LJ tags are spiffy but not as fully-featured as I'd like, and I probably haven't figured out the best way to use them yet. So this entry is something of a cross-reference; if you got here via one of the tags on this entry you might also be interested in some of the others. I'll try to update this entry over time, and eventually will create ( Read more... )

I led services Friday night at my synagogue. (In this congregation, for a lay person, this is a big deal.) It went really well!
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Last summer (2005, I mean) I completed the Reform movement's ( Read more... )

The folks in charge of the Sh'liach K'hilah (para-rabbinic) program sent around a questionnaire to graduates. They're considering unspecified changes to the program, which is currently in abeyance (sigh). I'm going to share my answers to the non-demographic questions, which have to do with what we found rewarding and under-represented and how we' ( Read more... )

I recently attended a study session about which I want to record some "meta" (structural) notes before I forget. In a lot of ways it reminded me of what our group attempted, but didn't do nearly as well, in the Sh'liach K'hilah program last summer.
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The Sh'liach K'hilah program (that's the para-rabbinic program I've mentioned) has winter weekend sessions in between the summer ones. They're on specialized topics and once you're in the program you can attend any of them. (You're not limited to the ones during your years.) Last year the winter session was in LA and I reluctantly decided I ( Read more... )

Ok, I've just sent my "could someone, like me for instance, run SK 3 at HUC next summer?" query to the program organizer. Now we wait. (It's something like autocratting an event or running a con, right? I think I've got a few clues there ( Read more... )

I met with my rabbi today and we talked about the Sh'liach K'hilah program. We talked a lot about writing eulogies because I mentioned it early (new content from last year) and because I said I didn't think I did a very good job with mine. He gave me a lot of good advice there, some of it much more general than eulogies.
We talked a little about ( Read more... )

Last week during the Sh'liach K'hilah program I gave a d'var torah. I spoke from notes rather than fully writing it out in advance. Now I'm writing down very approximately what I said from those notes.
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Sunday morning we had a low-key service and then a wrap-up session where we talked about taking what we'd done there back to our congregations. It was a mellow day. Then we turned in our evaluation forms and keys, said our goodbyes, and left.
The drive home took me five hours, with three quick stops. (I've ( Read more... )