Almost Done

[debka_notion]

I have 4 days left of CPE.  Just 4 days- it's kind of hard to believe, although I'm pretty exhausted from it, and really, really ready for a break.  (I'm finally remembering that I didn't really get any sort of a break between finishing finals, back in May, and then finishing packing and moving.  For quite a while, the internship had me so energized, and was so different from what came before it that I was just going on the strength of that and getting more sleep.)  Now, I need to start packing again, figure out the details of getting home- jakal88 is driving me, but we're trying to figure out how that's going to work with his work schedule and when my sister gets home, and when I need to be out of my sublet because the actual tenant is moving back in.  Furthermore,  I need to write my final evaluation, and a few pages worth of experiences to be sent eventually to the people who sponsor the stipend for doing CPE.

Also at the hospital we're having a big thing tomorrow- the bishop of the Syracuse diocese is going to be saying mass at the hospital chapel, so that's a chunk of tomorrow (should be an interesting thing to see- I'll be turning pages for my supervisor who is doing the piano accompaniment, so I"ll have a nice spot on the side to see from without feeling awkward).  My Catholic colleagues have been really interesting to watch in planning this- one of my peers is super-excited, while one of the staff is really pretty blah about this bishop (he's very new) and the local church hierarchy in general, and is trying not to drag the more excited folks down.  I think the other folks fall somewhere in the midst of that spectrum, but the contrast between those two is so clear that it's sort of funny. 

Thursday will be our closing service, and then we're going to have lunch out at one of the local parks with a lake, and do a little boating. It should be a really nice way to end the unit, and spend a little time together without so much agenda before we all go our own ways.  I'm really going to miss my peers- I've talked about corresponding with at least one of them, and she's really interested in the idea, and I think I'm about ready to get back into that habit.  I'm realizing that I really miss the correspondence and we've been quite close this summer-  I really want to stay in touch.  I'm thinking that going off to Israel also may be a bit easier with a steady written connection, just like going off to college was helped by having a steady pen-pal.  We'll see how that pans out, but I'm hopeful.  

Comments

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

I tend to alternate between wondering at the point of clerical hierarchies and wishing that the Jews had something that cool.

Are you likely to wind up back in NYC before you head off to Israel?

[margavriel.livejournal.com]

We do have clerical hierarchies.

On top is Rav Elyoshiv. Below him are a handful of other gedoylim in Eretz Yisroel (Rav Kanayevski, Rav Vosner, and a few others). Below them are the askonim who are the self-appointed spokesmen for these gedoylim. Below them are the regular rabbis.

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

This would be true if all rabbis were non-Hasidic Haredim living in Israel. I contend that not all rabbis fit this descriptor, and that Rav Elyashiv's influence therefore does not extend so far as you claim.

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

Also worth noting that R' Elyashiv does not hold any official title marking him as the pinnacle of any hierarchy. Compare with the Catholic Church (the original point of discussion) in which there is a clear, organizationally significant distinction between varying levels of authority, and in which disregarding those distinctions—as in the recent case of bishops ordained without the Pope's approval—can lead to severe censure and even excommunication.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Clerical hierarchies seem both very practical and generally in conflict with many of the ways that I think that Judaism actually manages to work. They seem to have some pretty strong strengths and some pretty weak weaknesses, watching my various Catholic peers this summer. Not that any of this is any news.

I am hoping to be in NYC for a few Shabbatot before I leave, and also I've taken a high holiday gig at the Manhattan VA- not like you won't be at your own job then, but I may well just hang for a while before or afterwards- it isn't like my parents' home is so far away as to make getting back and forth difficult. I'd love to see you folks before I head off.