd been expecting: I'd thought it would be a fairly short lunch (which it was), and then I'd head off and actually make it to shabbos mincha at shul, for the first time since I've been in Israel. So that didn't happen this week.

Instead, I got to be with this family for havdalah, which was a nice change of pace- it's been a while since I've done havdalah with a guitar, which was surprisingly nice, and given that this is a family of two rabbis, one Masorti/Conservative, and the other Reform, it was also a nice look at how one family combines different religious needs in a way that works for them. (It also worked for me- I thought it was really quite lovely, even if I think that in most contexts that I'm normally in, it wouldn't work. It's amazing the difference that being open to something, and being in an environment where it is the presumed norm makes something comfortable, in contrast to when everyone is trying something new all at once, and therefore feeling awkward with it.) In between brachot, they stopped twice, once to each talk about what from the previous week they wanted to take into the new week, and again for their hopes and plans for the coming week. It felt very organic, and a nice way of looking at ways of appropriating and opening ritual without losing the original structure or meaning.

Hula Hooping And Cute Israeli Children

As a break from studying this afternoon, I took my hula hoop outside (it being quite a warm day for winter), and decided to play in the front yard of the building, it having a flatter surface and more grass than the back yard. That way I could use the full-sized hoop, rather than the reduced size that I use in the apartment (it comes apart in pieces, and can be put together with either the full 6 pieces or only 5 of them, the latter of which is a bit harder, makes you work harder to keep it going, and fits better in the apartment). There I was, playing with the hoop and working a bit on some tricks, on and off, when practically a whole troop of 3-5 year olds and their mothers come by, and start watching me. So after I did some tricks for them and tried to talk about what I was doing in Hebrew, I offered one of the moms a chance to try it, and then the kids all wanted to play as well. So I spent some time watching a whole series of little kids with my toy- I wish I'd brought my camera down, they were really adorable, especially when one of them asked me to have a turn, and once it got established that we were taking turns now, they all spontaneously lined up to wait their turns- they made a very nice, neat, and respectful line too. So now- if I want to hoop outside without interruption, I know that that's not the place. But for vaguely meeting the neighbors and seeing nice kids- it was great.