Shhhh!  Did you hear that?

Yeah, that was my silence for the last couple days.  I suppose it is no biggie as I never claimed to try to blog every day!  However, we are into one of those weeks where time is very short.  We are into working on the final show of the season and then couple that with the fact that it is Passover and guess what?  I have not a lot of time to surf the tubes or write.  So, since I have a few minutes I thought I would let you know what is going on.

Monday night I was invited over to the Cantor’s house for the first Passover Seder.  For those who don’t know, the Seder is a service and dinner to celebrate Passover.  This is the second year running that I have been invited by the cantor and his wife to celebrate with them and their other guests.  Thankfully, with the current schedule for hang and load-in at the theatre, I was able to move around my work calls so that I could go to the cantor’s for the seder.  There are definite benefits to running your own department!  While it is not quite the same as being with my family, I don’t know if there is any place that is any more welcoming and fun to spend this holiday!

In my traditional style I arrived early and was happy to be put to work helping to set up and prepare food.  I like helping out around the kitchen, and given that the cantor’s wife is a little to short to see over the pot of soup, she was very appreciative of the help.  Besides, it is matzah ball soup, you just can’t go wrong with that!

The Seder itself was very fun and interesting.  I really enjoy the insight that is brought to the text and the ritual by the cantor.  We had a lot of very interesting conversations and of course we had plenty of singing.  It is actually written in the text that the rabbis of old would sit up and tell the story of Passover over and over until it was time for the morning prayers.  Form this we learn that there is always something to learn no matter how well you know the story.  Also, I think it is the justification for how long the cantor’s seder goes.  I don’t think we got to the eating part until about 10PM.  It didn’t really matter though as we were having a good time.  I ended up bowing out at around midnight and they were still singing!

Tuesday started off with a bang.  I totally forgot about the production meeting that we were supposed to have that morning until my computer and my phone started beeping at me.  At least I was awake!  I threw on some clothes and raced up to the theatre and made it in time to not owe donuts or bagels next time.  I was also really happy to see that our TD had brought bagels, since I hadn’t had the chance to eat anything as I rushed out the door.  In fact, I was moving so fast I didn’t even tie my shoes!  Ironically, it was probably a meeting that I could have gotten away with not being at and I didn’t really have anything to say and no one really hand anything for me.  Such is the way of things I guess.  After the meeting I had time to head back home to actually shower and put on clean clothes.

So we started hang a day late (yesterday) and things are moving along well.  This show is not super huge even though it is a big musical, so we are happy.  I even managed to find the time to head over to Skyline High School to do a little workshop on VectorWorks yesterday as well.  It is just the being at the theatre until after midnight that is a killer.  If we hadn’t had to ferry weight up to loading deck to fly out our last to electrics, life would have been easier.  It happens.

So this is what my life is looking like right now.  I should have a little free time next week and then back to the grind.  I am sure that I will find some time to do some writing in there, so stay tuned!

I know that a few times I have mentioned that currently the synagogue that I am a member of  is on the hunt for a new Rabbi.  As I understand it, the reasons behind our old rabbi leaving is mostly political and financial.  It is unfortunate that no matter what your religion may be, there is always some kind of political undercurrents that affect the day-to-day activities of the congregation or community.  So, that is how we find ourselves in the middle of a search for a new rabbi and a period of what will amount to almost six months without a rabbi at all.

Thankfully, there are plenty of people, like myself, who are volunteering to help the synagogue continue to maintain the same ritual feeling during this rabbinic drought.  We have people who help lead services, read Torah, and all that kind of stuff.  It is actually rather enjoyable, I personally like the lay-led feeling, which I think is something that I have expressed before.  Religion is all about community, and while i do think that there is an importance to having a trained spiritual leader, the fact that any Jew who is over the age of Bar/Bat Mitzvah is eligible to officiate at services (by Jewish Law).

This morning we had one of our Shir Hadash services, which has always been a lay-led service.  Today was also a volunteer recognition day and we had a candidate for rabbi who was visiting.  It was almost a trifecta of events.  As usual, we had not to many people there at the beginning of the service, but I kicked everything off on a good start, I think.  Rabbi Goldstein, the visiting rabbi, seemed to really enjoy my leading of the first part of the service, he said it really put him in a great frame of mind to lead the next section.  Pretty cool.

I kind of book-ended the service in that I did the opening and the closing sections.  For the second time now people have come up to me after services saying things like “why do we need to hire a new rabbi when we have you?”  I haven’t really come up with a good response to that other than just thanking them for the complements.  Today we even had people asking why every service can’t be like the Shir Hadash service.

My personal feeling when getting up to lead a service is that it should be engaging and accessible and people (the congregation) should want to be there.  There are definitely days when I have got up to lead and it has felt like a performance, like I was there singing and reading and everyone else was along for the ride.  Today, on the other hand, I really felt like everyone was on the same page and energy of the service was really amazing.  I felt like people found a way to be active and participatory and I really wish I could nail down what worked.

People told me that they love the energy and excitement (I am not sure if that is the right word) that I bring when I lead.  I certainly try to bring that all the time.  I try to use melodies that people know and can sing along with.  I don’t really like it when services turn into a concert.  We are all there to pray as a community, not to listen to the rabbi, cantor, or leader pray.  Everyone has to put something in to get something back.

