We Closed the Shul!

I've started reading another The Cat Who . . . book (by Lillian Jackson Braun) again. I gave up on reading them in order and picked up one of the latest at a bookstore shortly before I left for Teva. I'm enjoying making free time for reading it; haven't read a book in a very long time.

So, I spent most of the week in New York City. Heading out Tuesday afternoon, Dave (friend of Gabe from Adamah) drove Rachel and me south. He dropped his car at a friend's place in Larchmont and we took Metro-North, bus, and subway to Sarah Chandler's for dinner, minus Dave who was headed elsewhere at the end. Met Shoshana, Sabrina, and Linda (Adamah), and Dan (old friend of Sarah) at Sarah's and together (less Dan) went to B'nai Jeshurun (BJ) for Simchat Torah. That's the holiday when there's little focus on praying and mostly on dancing around with the Torah(s) and singing and celebrating the cycle of life.

Simchat Torah is when Jews roll the Torah back to the beginning to restart the story of our history. BJ is a famous, large congregation on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that affiliates with the Conservative Jewish movement but felt so comfortable and different for this particular holiday. The tradition is to dance around the synagogue seven times before engaging in a normal prayer service. In this case, the celebration began at 6:45 pm and ended at 10, each round lasting about half an hour with constant dancing, singing a different nigun each time, and many of us becoming exhausted by the end of the night.

After people started to leave around 11, we were left a quainter group of maybe 30 and we sang great songs and there was a drum circle and we danced some more. I was actually pretty tired; could hardly get my hands together with force enough to clap, but it was such an exhilarating and fun experience. At midnight, security walked in and said they were closing the building and we had to leave. (There's always excitement and good humor in being the last to depart and being forced out. We were having so much fun!)

Then, we walked to a dessert party at the home of a friend of Sarah and enjoyed some delicious treats (fruit included) for a couple more hours. I was conking out for a while on the couch after I'd had my fill and woke when Jonathan told me people we heading out. As it ended up, though, the Jonathans, Ariel, and Linda stayed longer and the rest of us (five) went back to Sarah's for the night. Seven altogether slept in Sarah's small apartment and somehow were all comfortable doing so. Wednesday was a slow day for me, spent at Sarah's. Others went to services and lunch and elsewhere while I hung out there and did some work and ate some and waited for their 4 o'clock return. That evening we made a most delicious pumpkin desert with minimal sugar and maximal yumminess. Late, I headed to Noam's for the night in Brooklyn (Park Slope).

Thursday, I worked from home (Noam's) for both Teva and Freedman. Most of my time I did a research project for Nili on the status of the Endangered Species Act. I learned about its recent struggles against Rep. Pombo (R-Calif.) and the opinions of liberals and conservatives in reaction to his bill, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act. He has some good points about focus on species recovery but screws up on the financial end. We're writing to the 7th graders of a particular school (students who were at Teva a couple years ago) to develop and long term connection with the school and get their help fighting for the original ESA, which Pombo is trying to dismantle.

Friday, I went into the Teva office with Noam, with stops first and at lunchtime to pick up computers that he was receiving as donations to Teva and Surprise Lake Camp. Completed Thursday's project and checked out the new old technology, besides my regular news reading and Web browsing.

Teva alumna Shirley hosted a dinner party Friday night at her Brooklyn apartment and the evening went by quickly. This morning, we went to services at large apartment where the couple was hosting a young Park Slope minyan and also offering everyone a major feast afterward. Shortly after I got back to Noam's after lunch, I started preparing to leave. This included coordinating a transportation scheme to get the Jonathans home, too, as they were staying in the City this evening for a concert. The plan became that Matt and Lisa would drive a Teva vehicle plus JD's car to the Dover Plains Metro-North stop where they would pick up Eli (who just returned from a week in France and Italy) and me, and leave the extra car for the JD and JR to pick up and drive home late tonight. (They'll be taking the last train at midnight and getting back probably around 3 am.)

Another part of my work on Thursday was scheduling tomorrow's activities. We'll be touring the Torrington Water Pollution Control Authority. (I think that's the politically correct way of saying wastewater treatment plant, which itself I thought was more politically correct than sewage treatment plant.) Apparently, this was a hit last year when Matt and Eli had a blast talking to one of the tour guides, whom we'll again see this year. Also, after lunch, Clarkson—who helps with Freedman carpentry and construction—will be leading us on a tour of the hydroelectric system that provides minimal power to the Kfar: low level lighting in the cabins and electricity to the composting toilet activator. (You may recall that we didn't have this power available two months ago because the region was still in drought, of which I'm guessing we're now officially out.)

Little more to say tonight. I made a delicious omelet when I got home a couple hours ago: three eggs with red pepper, fresh parsley, and cheddar. Still need to unpack and relax. Perhaps an episode of CSI: will entertain me, too. I'm impressed that I had the patience to say so much in this entry; I was worried that I wouldn't want to spend much time on it. I'm glad I've shared my week with you, though I'd really like to commit to shorter, more frequent entries. Among all the occasions when I stop by my computer to check headlines and read articles, I ought to be able to pull a moment here or there for a paragraph.

We have crazy week coming up with five schools on three schedules and two programs. I'll tell more tomorrow and as the week progresses. Shavua tov! A good week past and another to come. Don't forget about Daylight Savings Time ending tonight for those of you who observe it. (Read about the support in some states for moving to permanent Daylight time?)