Look at this new awesome sign that one of the social action committee members made for Pri Adamah! Thank you JY! In case you were curious, we now have 19 CSA members and we are well on our way. Have you signed up yet? Remember you can get the forms here!
Shabbat Shalom!
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) is a major piece of legislation that is now coming before Congress in a few ways. You may recall this post I wrote about my uncle and about the discriminatory practice of DADT. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go HERE to sign a petition that will go to senators and representatives in Washington, DC (you can also fill this out if you are a Canadian). Remember you can amend the statement however you wish.
Your voice will be joined by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Human Rights Campaign, and many more.
Please let me know via a comment or a private email that you’ve done your part!
Last night I didn’t really sleep and so I came into the office early. (I know!) As I was reading through my tweets, I saw that the world has a new citizen! Two of my closest friends @VeggieBerger and KosherBerger welcomed their little girl to the world at 2:47 this morning. Though she was about three weeks early, everyone is healthy and happy.
And well done to Dr.Poopiehead for being in the delivery room and almost delivering the baby!
See, doesn’t that just make your day brighter?
Welcome to the world SliderBerger!
I saw this recent article in the New York Times and I must confess the idea intrigues me! My desk and chair aren’t particularly suited to this idea, though I do often switch between my desktop computer and my personal laptop so theoretically I could determine some sort of standing desk when I’m working on my laptop.
Has anyone tried to a standing desk? How have you found the experience?
I wonder what it would be like to be standing most of the day in high heels? Would standing cause more or less back pain?
The notion I find most intriguing is that standing increases productivity. What does a productive rabbinic day look like?
So many questions. So little time.
You might be tired of reading about it, but I’m not tired of writing about it! That’s right. It is CSA update time! To date we have 12 families registered. And we hope there are a lot more to come. Hooray!
Last night at the social action committee meeting we discussed further marketing strategies and learned about what is happening on THE FARM. Some of the beds have been planted and there are the beginning springs of life. This April has been fairly dry meaning that things on the farm are a bit ahead of schedule. In the ground are salad greens, swiss chard, kale, radishes, onions and some other veggies that I can’t remember this second. Before we know it, June 1 will be upon us and those involved will get our first opportunity to use our CSA. I’m getting excited.
HAZON recently published a 2009 CSA report. If you are interested in knowing more, you can read that here. I am hoping that PRI ADAMAH will also be a part of the 2010 project.
There was also a really great story in JTA about a CSA in Israel that is joining two Israeli and Palestinian communities.
Last night I asked the social action committee to introduce themselves and also share one of their favorite vegetables. It was a difficult thing for most people to choose! Responses included: eggplant, squash, sweet potato, cucumber, swiss chard, celery, and asparagus. My choice was brussels sprouts in case the picture wasn’t entirely clear. I also like a lot of other vegetables, too and I’m excited to try some new things this summer with the CSA.
Enough about delicious and nutritious vegetables. If you have questions about Pri Adamah, feel free to send them along.
So by now, even if you live in another city, you know that Temple Sinai is partnering with The Cutting Veg and we have an awesome CSA. We are having a planning meeting tomorrow night. If you have any questions or concerns, this is a great time to ask them by commenting on this blog post and the committee and I will respond and I’ll post them here.
Yay technology!
I read a blog that updates me on all things technological. (Yes, I wish I was more techno savvy then I am). This week I was informed that email is archaic. This of course raises all sorts of questions. What is the replacement for email? Why do I spend so much time writing and reading email if it is not the most up-to-date mode of information sharing?
What interests me most is what will come next. If it isn’t going to be email, how will it include social media? It seems to me that communication is getting increasingly difficult and people are stating that the modes we are using aren’t effective.
I have a lot of questions and I don’t even know where to begin to look for the answers. If anyone has any ideas or knows people who think about this stuff or work on it, I’m curious. If you have a favorite blog or information source, pass that along, too since I apparently need to spend less time reading my email.
I just returned from Boston, as I mentioned yesterday. Possibly the coolest thing that we did was take a tour of Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox. The bestest part of the tour was that we got to walk on center field near the green monster! I am not a serious baseball fan though I do follow a few teams, including the Red Sox (I think it is held over from my days in university in Boston). I am not an expert and I don’t pretend to be. One thing that I like about baseball is that there is always something new to learn and the more that I understand the game, the more there is to appreciate.
I will confess that one of the reasons that I am trying to increase my baseball proficiency is because my grandmother (aka Grandma) loved baseball. She was a Dodgers. I’ve been thinking a lot about Grandma lately and missing her very much. I think that trying to learn more about baseball is a way that I can honor my grandmother in some way. When I am watching a baseball game or reading statistics that I only sort of understand it makes me feel closer to her. It might not make sense to anyone else except me and I’m okay with that.
Grandma, I love you and I miss you everyday.
This past weekend, as mentioned previously, I traveled with nine 8th graders to Boston. The trip went extremely well. It was really busy and we saw lots of cool stuff including a horribly rainy Harvard, Faniuel Hall, the New England Aquarium, the Touro Synagogue in Newport and lots more.
The highlight for me was going to Brandeis for Shabbat services. During my four years of university I attended services in the Pearlman Lounge with BaRuCH, the Brandeis Reform Chavurah. My friends were often leading the services and running the group, and then many would head to Sherman Function Hall where the entire Brandeis community joined for Shabbat dinner. (This is a general summary).
On Friday night, I walked into Pearlman Lounge and it was as though nothing changed. (Though there are more comfortable chairs, new carpet, and Brandeis clearly gone modern with IT equipment). Though the faces were slightly different, it was as though I could re-name the characters with my friends and classmates and nothing was different. I will say that my contemporaries were more adept with the guitar and ensured it was in tune.
Sitting in Pearlman Lounge I realize how far I have come. I was sitting in services like I did long ago and I am a rabbi. So long ago that was the goal and now I live it everyday.
After services we headed towards dinner. This was where things seemed very different. Brandeis Hillel has their own bencher (its Anim Zmirot and it has the parochet from one of the Torahs in the chapel as the cover. Fancy!), dinner is buffet style now and includes a salad bar and soup. (Soup!) Apparently there are fewer students attending dinner because more housing includes kitchens so people are making their own. The challah was delicious, there are still sodas on the table, and the minhagim are the same. Clean up also works similarly. There’s nothing quite like finishing a meal on paper plates and gather it all up in a lined table-cloth.
But I digress. The real highlight was seeing CINDY who is now the associate director of Hillel. When I was a student she was the program director and we worked together a lot, especially when I was on Hillel board.
The other really trip down memory lane was that the campus is in the middle of Holocaust Remembrance Week. I helped organize this group one year.
There was even an announcement about upcoming Hillel elections.
When I was a student this all seemed incredibly important, and for the students it is. It’s amazing the perspective you can get from the passage of time. Perhaps this is the greatest lesson from the trip down memory lane.
Thanks for the memories!
Rabbi Eleanor Steinman 