ChallahCrumbs.com Needs Your Vote

In addition to keeping Rabbi David Saperstein organized, on track and moving in the right direction each and every day, my friend Daphne Price is the food editor of ChallahCrumbs.com, which recently was nominated as a “Best Kosher Food Blog.” 

Nominations and voting end on January 11, 2012 and in a shameless appeal to garner votes for Daphne’s blog, I urge you to:

1. Visit joyofkosher.com
2. Scroll down to ChallahCrumbs.com/Daphne Price (it’s the 11^th entry on the list)
3. Click on the vote button
4. Pass the word (it’s one vote per IP address, so encourage your friends to visit and vote, too!)

Winners will be announced on February 1 and I, for one, am rooting for ChallahCrumbs.com.  Go, Daphne!

Biennial: It’s a Family Thing

A few weeks before the URJ’s recent Biennial convention, I received an email from a young rabbi and CCAR staff member who amicably inquired about whether his family’s hotel room (for himself, his rabbi wife, and their young daughter) could be near that of his mother (also a rabbi), his grandmother (who’s been attending Biennials for roughly 50 years), and his in-laws (one of whom is a cantor).

I responded with this:

Hi Dan,

I am, indeed, the right person for your request.

Currently, your room is slated to be adjacent to your mother's room.  I certainly can submit your other requests regarding her mom and your in-laws to the hotel, but cannot guarantee that they'll be able to get everyone close together.

Look forward to meeting you there,
~ Jane.

P.S.  On a personal note, I was very touched by your email and the "family affair" that Biennial is for all of you.  My mom, who died last year, loved Biennial and had been attending for longer than I've been working at the Union.  This will be my first Biennial without my parents in attendance...

Dan then graciously wrote again:

Hi Jane,

Thanks for taking care of this and submitting the extra requests!  This will really mean a lot to my family.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.  It's pretty amazing that her love of Biennial predated your working at the Union.  If you'd like to have some family time, my family would be happy to adopt you!

Looking forward to meeting you in person, as well.
Thanks again!
Dan

Although I regret that I didn’t have a chance to meet Dan or his family, I did, ironically enough, meet some family of my own! 

It was Friday morning and as I left the room where I’d just finished co-leading a 20-minute learning session with the dcc on congregational blogging, a woman approached me:

“Are you Jane?”

“Yes…”

“I’m your cousin, Rena Riback.”

And indeed she is!  Her father, z.l., and my father were first cousins…her grandmother and my grandfather, brother and sister.

And so it was that thanks to Rena, I--like Dan--was able to have some family time at the Biennial, too. 

And how did she know I’d be there in the first place?  From the Facebook page of another Riback cousin, of course!

No, I Haven't Forgotten About You

Dear Blog,

No, I haven't forgotten about you...I've just been Biennial busy.  In fact, I hope your ears were ringing yesterday when Ima (who was off the bima at the time) and I presented a 20-minute learning session about congregational blogging for beginners.  Take a look at the presentation here.  If your ears were ringing, get ready for them to ring again tomorrow when the dcc and I will do a similar presentation for advanced users (in Chesapeake J at 9:45 a.m).

Here are a few other things keeping me on the go:

• Arranging housing, making adjustments and ironing out challenges for staff members, musicians, speakers and VIPs
• Catching up with Frume Sarah and meeting ZaydeGiraffe and Syl, both from her world
• Counting Shabbat lunches 
• Hugging my mom's friends and reminiscing with them about how much she loved Biennial (and all things URJ).  We all concur that she's here in spirit and is, we know, smiling down on what she sees. 
• Caffeine, caffeine and more caffeine

That last dose is wearing off, though, and so it's time for me to say lailah tov.  I'll be in more regular touch again when I get back home to New York, but in the meantime, I miss you and hope you're taking good care.

xoxo,
JanetheWriter

Happy Birthday, The Mums

Dear The Mums,

I hope that you had a happy birthday this week up there in the Yeshivah shel Mal'ah (Yeshiva on High).  We, of course, missed you terribly—as we do every day—talked about you often, and thought about you even more.

Last Wednesday night, erev your birthday and despite the Biennial planning maelstrom, I left the office on the dot of five and headed to St. Andrews Restaurant near Times Square where I met The Bridge Ladies (yes, all of them!) for dinner:  Mrs. Davidson, Mrs. Gallagher, Mrs. Coopersmith, Mrs. Eisenberg (who had to leave early and isn’t in the photo), Mrs. Phelan, and even Mrs. Salzman, who’d traveled from Richmond, VA, for the reunion!

