Where I'm From

I am from blintzes, from Crest toothpaste and kippot tucked into a dresser drawer.

I am from no eating in the bedrooms, singing all the time, comfy couches, a grandfather clock on the wall and challah French toast.

I am from building a sukkah and hoping it doesn't rain and I am from baking hamantaschen each year from Aunt Dora's recipe. I am from oranges on the Seder plate and really big Havdalah candles. I'm from Birkat HaMazon in the back of the car on the way home from McDonald's. I'm from honey cake even though no one really likes it.

I am from wearing a hat when my mother is cold and doing mental math at the dinner table when my dad asks. I'm from turning into the skid when it's icy and pushing the seat back when I get out of the car. I'm from birthday cake at Thanksgiving and sponge cake at Passover. I'm from Bubbie's pull-apart coffee cake too.

I am from stories of the Aaron family sitting around drinking coffee and eating cake, and I'm from visiting the family neighborhood at Second Home Cemetery. I'm from aunties and mandelbrot and matzah ball soup. (And I'm from soft and hard and hard-in-the-middle.)

I'm from thick binders filled with photos, from telling stories, from sharing stories, from living stories. I'm from the generations that move through me as my father tells me how much I look like Bubbie from Appleton. I'm from my Bubbie's mun cookies and a book on the nightstand. I am from laughing.

I'm from stringing a guitar and playing piano so I can get a driver's license, and I'm from cream puffs at the State Fair each year. I'm from corn on the cob from the farm stand and taking pictures at Old World Wisconsin. I'm from Door County and Madison and Oconomowoc and Milwaukee. I'm from St. Judy's Comet. I'm from swimming in the Brown Deer Pond and lifeguarding at the high school pool.

I'm from trying to cook hot food in the refrigerator (but it never works) and putting the forks on the left and the knives on the right. I'm from Shabbat dinner on Friday night at Bubbie and Zeyde's house and frozen custard with friends after services. I'm from properly passing the bread at the table and is this trip really necessary?

I'm from summer camp.

I'm from Saturday morning cartoons and Brady Bunch reruns. I'm from library books and imaginary friends and To Cast a Giant Shadow. I'm from stories of a Land I knew was mine but didn't visit until I was practically an adult. I'm from good grades or else and call-waiting and a princess birthday cake with a real doll in it. Just once.

I'm from family above all else and I'm from phone calls every day. I'm from the most unconditional of unconditional love and I'm from finding joy and love and love and joy. I'm from each day matters and making the world a better place. 

I am from blessings.

Based on the original poem, Where I'm From by George Ella Lyons, found, with explanations, here.

Inspired by beautiful words from Galit and Nina, but also from many others (links lost over the years of meaning to write this and not quite finding the words -- it's been sitting in my "drafts" folder forever). So why did I write this today? I was inspired by the work of System Ali, a unique and remarkable rap group comprised of Jaffa-ites from Arab and Jewish backgrounds. Where are we from, they asked...and this poem came to mind. This is not what I shared with the group, but what I wrote when I came back to my room later. 

2013: Opening Thoughts

Some updates, some thoughts, some future-thinking...

First things first:
Things are going well in Cancerland.
Sam rang the bell to signify the official "end of treatment" and we are breathing a little easier.

In other, unrelated news:

There's a new trend in "new year's resolutions" - choosing one word to inspire the upcoming year.

I like it. Because, like Calvin, I'm in no need of repair:

Ha.
Right.

So I've given this a lot of thought over the last few weeks. See how it's taken me until the 10th day of the year to even write the post?

I've decided that my One Word for 2013 is going to be COURAGE.

It's not that I want to banish fear from my life, since courage is often associated with fearlessness. On the contrary. I think that true courage is embracing the fear, holding on tightly to it, and running with it. The word courageous is bandied about to refer to people who do amazing things - but often even they themselves will say that they were filled with fear during those moments of courage.

But they kept going.

And since it seemed a little too complex to use "Not-Paralyzed-By-Fear-of-Unknown/Change/New/Different/Hard" - I figured I could shorten it up to COURAGE.

