You are not supposed to write on the Sabbath or on other holy days, this one being the holiest of all. Like energy, nothing should be created or destroyed, which is why we should not light fires, rip paper, or play musical instruments. But I came home from shul last night (a nice hippie one, where there were instruments and candles) and curled up ( Read more... )

I am taking a Hebrew class.  Actors talk about having to learn to speak and walk all over again in their training, and I am learning to read all over again.  It isn't like learning French or Spanish, where the letters are familiar and their order doesn't mean anything.  I'm learning new letters, new shapes, what it means when there are dots or ( Read more... )

I love Passover.  Normally, I have issues with how many Jewish prayers start out with "oh, God, who is so great and powerful and could crush us all like bugs..." But Passover's refrain is and because we once were slaves, and now are free, may we help all those who are slaves to someday be free.  I gave money to a Darfur relief charity.

Vermont ( Read more... )

Of all the words I have ever used to describe myself, "brave" would not be one of them.  For some reason, in the almost six months since I moved here, the main word that comes from friends about me is that very one.  What my parents call "stupid" and "risky" my friends call brave.  I came here to pursue an internship that didn't pay.  It was a job ( Read more... )

Today is the anniversary of my name.  Would a better word be birthday?  One year since a mikveh in the Dead Sea.  Did I come out purer? Can salt stay in your skin forever?  Lilit means night.  I recall blessings: words about dawn and revelation.  Somewhere in this borough is peace, I know.  Kathryn and Brennan believe that I can do anything.  It's ( Read more... )

I spent twelve hours in Barcelona a month ago, between a train from San Sebastian and a plane to Rome.  I couldn't see what the big deal was.  I went to the Sagrada Familia, an amazing cathedral that is going to take one hundred years to finish, features a black Jesus, and is partly made out of Coke cans and recycled aluminum foil.  Otherwise, I ( Read more... )

In the past two days ( Read more... )