The Bridge Ladies (and me)

Of course there were hugs and kisses all around, endless laughter, kvelling over children and grandchildren (yes, I showed everyone Ian’s picture), talk about the current political and economic mess in our country, and lots and lots of reminiscences about the old days:  school board elections, game strategies, Mrs. Skoultchi’s sweeping hand gesture when she opted to “pass” in the bidding process, and so much more. 

Tee-shirts courtesy of Mrs. Salzman

I’d brought along the picture from the fridge of all of you standing with the cardboard presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.  To a person, everyone said, “Look how young we were!”  Actually, I thought everyone looked pretty much the same…which is what they all said about me. 

Needless to say, the time flew and before long, we were paying the bill and saying our good-byes. 

The next day, I received this email from Mrs. Davidson:

It was a great night and we were so happy you were with us.  You helped fill up the space your mom left in our group.  I do miss her.

I hope we can do this again.

You look great and I hope the convention will go smoothly.

xoxoxo,
Lee

Indeed, a reprise reunion is in the works for late spring or early summer and I’m planning to be there.  As you were on Wednesday night, I know you’ll be there with us, too.

Happy birthday, The Mums….xoxo,
~ Boo!

The Drop Off

I’ve never noticed the father-daughter trio get on the bus.  They must board at an earlier stop, the girls decked out in pink—sneakers, hair ribbons and backpacks—and Dad looking as though he’d welcome a cup of coffee.  For each of the last three Saturday mornings, though, I’ve noticed them get off the bus.  Theirs is the 68th Street stop, where Mom’s already waiting, sitting patiently on a wooden bench in front of Memorial Sloan-Kettering.  Alighting from the bus, one daughter runs to her; the other hangs back with Dad, approaching more slowly.  Before the scene ends, the bus pulls away from the curb.  When it’s over, I hope Dad goes to get that cup of coffee.

Anticipation…

Nearly a year ago, my friend, Frume Sarah, wrote this post about the two of us.

Tomorrow’s the day we’re finally going to meet up again and I, for one, am so excited.  (Queue the Pointer Sisters...)

Stay tuned here (and perhaps here, too) for updates (and maybe even a photo or two) of our reunion!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bras

Disclaimer:  The content of this blog post may be unsuitable for all readers.  Reader discretion is advised.

Back in June, I received a package in the mail from a friend.  It contained two stretch bras (one black, one beige) and this note:

Jane –

At some point after the surgery, these will come in handy and comfy.

N.

I called her to thank her.  In early July we exchanged emails on a different topic.  My last reply to her in that exchange was this:

Thanks!  And thanks again for the bras.  I cannot wait to fit into them!
~ Jane.

In mid-August, at about four weeks post-op, I wrote to her again:

N,

I've thought about you a thousand times in the last few weeks and just this morning switched from one of my uber-support sports bras into one of the wonderful soft ones you sent me.  With the swelling I've got going on on one side, it is PERFECT...thank you!

The 12-hour surgery went exactly as planned and my recovery is on track, but as you know, it is a long, slow process.  I'm making progress but dealing with scabbing and swelling on one side that will take six to eight weeks to heal.  Still sleeping a lot, easily exhausted and fairly uncomfortable, but thrilled to be on this side of the surgery!

Hope all's well with you,
~ Jane.

Here’s her reply:

These bras have been around the country—New York, Los Altos Hills, Seattle, and back to New York. Glad to help. Let me know when you are up for a short visit. I hope you are moving around and aiding the healing.

N.

Last week, I saw N. at a social event:

“If I’d known you were going to be here,” I said, “I’d have brought the bras.”

“Are you sure you’re finished with them?” she asked.

Rethinking my willingness to relinquish them, I replied, “I’ll try to find them online and order a few.”

Although she urged me to keep one, that night I located them and ordered two (one black, one beige) from a vendor on amazon.com.  I expect delivery this week at which point the traveling bras will go back to N, along with my wishes for a speedy, smooth, and complete recovery to the next woman in the sisterhood who wears them. 

*     *     *

It’s still October—Breast Cancer Awareness Month, just in case you didn’t know ;-)—and  even though I’m off the hook for a mammogram, if you’re a woman over 40 and haven’t had one in the last 12 months, run, do not walk, to the phone to make an appointment.  If you want a chuckle before you go, check out this post from 2009.