So what am I going to do with all that courage?
Hmm. That's a good question. I often feel that I get stuck in a routine, that I work on something that "works" and so I don't want to change it. I know that I look for new ideas, new plans, new projects ... but many of them get lost in words like busy, tired, overwhelmed....and I think that a lot of that is really just a list of secret names for fear. So I'm hoping to use my One Word to push back against those words that I use, and peel them back...and find some new courage.

There might be some new projects, and there might not. There might be some new ideas, and there might not. Maybe "new" is just a mask for fear of continuing with things the way they are. So maybe it works both ways.

Whatever it is - I'm hoping that this One Word will guide me. I might update you on what's going on with it. I might not. I'm still not sure how it will play out...and I think I'm okay with that uncertainty. I do tend to be fearful of not-knowing....so today's moment of courage is living in this uncertainty of what might be.

So as we jump into 2013 with both feet...what's your word?

36 Reasons to Say Shehecheyanu

It just so happens that 36 days from Thursday is my 36th birthday.

Thirty-six is a really important Jewish number. You've probably heard of the way that the number 18 is special for Jews, right? The Hebrew letters that are used to illustrate the number 18 spell "chai," which means "life." Thirty-six? Double-life. It doesn't get any better than that. (Until you're 72...)

I've been musing for a while about the proper bloggy way to celebrate my 36th birthday. I've run through many different ideas, and finally, with the help of my dear friend, Anne, came up with this.

36 Reasons to Say Shehecheyanu.

Shehecheyanu is the blessing that is said for a joyous occasion, for the first time you do something (ever, or just in a season - the first time you EVER ski is a shehecheyanu moment. If you're a regular skier, you might say shehecheyanu for returning to the slopes at the beginning of the season. I have no idea why I chose skiing as my example, since I don't!)

Can I do it? Can I find 36 different, legitimate reasons to say shehecheyanu over the next 36 days?

I'm going to try. I started making a list of "firsts" - some are easy, like trying new recipes. Some are harder, like trying new experiences, or teaching or learning something new.

Since I don't blog on Shabbat, I'm going to set up something different for those days. I'm going to write about personal memories for the Saturday posts (they will go up after Shabbat is over!), so as not to have to look for something new to do on Shabbat!

It starts Thursday....so please join me on my 36 day journey. Leave me your suggestions (totally clean and appropriate, of course) of experiences and "new" things that I can do in the next 36 days! I'd love to hear your ideas.

(P.S. I thought of doing a tzedakah push for my birthday. I have decided not to this year. There have been so many gifts made in honor of Sam and our family over the last six months...I am sure that I will come to you all with a big, beautiful project in the future. I am so blessed in so many ways, and there are so many opportunities that I will be blessed to share with you in the future.)

How are ya....

Dear Blog,
I miss you. How are you? I hope you're doing well in what appears to be my absence.
I do expect to see you again very shortly. Posts are ruminating in my head, begging to be written.
But many other things seem to be getting in my way. A few of them are due in the next 10 days, so I'm expecting to be back here after that.
In addition, I'm working on convincing the little guy that I'm not an all-night diner.
But how can you really resist this face?

So...dear Blog, Shabbat Shalom. Let's have lunch soon, k?
Love,
the Ima

A Wish List

Slightly blurry shot of me at almost 33 weeks.

(Doesn't "wish list" sound so much nicer than "gripe list"?)

Wishes for approximately 33 weeks....

1. A nice person to walk around with me (job qualification: ability to bend and lift) all the time and pick up things that are dropped or need picking up from the ground. Children will not suffice for this task because they, themselves, often are in need of picking up.

2. A nice person (probably different from the first one, job qualification: good memory) to walk around with me all the time and remember things for me. My name, my husband's name, my children's names, what day it is. Simple stuff, really.

3. Maternity clothes that I'm dying to wear.

4. For no one to notice that I've worn the same pair of shoes for about three weeks straight. Not really because my feet are swollen but because they're the best slip-on shoes I have. Tying shoes would require #1.

