ICYMI: Ten Minutes of Torah

Photo by Flickr user @Sam Felder/CC

In case you missed it, I penned last Friday's Ten Minutes of Torah, which is produced and distributed by the URJ.

The emails, texts, and messages I've received in response have been incredible, and I'm planning to compile them into a round-up post in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned...

Reunion Reflections

It's been 30 years -- an entire generation -- since Meryl Streep offered us her crystalline acapella rendition of Que Sera Sera, kicking off her commencement address: 

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

A Week of Anniversaries: Bitter and Sweet

This past week has been full of anniversaries.  

Last Saturday, May 30, marked five years since my mom died.  In 2010, it was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.  We had stayed with her late into the evening on Saturday, and one of the last things we read aloud and sang to her in hospice was havdalah.  It was fitting, therefore, that she chose the wee hours of Sunday morning to separate herself from this world and move on to Olam Ha‑Ba.  Exactly three years later, I (finally) graduated from Baruch College's School of Public Affairs with an MPA, an event that ultimately, I was insistent my dad and I attend.

No Surprises Here

Having been participating regularly in the #RhodiaPaperProject, I won't surprise anyone with the news that I loved the most recent samples as much as any that have come before.

Week #17 included three different sheets of 90g blank white paper:

• GraFit Sketch Pads (the smallest)
• Trophee Sketch Pads (the middle size)
• Crok' Book (the largest size)

Week #18 samples included four sheets of ivory, lined paper:

• Rhodia Webnotebook  90g (small)
• Quo Vadis Habana 85 g (small)
• Rhodia Webnotebook 90g (large)
• Quo Vadis Habana 85g (large)

Of course all the samples are smooth, high quality, and accommodated the wet, heavy inks I prefer -- with no bleed through, no feathering, and no smudging.  The Week #17 samples are best suited for sketching or doodling, and I certainly will use them for that purpose.

By contrast, the lines on the Webbie and Quo Vadis samples make them best for writing. Although I like the size of the large Quo Vadis Habana sheet, the line spacing on the page is too tight -- and not nearly wide enough to accommodate my large writing.  The same is true for the small Quo Vadis and Webbie samples.  Only the large Webnotebook sample has a line width that will accommodate my penmanship adequately, although I could adjust my writing to be able to use the narrower ruled sheets.

Looking forward to Week #19 paper samples and to more experimentation with paper and pens!

Unbreakable Bonds in a Wedding Dress…and in Genes

Dear Olivia, Madeline, Megan, Hilarie, Mary, and Betsy,

I’m sure that today today wasn’t an easy day for you, Olivia, Madeline, Megan or Hilarie.  I send each of you my deepest condolences on the loss of your mother.  It is, I think, the hardest loss of all – and makes every subsequent Mother’s Day, and all the days leading up to it, difficult, painful, and sad.   

An Auspicious Day For a Wedding

Today is Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer. According to ReformJudaism.org, "[T]he period of the Omer is a time of semi-mourning, when weddings and other festivities are avoided, in commemoration of a plague that killed thousands of students of Rabbi Akiva, a Talmudic scholar. Lag BaOmer is considered to be the day on which the plague ceased, and thus became a day on which the mourning rituals are abandoned and replaced with great joy." Observed primarily in Israel, Lag BaOmer is celebrated with picnics and bonfires, as well as weddings.

A Glimpse Into History: An Anecdote from One Family's BRCA Story

Kate, Karen's grandmother

As depicted in Joanna Rudnick’s documentary In the Family and Decoding Annie Parker, a feature film directed by Steve Bernstein and starring Helen Hunt and Samantha Morton, every BRCA family has a story.