Back in January, I started reading an unabridged edition of Les Miserables. Under the best of circumstances, I figured it
would take me about a year to read the whole book. As of today, eight months later, I’ve finished 285
of the book’s 1200+ pages.
There’s no doubt that some of the time I might have devoted
to Hugo’s tome I frittered away liking Facebook statuses, playing Words with
Friends, and vegging out in front of the television with Alex
Trebek, Mariska Hargitay, and Christopher Meloni as my sole companions. And there also was the time I spent paying bills, shopping for food, cooking, washing dishes, changing linens and
the like.
It’s also true, though, that I spent other chunks of potential
reading time attending Worship, Communications and Adult Ed committee meetings, being encouraged and
encouraging others at Weight Watchers, and organizing and facilitating FORCE
meetings for some of my local BRCA sisters.
I also talked to God at minyan, and on the phone nearly daily (sometimes more often) to my father, my sister, my Aunt Claire, and (not as often as I'd like) to
friends in such places as Saratoga Springs, NY, Ventura, CA, and Hatboro, PA,
among others. Learning to chant Torah,
blogging, and writing (and texting) condolence, mazel tov and refuah sh’leimah
notes to friends around the country also pulled me from Jean Valjean and the
rest of the book's characters.
Although I don’t have a lot of read pages to show for the eight months since I started on page 1, I do have a welcoming synagogue community, a supportive BRCA sisterhood, loving family and friends, and a rich, full life
that, despite my best intentions, doesn’t leave me as much time as I think I would like for reading.
Is it any wonder that Got lakht?!
Inspired by Ima on (and off) the Bima, this post is one in a series
marking the days of the Hebrew month of Elul, which precedes the Jewish High
Holidays and traditionally serves as a time of reflection and spiritual
preparation for the new year.