5. A nice person to walk around with me (in this case, nice is probably the optimal job qualification) to answer the questions. Yes, it's my 4th. Yes, I'm due in December. No, I don't think I'll "go early." No, we don't know if it's a boy or girl. Yes, we've chosen names. No, we're not going to tell you. (Except for my husband's favorite, I have to share that one. Oren Moshe Gershon. So that child would have the initials OMG.) Any questions I've missed? Please refer all questions to the nice person who is walking around with me.

6. A daily afternoon nap.

7. Stock in the company that makes Tums. It will be good for this child's college fund, I think.

8. For Dairy Queen to have a delivery service. At 11pm.

9. A massage. Hey, wait, that one might be possible. I'll get back to ya.

10. Someone to arrange said massage.

11. To find a way to stop being tired and busy long enough to savor every last moment of the end of this pregnancy....because I really want to.

Am I Worthy?

Hanging out with a lot of other rabbis can bring up many feelings of inadequacy for me.
(I'm currently at the Central Conference of American Rabbis' annual convention)

We're all the same, we all have the same degree and training. But so many of my colleagues are wise and talented, well-spoken, well-written, and doing amazing work.

I am NOT fishing for compliments here, I'm being serious. I know very well that I'm happy with my work, doing well in my job, and outside of the professional realm, absolutely unbelievably BLESSED  with my family and friends. But it doesn't really matter. I still feel that little question nagging at me - do I really belong here? How on earth can I stand shoulder to shoulder with so many amazing people and really feel my own sense of worth?

The rabbinate isn't really like academia, for example, with its concept of "publish or perish." I can dwell in obscurity and do my work happily. I don't have any need to be "important" in the rabbinic world - I'm not aiming to be president of the CCAR or even sit on a board. But I do want my voice to be heard, I do want to bring something to the table and share my ideas and beliefs with my colleagues. Often, though, I am reticent to open my mouth since I usually think "oh, there's someone way more qualified than me to say that."

Maybe when I'm older.
Maybe when I've been at this for longer.
Maybe
Maybe
Maybe.....

And so it goes.

It just so happens, however, that the blogging  world has done it again. It has reminded me, in its infinite wisdom, that I AM WORTHY.

Just by being me. That no matter how I feel in the presence of colleagues and friends, no matter how I might, in the secret moments just before bed at night, wonder if I'm really just pretending to be something that I'm not....that no matter....I am worthy. Today and Everyday.

But, damn, it's hard to say sometimes.

Hamantaschen Test Kitchen #5: Aunt Dora's Recipe

This is my history.

I used to make these hamantaschen with my mom. Every year.

We used this recipe, from my great-aunt Dora. My mom followed her around (when she was pregnant with me) and wrote down exactly what she did.

Aunt Dora's Hamantaschen Dough
2 sticks margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
5-6 cups flour
4 rounded teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-sift together flour and baking powder. Start with 5 cups. If necessary, use the 6th cup in preparation of the dough. Beat margarine and sugar til creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Add the flour/baking powder mixture. Add the 6th if necessary. Add vanilla. Mix well.

Roll out very thin (the original recipe said "on wooden board with rolling pin" - do you think there was magic in that wooden board? Must have been. I use Roul-Pat.), cut circles with rim of glass, put in filling. Make the hamantaschen. Bake at 350 until real light brown. Watch your oven, do not over-bake.
(Yep, there wasn't a time listed. I think about 15 minutes.)

My mom even made Aunt Dora's fillings. All are delicious. Worth the work, I tell you.

PoppySeed Filling
1 can Solo poppy seed filling
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon margarine
1/2 cup chopped nuts
lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together, place in pot on the stove. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Continue to stir and turn down heat to simmer. Add lemon juice (if ncessary to unsweeten) to taste. Simmer for a few minutes. DO NOT LET THE MIXTURE BURN. Remove from heat. Allow to cool, use for filling.

Prune Filling
1 lb pitted prunes
1/2 lb raisins
1 small jar cherry preserves
1 cup chopped nuts

Grind prunes and raisins in food grinder (or electric mixer or blender). In bowl add mixture and cherry preserves and chopped nuts. Mix together, ready for filling.

