interviewed by figmo

[cellio]

1. You've written about your choosing to convert to Judaism. What made you choose to keep Kosher?

It was a gradual process. Initially, it seemed pretty clear that certain species were off limits; this seemed about as clear to me as "shabbat is special" and "honor your parents", with lots of questions about implementation but not about the core principle. So I started by not eating forbidden species directly. Before too long it occurred to me that forms of forbidden species could show up as ingredients (e.g. lard in pie crusts) and I started paying attention to that.

Fairly early I accepted the ban on meat-dairy combinations, but I no longer remember how I came to that conclusion. I do remember that it took me a while longer to reconcile myself to chicken being included in that (you can't milk a chicken, so how could you cook one in its mother's milk?), but I think I decided that if I was going as far as I was, I should do that too. Honestly, to this day I have doubts about the correctness of that prohibition, but it's got a long pedigree and there at least are some ways that chicken is similar to meat in ways fish isn't. So ok.

For a while I was willing to eat meat in restaurants if I could be sure it was free of dairy, but that was way too hard. Restaurants sometimes understand vegetarians; they don't understand "no dairy, not even the dash of butter in the sauce". So when eating out I restricted myself to veggie/dairy/fish initially for practical reasons, but eventually decided that I should not buy non-kosher meat. I'll eat non-kosher meat (of kosher species!) in friends' houses, because I don't want to impose my limitation on them to that extent. In a friend's house I don't generally have a menu choice; in a restaurant I do. So I can be stricter when everything's under my control.

As for separate dishes, that came as a burst of "I need to do this" one morning and I have no earthly explanation for it.

2. You've lived and worked in a variety of places. Why Pittsburgh?

Actually, I've been in Pittsburgh or its suburbs for most of my life (including college). This is where I have my strongest social connections. It's very affordable compared to the cities where many of my non-local friends live. It's got a decent "geek factor" due to universities and high-tech companies, though there's been some fading of the latter since the dot-com bust. So far, I can find reasonable tech employment here. While it doesn't have fantastic weather, I could do much much worse. It's not out in the middle of nowhere, driving-wise; I can reach several other good-sized cities in five hours or so (DC, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Philly). It isn't crazy-high-paced; I don't take my life in my hands as a pedestrian or driver. While we have more than our share of weird navigational hazards, I can be at work in 15 minutes most days, and a 60-minute commute is pretty unusual here. I live in a neighborhood full of houses (not high-rises) with trees.

3. If you and Dani could live anywhere other than Pittsburgh, where would you live?

I'm kind of allergic to the idea of moving, actually. I can only think of one thing (short of economic ruin or the like) that would goad me into moving, and I'll get to that in a later question. I like it here.

So a move would be driven by external factors, not by a desire to be in a particular location. Any candidate location would have to pass a suitability checklist.

So bottom line, there's no place I'd rather be right now. Well, if I could somehow wave a magic wand and move my congregation a few miles east, outside of city limits, allowing me to follow (where the housing value per dollar can be better), sure, but other cities? Nah.

4. If you were to do something for a living other than tech writing, what would it be?

With my current skills and credentials, or is this the fairy-godmother scenario?

With my current skills, modulo question #5 I'm pretty much doing it -- a mix of software development and "speaker to programmers". I have some doubts about whether this is actually a viable path (that is, will it get me to retirement in the manner to which I have become accustomed?), and I might noodle around within this space some (technical management?), but that's pretty much it for that path. And while I'm not real thrilled with my current employer at times, the actual position is pretty nifty.

This answer is continued after the next question. :-)

5. Are you considering being a rabbi or cantor?

So, if I could have any job (not counting "retired lottery winner" -- and even there I'd want a part-time or volunteer gig), I'd give serious consideration to being a rabbi. I want to be a rabbi; I don't feel I know enough yet to know whether I'd really want that if I were in the trenches. But I'm trying to learn more about the nitty gritty, the "laws and sausages" part of the job. Serious conversations on this topic have happened (and will continue).

But getting there requires some really serious disruption, and I'm not sure if Dani and I can do that. We'd have to move, at least twice (once for school and once for the first job afterwards). I'd have to go to school full-time for five years (and there might be some remedial work first). I would, naturally, not be drawing an income during those five years. While being there would be fantastic, getting there is hard. The answer isn't "no", but it's not yet "yes" either.

But if I had the fairy godmother, or the time machine, or the magic stopwatch, yeah, you bet I'd be looking at that!

(Rabbi, not cantor. A rabbi with a singing voice, to be sure, but I don't want to be as limited as a cantor is.)