Sunday is a School Day!

So here's a funny thing about Israel--Sunday is a regular work day--and school day. It's kind of odd to get used to, but up I got this morning to come to class. The only problem was that I was up late reading (Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union--which I'm really enjoying). It felt like it would still be the weekend this morning, but alas . . .

I had a really nice Shabbat, with dinner here at Pardes with many of my classmates and then a lovely Shabbat morning at the local Reform synagogue. It happens to be just across the street from my apartment. It is really nice--very informal but with lots of singing. There was a bar mitzvah, and the kid was really sweet, and his family and the whole congregation just seemed so happy. For those of you up on synagogue stuff, one interesting thing is that this Reform congregation does a full kriah (Torah reading) but not musaf. I find if very interesting to see the differences between US and Israeli denominational distinctions.

After lunch I had a long, hot, uphill walk to my lunch invitation. It was about 95 degrees out, and after the 25 minute walk, I arrived at my destination with quite a womanly glow. Luckily, they had air conditioning! Lunch was really nice, with excellent food and good company. A few other students were also invited, as was another Pardes faculty member, and there was lots of Jewish education talk and connections made to all our mutual friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Around 4 pm I headed back home for a nice, long nap.

As I've been meeting more and more people and getting to know my fellow students better, one of the things I keep thinking about is the permanence/impermanence of relationships formed during times like these. For me, this is sort of an interlude away from my "real life." I think when I was younger, I met new people all the time, and I was usually open to the possibility that they might be people who would play a part in my life as it developed. During college and graduate school, I was friendly with lots of people, and I didn't know then which ones of them would be permanent fixtures as opposed to those who, while important, wouldn't necessarily become long-term actors in the drama of my life.

As I've aged, I think the cast (to extend the metaphor) of my life has gotten a lot more stable. If I spent my teens and early twenties "auditioning" people, the last 15 years have solidified who my "people" are. Some things still are evolving, of course, but not in the way they once were. I'm not really auditioning for as many roles any more--I already have a husband, children, close friends, extended family, colleagues, etc. So as I meet new people here, I wonder about if/how to fit them into my already pretty full cast. It isn't that I don't want new friends--in fact, I'm pretty friendly and like meeting new people. But I don't necessarily know if a great conversation or couple of friendly dinners mean that this is someone that I'll be talking to five years from now or someone whose name I won't remember in a year or two.

I'm not sure it's a bad thing, and it may just be inevitable, but it definitely gives me a sense of my own rootedness in my life. One of the many gifts of this experience is being able to see my life from different perspectives, and I am very aware that this consciousness is due to the challenge and opportunity of being here.

On that note, I'll sign off. Still working on getting pictures posted!