Apricot Filling
1 can Solo apricot filling
1 package dried apricots (around 6 oz)
1/2 cup water
lemon juice and sugar

Steam the dried apricots in covered pot of water to soften. Remove from water, chop. In bowl mix apricots and filling. Add, if necessary, sugar (to sweeten) or lemon juice (to unsweeten) to taste. Ready for filling.

Wasn't I a cutie-pie?
Yes, this is me and not my daughter. 

Previous Hamantaschen Test Kitchen posts here:
Cream Cheese Dough
Gingerbread?
Gluten Free Hamantaschen
Chocolate!

Ten Years...

Hard to believe that 10 years ago today...

...and now, 2 rabbinic degrees, 3 kids, 3 houses (and the moves that went with them), a bunch of cars, a few cats, 5 bathroom renovations (I know!), and a whole lot of other stuff both good and bad....

I wouldn't change a thing.

How to Raise a Reader, Revisited

I've talked before about how much my kids love to read.

My oldest is definitely a reader.

He
loves
to read.
All the time.

He does not love to write.
So we've embarked upon a new venture...like mother like son....
a blog.

(It helps that Zeyde offered to pay him 50 cents a post. The kid is making more money blogging than I am!)

If you're interested in being one of David's readers, feel free to drop me a line. He recently complained to me that he doesn't get very many comments. I must admit that I said "join the club, kiddo!"

I'm pretty excited to have another blogger in the house.

Don't you hate it when...

...you start the car to warm it up and then go back into the house to wait.

A few minutes later, you spend

ten minutes

looking

for

your

keys.

93 in 2009 - What's on your bedside table?

Last year was the first time in my whole life that I ever started to keep track of all the books I've read. It was an eye-opening experience for me, because I never considered how many books I read. It's not about quantity, but it is so interesting to have a record. And I must admit that it's a tiny bit satisfying to add a book to my list. In case you're wondering, I keep it over there on the sidebar of my blog but I also keep a Google Doc going to keep track of the number and the date added. Maybe next year I should keep in a spreadsheet so I could someday sort all the books I've read, but in truth, I'm not that crazy-obsessive about this! I am also not interested EVER in reading a book a day for a year. But wow.

Here's my list for 2009: (* = Library Books, ** = Young Adult...I'll explain at the end)

1. The Girl from Foreign by Sadia Shepard*
2. The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
3. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter*/**
4. Bonk by Mary Roach*
5. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy*
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows*
7. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver*
8. The 6 o'clock Scramble by Aviva Goldfarb*
9. The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh*
10. As A Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg (technically a re-read but I think there's a 10 year statute of limitations on that)
11. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield*
12. 3 Willows by Anne Brashares*/**
13. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
14. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
15. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
16. Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo
17. The Spare Room by Helen Garner*
18. Daemon by Daniel Suarez*
19. Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn*
20. Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
21. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
22. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert*
23. The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz*
24. All Other Nights by Dara Horn
25. The Lost Quilter by Jennifer Chivaerini*
26. The Guardian by Julius Lester*
27. The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Rosina Lippi*
28. Food Matters by Mark Bittman*
29. My Jesus Year by Benyamin Cohen*
30. Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center*
31. The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule*
32. City of Thieves by David Benioff*
33. Because I Said So edited by Kate Moses & Camille Peri*
34. The First & Final Nightmare of Sonia Reich by Howard Reich
35. World Made By Hand by James Kunstler
36. Pictures at an Exhibition by Sara Houghteling*
37. Snapshots by Michal Govrin
38. The Gilded Chamber by Rebecca Kohn
39. Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix**
40. Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman by Gary Morgenstein
41. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
42. School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
43. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
44. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (okay this was a re-read. But how could I see the movie and then not re-read the book?)
45. The Defector by Daniel Silva
46. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan*
47. True Colors by Kristin Hannah*
48. Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman
49. After the Train by Gloria Whelan */**
50. Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli*
51. Drawing in the Dust by Zoe Klein*
52. Songs for the Butcher's Daughter by Peter Manseau*
53. Rashi's Daughters Book 3 by Maggie Anton
54. The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn
55. Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich (kindle)
56. Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson
57. Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman*
58. Daughter's Keeper by Ayelet Waldman*
59. Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family by Mary Ostyn*
60. Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin*
61. Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
62. Day After Night by Anita Diamant
63. Table for Eight by Meagan Francis
64. Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb
65. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson**
66. The Summer Kitchen by Karen Weinreb*
67. Bending Toward the Sun by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie
68. The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado
69. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
70. Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian*
71. Looking for Anne of Green Gables by Irene Gammel*
72. The Last Ember by Daniel Levin*
73. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld */**
74. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins **
75. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins**
76. The Best Old Movies for Families by Ty Burr*
77. Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife by Francine Prose*
78. Connected: Surprising Power of Social Networks by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler*
79. NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman (kindle)
80. Sent by Margaret Petersen Haddix**
81. Frindle by Andrew Clement (kids)
82. Choosing Up Sides by John H. Ritter*/**
83. Lighting Their Fires by Rafe Esquith
84. The Mozart Question by Michael Morpurgo */**
85. Sword of the Lady by S.M. Stirling*
86. What Happened to Anna K. by Irina Reyn*
87. Book of Dahlia by Elisa Albert
88. The Magicians by Lev Grossman*
89. The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison*
90. What's to become of the boy? or Something to do with books by Heinrich Boll*
91. The Rabbi's Girls by Johanna Hurwitz**
92. Delilah by India Edghill*
93. Hunger: A Novella and Stories by Lan Samantha Chang* 
94. Re-read of New Moon...doesn't really count but it made me happy - I considered ending the year by re-reading a whole bunch of books but didn't make it past New Moon on our year-end road trip...oh well!

