Sometimes, you find things when you aren't looking

[berrytone]

This weekend I was delighted to discover that I have an amazing Jewish community sitting right under my nose. I went to services on Friday night at the Reform synagogue with a friend from Salt who is interested in Judaism. It was family service night.  I must admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the Reform movement. I always feel shortchanged by the services, and feel, I guess, disconnected. Anyway, from our experience at High Holidays, I already knew that the rabbi, Alice Dubinsky, was something else. I didn't realize, though, just how amazing. We met a few people at the oneg, one woman and her partner and their kid. I found out that the reason why the kids looked more like the UN and less like "normal" congregations was because of the large lesbian population (!). Who knew!  Anyway, she told us about the Torah study that happens every Saturday morning at 9 am. She said that between 25 and 40 people attend. I was flabbergasted. Between 25 and 40 people at a reform congregation's torah study at 9 on a Saturday. So, we went. It was amazing! There were over 20 people there and the conversation was smart and funny and interesting, and deep. A minister was even in attendance. And then, we attended Shabbat morning services, which were beautiful. They actually had more Hebrew than the services at the Reconstructionist congregation in Evanston. There was guitar, violin, and Rabbi Dubinsky's voice. What was also cool to me was the presence of Kol Haneshema, the Reconstructionist siddur, in the sanctuary. They had a bookshelf of them. The people were so friendly and welcoming. I couldn't believe that this was right under my nose!
Yay!

In other news...I'm reworking my rough draft into its second draft form. It's a bit overwhelming, but doable. And, I have to present my project to the whole school on Thursday or Friday. They'll give me (and my collaborator) feedback on where its headed. Kind of scary...