parsha bit: Toldot

From Genesis Rabbah: Rabbi Pinchas said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Yaakov and Esav were like myrtle and a rosebush growing side by side. The grown mrtyle has a pleasing aroma; the rosebush grows thorns. Yaakov understood that answers come through patience and learning; Esav sought instant gratification.

(The original also said that Yaakov studied torah while Esav became an idolator. The sages project torah study -- even formalized, with yeshivot! -- all the way back to the patriarchs, long before the giving of torah.)

changing minhag

The t'filah (aka the amidah), the central prayer of the service, is said silently. It is customary for the leader to wait until everyone has finished before going on with the service, but the morning minyan doesn't do that. As a congregant I found this frustrating but eventually learned to live with it; as a leader I'm now a little frustrated from the other side. So this morning I raised the issue for the first time. (I don't have the authority to make the change unilaterally, but I want to get people talking about it.)

Pro: This is broad Jewish custom. (Halacha?)

Con: But not here, and not only that but their rabbi so ruled. (This isn't just a property of the morning minyan; it's true of all their services.) That makes not doing it "local halacha".

Pro: Slower people feel rushed and/or stomped on now.

Con: If we wait, the last person to finish may feel self-conscious (like he's holding the rest of us up).

Con: It may be hard for the leader (or at least this one) to tell when people are finished, because some just stay standing rather than sitting down only to get back up for the chatzi kaddish and torah service when everyone's done. (Remember that this congregation doesn't do a chazan's repetition of the t'filah, so if you sit down after the silent one it's brief. Some don't bother.)

Obviously, because their rabbi has made a ruling, this discussion isn't about making the change directly but about approaching the rabbi -- which I'll only do if this group agrees on the proposal.

ultrasound report

The good news is that Erik's ultrasound this morning did not show tumors. Yay! So probably no kitty cancer! Whew.

It did show that his gallbladder/bile duct seems to be blocked, and this morning he started showing jaundice. (On an orange cat with yellow eyes, I'm curious how one can tell. I guess I'll find out soon when I pick him up.) So I have a 4:00 appointment with a surgeon; if it's blocked they're going to take it out, which apparently has no negative consequences for the cat, and if it's not actually blocked they're going to do a biopsy to try to figure out what's really wrong. Given that description, I'm hoping for blocked so this will be over.

roller-coaster week

The last few days have undoubtedly added gray hairs. Oof.
( cut for those who are sick of hearing about my cat )

Edited to add: thank you everyone for your good wishes over the last couple days! (I meant to include this before and blew it.)