So this year, for the first time, I decided to take a "challenge." I'm not sure why, because the two that I picked just reflect my reading style and therefore were not exactly a stretch for me. But...you gotta start somewhere, right? Anyway, I decided to take on the Young Adult Challenge (read 12 Young Adult books) and the Support Your Local Library Challenge (read 25 books from the library). I nearly came up 1 short in the Young Adult Challenge but I slipped one in at the end of the year! I've actually read 51 books from the library, so I totally hit that one out of the park! When the librarians know you by name, you know you're doing fine in that department.

What did I like best this year? It's really hard for me to say. Some really great books came my way this year, and very few that I didn't like. I loved Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian and told a lot of people about it as I was reading it. Thanks to the librarian, actually, for handing me that one. I finally read The Book Thief, which the whole world was reading and I couldn't get into. It was great. You'll notice that I didn't count it as a "young adult" book. Many people said it fell into that category but I didn't agree. Definitely for grown-ups. I was haunted by The Mozart Question, a very short book that left me in tears. And of course, I could NOT put down Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I'm not-very-patiently waiting for Book 3 to come out! I've written a lot of book reviews this year, and I've led a lot of book discussions, and I'm sure some of that is reflected in my list. Do you think it's a well-rounded list?

(Someone asked me to tell them my favorite books, and so I put together this brief list of my favorites from the year....Animal, Vegetable Miracle; Shadow Divers; All Other Nights; School of Essential Ingredients; Bad Mother; Hunting Eichmann; Double Bind; Hunger Games/Catching Fire; NurtureShock...but truthfully, I'm really bad at picking "favorites" - I can't pick a favorite holiday, I can't pick a favorite Torah portion, I can't pick a favorite color for goodness sake!)

It's fun to read over the list and almost re-live the reading experiences of the year. For example, books 13-16 are four non-library books. Those are the four books that I read on my trip to Israel in February. Four books in 7 days but with 2 long plane rides...and book #42 was one that I borrowed from a friend while we were at camp. I had to finish it because she wanted it back before we left! Books 45, 53 and 62 were all pre-ordered from Amazon and I got that delicious thrill of forgetting that "today's the day" and arriving home to find the book! Book #85 was the most recent installment in a series of which I read in its entirety (up until now) last year!

