Shabbat

Friday night's torah reading was a little rough, but we all survived. They had me read from a large scroll, which means the top of the column was pretty far away once the scroll was rolled out on the table. Naturally, my portion started two lines down from the top of a column, and the table was kind of high. I was standing on tip-toes and leaning on the table to get close enough to almost see. Next time, I ask for a different scroll. (The associate rabbi also pointed out, after, that the height of the table could be adjusted with the press of a button. Great; wish I'd known that earlier. :-) )

It appears that many in the congregation interpreted my problems as nervousness. Nope. I chanted the climactic part of the binding of Yitzchak in front of 900 people on Rosh Hashana; I think I'm over nervousess in my own congregation.

But I also got a lot of positive feedback; chanting is not common in our congregation and it was a longer portion, and I guess that impressed people. I actually find that the chanting makes it easier for me, not harder, but I've got a knack for music and not-yet-adequate Hebrew comprehension. The music provides hints about the phrasing, which makes for a more coherent reading than if I just read the words without knowing what each one meant. Mind, I do go over a portion pretty thoroughly when learning it, first attempting my own translation and then studying a translation alongside the Hebrew, but that doesn't mean I can retain it all at the word level.

The associate rabbi said some nice things about me in the context of the Sh'liach K'hilah program. (They took the opportunity to tell the congregation at large that I've completed that program.) This generated some nice comments at the oneg.

Reading on Shabbat morning went much more smoothly. I tried, for the first time, giving my d'var torah without using notes; it turns out I'm not ready for that yet. Well, you don't know if you don't try, and it's a forgiving group. But there were things I meant to say and didn't, and things I didn't say as eloquently as I'd planned, and I'll just have to do better next time.

On Shabbat morning my rabbi also brought up the Sh'liach K'hilah program briefly, and mentioned that I'd read the previous night (many of the morning people hadn't been there). He also said something to the effect that he'd be giving me increasing opportunities to read on Friday nights; woot! I have hopes of eventually parlaying that into helping to lead worship too, but I'll take any advance.

weekend and random bits

I got a nice surprise in the mail from magid Saturday. Thanks! Yummy!

Today we stopped at a GetGo which had a big sign saying "get in, get out, get going". It took me longer than I expected to get my few items, and I commented to Dani that there's little their slogan can do to compensate for a slow customer ahead of you in line ("wait! I have 37 cents in here somewhere!"). Dani pointed out that maybe it's not a slogan but instructions, which some people do not follow.

Last night ralphmelton and lorimelton had their annual December party. It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to see people I haven't seen in a while. There was, as usual, plentiful food, including some really tasty orange cupcakes with chocolate icing. Tonight Ralph, Lori, and mrpeck joined us for dinner, which was pleasant and low-key.

Erik saw the vet Friday morning. All is going well, and they pulled the feeding tube out. He has to go back once more (there's still a dressing on, in large part because of said feeding tube), and then things should be back to normal. He's eating a lot more and was up to 7.1 pounds Friday. He's also now eating dry food, so there is hope of weaning him mostly off of the canned food.

Some school guidance counselors (and probably parents) are lobbying the College Board to split the SAT into multiple tests because it's too long. I don't remember it being overly long; on investigation I found that it's 3 hours, 45 minutes now. This is a test intended for people who want to go to college. If you go to college, you'll probably find 3-hour final exams (possibly worth half your grade) to be common. Sounds like students should get used to it now.

From unspace: Cuteness Overload.

the Conservative movement

Our local Jewish newspaper had an article this week on the Conservative movement's recent big conference. Now mind, this newspaper also covered the Reform movement's biennial a few weeks back and, I'm told, blew things rather out of proportion, fixating on one small part of the plenary speech as if it was the whole thing. So maybe that's what's going on here. I hope.

This article said, essentially, that there is serious debate within the Conservative movement about whether it should be, or view itself as, a halachic movement. WTF? I thought that was part of the core definition of the movement. From this article, it sounds like there are some in the movement (who are big enough to rate mike time at the convention) who feel that, say, keeping kosher or Shabbat isn't as important as making people feel comfortable (as if that dichotomy actually exists).

I'm kind of curious about what was actually discussed and what has mainstream backing as opposed to being out on the fringes.