The thing that really struck me today was all the people who I have now heard with sentiments like the one above: “why do we need to hire a new rabbi when we have you?”  While I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in my Jewish studies, it was never the focus of any of my studies thus far in life.  I have learned a great deal from going to Hebrew School (kinda like Sunday school for most Christian religions) through high school, and from attending a Jewish summer camp, but that education barely scratches the surface of what there is to learn.  I am not a fluent Hebrew speaker, I can read the language but I don’t know every word on every page.  I also have no formal training as a religious leader.  I don’t think that I am really qualified to dispense faith-based advice.

I enjoy learning and studying my religion.  I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to Jewish books.  After all, one of the most important ideas in Judaism, and in most religions, is to continue to study the teachings and texts of the religion.  While I am sure that I could probably find my way through studies on my own, I often seek the advice or knowledge of my religious leaders.  The most fun there is when you ask a question that they don’t have an answer to and then you can go study it together!

I just find it interesting that people in our congregation would consider, even for only a moment in praise, that I would make a good addition to the pulpit here.  I am happy to help out, happy to volunteer.  I would be happy to do so on a regular basis, but I think that we would quickly find that something was missing if we didn’t have an ordained rabbi.  On that note, I was very impressed with Rabbi Goldstein, he seemed to have very god ideas on how to really embrace the values of Judaism and put them to work making a stronger, more active community.  He seemed like the kind of person who could bring to the table a lot of the same ideas and talents that I do AND also bring the role of spiritual leader.  Now, he is only the second candidate that I have met, but I am still very impressed.

Where will the whole adventure take us? I am not really sure.  I don’t really know if there are many other religions out there who ever really lean on the congregants to lead services and such.  I would hope there are as I think that it gives a great sense of community.  What do you feel is important in religious/spiritual leaders.

So, we opened the fifth show of the season, I had my birthday, the Winter Olympics started, and I led part of services at temple this week.  Lots of exciting stuff.  It is nice to get to the weekend and have some time off, and what a good weekend for it.  The holiday weekend will be nice, with no work Monday I should be able to get some good skiing in.  We will just have to see how the crowds are.

The service on Saturday morning was nice.  Once a month we do a lay-led service that is known as our Shir Hadash (new song) service.  I know that there are some people in the congregation who don’t really love the service, but I think that it is nice.  I think that it is great to have a service that encourages more people to participate and is less of a concert by the cantor.  Today was a really great service.  I lead a large section of the service and I could tell that people were getting into it.  After the services, many people came up to myself and the other leaders to say how much they liked the service.

We are looking at ways to edit and update the service and how it is conducted so that we continue to keep people interested and excited about coming.  I will be meeting with a couple of the people responsible for such things this coming week to look at where the service came from and where it needs to go to stay good.

It also turns out that next weekend is the 13th anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah.  That is kinda cool.  I certainly haven’t really thought about it, but they were looking for torah and haftorah readers for next weekend which is how I found out that it was my parasha.  Go figure.  I still know most of it, and since the first time, I have actually learned how to learn it again.  So I will be reading the haftorah next weekend in honor of my Bar Mitzvah anniversary.  It seemed like a god thing to do.  So, if you are going to be in the SLC area next weekend, you should come!

The other new thing this week is that I started a photo project that has been going around the tubes, Project 365.  You can find the images from my project over at http://365.icewolf08.com.  The goal is just to take at least one photo every day for a year.  Since I kicked the project off on my birthday, it will end on my next birthday in 2011.  Hopefully I can make it work.

Unfortunately as of the beginning of 2010, the synagogue that I belong to here in Salt Lake City, Congregation Kol Ami, has found itself without a Rabbi. Of course this is due to politics and such which seems to be unavoidable in most religious organizations these days. Because of this, the synagogue has been finding people to help lead services from within the congregation. I have been asked to help out on a number of occasions, which I am happy to do. I enjoy leading services and I am happy to help out where I can.

So I am leading Kabalat Shabbat services on Friday evening, January 29. In addition to leading services I have also been asked if I could prepare a D’var Torah, which, for those who are not familiar with Jewish traditions, is a small speech/discussion about the weeks Torah portion. This is a special shabbat as it is Shabbat Shira (Shabbos of Song) which falls before Tu B’Shvat. So, my portion is Beshalah (Exodus 13:17 – 17:16) which starts with the story of the crossing of the Red Sea, the salvation of the Israelites and the destruction of the Egyptian army. It is kind of a heavy portion and I have been trying to find a way into it that I can relate to. I have only started my research, but I have already found some very interesting readings and ideas. So I am going to toss around some ideas while I work on this, and I certainly would enjoy input.

I am happy to report that the opening night of “Touch(ed)” here at PTC was a great success.  Despite all the craziness of the past few days I think that the cast and crew of the show deserve a hearty congratulations and so does playwright Bess Whol on the premier production of her new play.  The audience was very responsive last night despite the plunging temperatures in the theatre due to the fact that the heat had been off for over two days due to a burst steam pipe on campus.  I have been told that six buildings on campus are without heat until Sunday at the earliest, and we have heard on good authority that it may take until Tuesday to be back up and heating.  So even our audience deserve a round of applause for sticking it out through the cold!

The show is an amazing piece of work and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something to see over the next two weeks.  There are plenty of tickets available and we are happy to fill more seats!  The show, as I mentioned in my last post, tells the story of two sisters, one diagnosed with schizophrenia and the other, younger sister, trying to care for her and get her out of the hospital and back into society.  It is a very moving show with many light-hearted sections that have made our audiences, laugh, clap, and “awww.”  In my personal opinion, this is a show that I would come to see multiple times if I were not working it!  There are so many nuances in the text that I keep picking up new ones every performance.