Okay, enough analysis. What's on tap for next year? I'd like to read Socrates and the Fat Rabbis (isn't that a great title? My friend Eric recommended it), The Help (I've finally gotten my hands on a copy), Philippa Gregory's newest book, and....oh goodness, whatever comes my way, I suppose! I do have some non-fiction choices on my hold list at the library - Nicholas Kristof's book Holding up the Sky and also Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

What do you think I should read? What are YOU planning to read in 2010?
P.S. Have you hooked up the new Amazon Associates widget in Blogger? It's really an awesome way to link in all the books - I didn't feel like going back through the whole list but I went through all the other ones - it's a really neat system. Yay Amazon and Blogger!

...one year ends...another begins...

192 posts.

What have I said?

It's been a year full of history and ordinary life.

Sometimes I was funny. And sometimes I wasn't.

I traveled to Israel.

We celebrated all the holidays but I realize that I didn't blog about all of them in any great detail. Oops.
(We did make these cool eggs for Pesach...)

My kids were, of course, super-cute and funny and entertaining.

We went to camp (and can't wait to go back, of course...)

I read and reviewed a lot of books, and I baked a lot.

{{{Sigh}}} It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone.

And so I continue blogging....I look forward to 2010. I'm sure I'll host Haveil Havalim (I think soon, actually), and I know I'm going to be celebrating holidays and sharing the funny things my kids say and do. I will celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary and I will send my own child off to camp alone for the first time. And who knows what else will come my way during this calendar year?

I feel so lucky and blessed to be Jewish, to have the opportunity not once but twice to consider a new year (technically, there are other Jewish dates that are "new years" but I'm going with the main one, Rosh HaShanah) and to have a chance to rethink, renew, and restart.

So as we begin this secular year, I hope for all of us, for all of you, for my family and for yours, that this year bring peace, health, and blessings. May your dreams be fulfilled and your path be smooth.

May it be a sweet year, a full year, a year of hope and a year of love and life.

I'm Famous!

You may have heard that I went to the URJ Biennial.

So did the JTA.

I'm famous!

What I'm Reading Lately...

How to use Google Wave (anyone really get this stuff?)

Quiche in a Loaf

The Reason Social Media Matters for our Kids

S'mores Kits (I am the geekiest person cuz I bookmarked this with "mishloach manot")

What are you reading lately?

Tom and Me

I had one of my coolest rabbi experiences ever right before Shabbat started. I was truly honored to be invited to give the closing benediction at the inauguration of the new President of Northwestern University. I had no idea how much pomp and circumstance is involved in the inauguration of a university president!

Here is the text of my benediction (in case you're interested, which you must be because you're reading my blog!):

It is fitting that we gather here today to honor this academic institution on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah – a holiday that celebrates a most sacred book, the Torah, the Five Books of Moses. To truly celebrate knowledge, one must be a lifelong student, as President Schapiro is.

The Jewish sages ask the question: “Which is greater, study or action?” The great Rabbi Akiva answers: “Study is greater because it leads to action.” Through study and learning, teaching and imparting, we become the people that the world needs.

Today we ask for God’s blessings upon President Schapiro and the tasks he is about to undertake. Under his leadership and guidance, may learning flourish and may students and teachers alike grow and prosper. May this institution truly fulfill its motto, to think on the things that are true, honest, just, lovely and pure. And in so doing, may we all be blessed.

Keyn yehi ratzon, may this be God’s will.

Without detracting from the honoree, President Morton O. Schapiro (a really nice, mensch-y guy with a great sense of humor), one of the highlights for me was meeting the Inaugural Speaker, Thomas Friedman. (Listen to his Inaugural Speech here.) You may be familiar with Mr. Friedman's columns and his books, as I am, and I was a little bit starstruck to meet him in person. When asked by my colleague what he thought of the Peace Prize, he replied by explaining that he was planning to re-write his column for Sunday's paper. He explained to us (and by us, I mean the TWO of us who were standing with him - this was very cool) that he would write what he thought President Obama should say for his acceptance speech at the Nobel ceremony. And he did! It's a great column (as usual). And while I don't usually say much in the political arena here on this blog, I think he's got the whole thing spot-on. I asked Mr. Friedman if he would mind if I blogged about that conversation, and he said it was okay. So, Tom, if you're reading this, {{{waving}}} hi and thanks for a great speech and an excellent column!

P.S. Those of you who know me know that I'm a proud graduate of another Big 10 institution. While I was encouraged by many to root for my home team, I did behave appropriately and even wore a purple kippah to the event.

Who comes up with this stuff?

Someday I will figure out what starts a "meme" - like, do people sit around and think up this stuff!?

Reiza tagged me for this photo meme, and so here goes...

The rules are:

1. Open the 4th file where you store your photos
2. Pick the 4th picture
3. Explain the photo
4. Pass the challenge on to 4 other bloggers

(Leora did this too, by the way)

Anyway, this was a little complicated. I have a lot of folders. So I started by looking in my Pictures folder, and the fourth folder down actually happened to be "Family Pics" which is where I store almost all of my pictures. Score! Then I went down four, and it was 2007...and the fourth folder in there was Yael at 6 days old...and the fourth picture was a little naked tushy...which was not appropriate for this very family-friendly blog, not to mention that I have to draw a line somewhere! So I went back up a few levels and decided that I would go with the fourth folder in the current year's pictures (yes, I'm ridiculously organized about my photos), which happened to be from the end of January, a sunny day in the snow:






Pretty self-explanatory, isn't it...?

Also funny, because just last week I finally finished putting a Shutterfly album together that I began last Fall...Sukkot through Lag B'Omer...so I just recently looked at these pictures!

Okay, I know I'm supposed to tag 4 people but I'm so bad at that...so if you're reading, consider yourself tagged!

Oh my goodness, I just figured out who comes up with these memes - people who are trying to procrastinate on their holiday preparations!!! I knew it!!!

P.S. AND...there's still time to enter my Rosh haShanah Giveaway from Oh Nuts - you have until September 10th so go click over NOW!!!!

Things to Read...

While you're procrastinating on writing your sermons...oh wait, is that just me? Well, while you're looking for something to do, here's this week's Haveil Havalim, a weekly roundup of the Jewish-Israeli Blogosphere.

And since I have been too busy lately to remember to submit posts, a roundup of my favorite posts from my own blog in the past few weeks:

Where Yael hid my shoes

Yummy Muffins (ask FrumeSarah, she says so too!)


Welcoming the month of Elul

AND...there's still time to enter my Rosh haShanah Giveaway from Oh Nuts -  you have until September 10th so go click over NOW!!!!

Hope you're having a great Labor Day Weekend!

Did I mention that I'm going to BlogHer?

I'll Be at LobbyCon! (okay, I'm not really going to the whole thing)


I'm very excited to go, though! I'm hoping to meet people and just feel the general buzz. I'm going to go down for this shindig on Thursday night:



And then go back Friday morning for the LobbyCon fun...and I'll even go green and take the train each time!

And depending...I might go back on Friday night for a party...even though it's Shabbat.





Why am I going to BlogHer? I think I want to connect and see what's out there. I want to be a part of something that feels really big to me - I know that most people in my "real world" don't always "get" my blogging/online/social media obsession. But I think it will be fun to do it...

So, if you're going to be at BlogHer09, DM me on twitter @imabima - I think that is a more reasonable thing than to put my cellphone number out here on my blog, don't you agree? But if you have my cellphone number, by all means, text me and let me know how and where I can meet you too!

I'll have to let you all know how it goes....

P.S. I'm a little bit nervous! What should I wear!?

My 15 MInutes

I am very excited to announce the delivery (in my own real mailbox) of this month's Reform Judaism magazine. The cover story, "CyberSanctuary: How the Latest Technology is Changing Jewish Life," features 5 rabbis and 3 lay leaders in a "cyber symposium." Guess who one of those rabbis is? Me!

I was invited to participate last December - remember, magazines have a long lead time. I must admit, I was hesitant about what to write because so much changes in the world of technology. I was very pleased to re-read my answers and felt that what I said six months ago was still relatively timely. I answered a question using Twitter as an example, and I know back in December (pre-Oprah's Twitter explosion) it wasn't exactly mainstream. But now, it turns out that I sound very cutting-edge!!!

I think it's really wonderful that so many of us are working hard to bring Jewish experiences into the technology age - and I enjoyed reading what the other participants had to say as well. It's interesting to hear what I'm doing and what's being done around the country/world. I must admit, sometimes I think I know everything that's going on and then I read an article like this only to find out that we're all in the same technological boat!

I'm hoping that some of my recent spike in traffic is thanks to this article. So I wanted to say hi {{{waving furiously}}} to all my new readers... I'm inviting you to stick around for a while. One good way to do that is to click over there <---- on the top of the left-hand column where it says "Subscribe to my feed" which you can do either in a reader or via email. This way you'll get my latest content delivered directly to your Reader program or your Inbox as soon as I create it!

To get you up to speed with what happens here at Ima on and off the Bima, the answer is - just about everything! I like to post about my family and my life, about Judaism and Jewish life, and really everything in between. I almost always put a link up to the weekly Jewish blog carnival, which gives a round-up of Jewish posts around the globe, and I have hosted it here a few times myself. Sometimes I review books or products and sometimes I give things away, so feel free to read, comment, and come back often. Those cute munchkins in the header pictures are my kids, and they definitely give me endless material...

Here are a few good posts to read to get to know me. Most of them contain a bunch of links to other posts, which is always the best way to read a blog!!
2008 Year-end Post
2007 Year-end Post
7 Posts About Me

But you don't have to start at the beginning - it's okay to just jump in and join the journey!
It's nice to have you along. Hope to see you again soon.

Jewish Mommy Meme - Community ROCKS

It's so great to find other Jewish moms blogging out there. The Homeshuler has created her own Jewish Mommy Meme and tagged me! So here goes...

1. Challah – home baked or bought?
I love to bake challah and I have some great recipes, but usually we eat the one that comes home from school with my preschoolers. It's a school fundraiser (I think) and it's easy. Easy is good right now. I do love a good home-baked challah...

2. Favorite shabbat meal:
My favorite meal is whatever I can prepare in advance for my family to eat while I'm getting ready or already at services. We have 6:30pm services each week and my kids are too young to make it. So I usually prepare dinner in advance and get it all ready to go, with directions for the completion of the preparation! One of our recent favorite meals are these Quorn cutlets....they are very yummy. (We are vegetarian in our house, so no chicken....)

3. Any creative shabbat rituals?
We have a tie-dyed challah cover....the kids wear their kippot and sing the brachot, usually with the Abba...when my oldest was really young, we decided that the only day for TV watching was Shabbat. While this may seem like a backwards plan for some of my more frum readers, it made sense to me. The idea of Shabbat is to set it apart and make it special. This was the point of the TV gig. (Side note, whenever he went to my parents, they'd let him watch TV all the time, coining the phrase "it's always Shabbat at Bubbie and Zeyde's.") This was a big problem when we visted my frum relatives and had to explain that on Shabbat they DON'T watch TV. But I think that's another post. Anyway, eventually he figured out that the TV works on other days and the whole Shabbat/TV thing ended. I have a lot of visions for great Shabbat ideas but in general I just find myself saying things like "dessert? sure, it's Shabbat..." and that seems to work.

4. Shul? With or without the kids? (yes, I know some of you are rabbis)
Usually for Tot Shabbat, which is just their speed. Plus they're at the synagogue all the time. I'm trying to get my oldest to services on a more regular basis - now that he can read English and Hebrew, I think it's important. For myself, obviously, I'm there a lot. A LOT.

5. Traditionally shomer shabbat? If not, what’s your definition/style?
Not "traditionally" but happily observant of Shabbat. At the moment my biggest Shabbat observance is no Facebook, no Twitter, and no blogging...but I do use the phone/drive/etc. I've always said that the idea of shomer, meaning "guard" is about making sure we're aware that it's Shabbat and making it special. See answers to the above question.

6. Favorite shabbat story/book
How Yussel Caught the Gefilte Fish.

Love it.

I probably have 20 other favorites. But this is the top of the list! (With my oldest, we read Shai's Shabbat Walk every week. But we've progressed...)

7. no seventh question – time to rest.
If you're a Jewish mommy and you read this blog, I tag you!

(See how neatly I did that? I always leave someone out... :-) )