The 10th of Av is Aria's Hebrew birthday. Last year, like this year, it was the observed date of the fast of Tisha B'Av since the actual 9th of Av fell on Shabbat. Last year I missed the candlelight reading of Eicha because I was at the hospital in hour 17 or so of "early" labor. (I was reliving my own version of Lamentations though.) Last night I ( Read more... )

I was about to say "belated con report", but it's really only been two days since I got home, even though it feels like about 6.

Things that were awesome about this Arisia for me: ( lots )

T&V (the synagogue which, incidentally, I have now officially joined) just announced a 6-session mini-course in beginning ASL! I signed up immediately! Besides Russian, ASL is the #1 language I have taken an interest in acquiring next. It runs Wednesday nights, Oct. 10-Nov. 14. I am psyched ( Read more... )

I'm joining the synagogue choir at Town & Village this year, and the first rehearsal was tonight! It was great.

I went there for Day 1 of Rosh Hashanah last year (diligent readers may recall that justom has close family friends who belong there and invited me/us). And in addition to really liking the service and the rabbi (who later, in a classic " ( Read more... )

If I decided to hold an impromptu Shabbat dinner, anyone interested? 8:30ish, 116th St. (NYC that is)? I've been meaning to host one for months and can never seem to get it on the calendar.

Mind, I'm not 100% sure this is really the week either (kind of too underslept to face it), but OTOH I do have salad fixings and 2lbs of fish on hand. And wildblueyonder2 ( Read more... )

Some weeks ago, msmidge was asking about recommendations for Jewish fiction. So I started putting together a list. (I also started annotating it with links, but I got tired of that, so it's not as thorough as it might be. Check the usual places: your local library, Google Books, or Amazon, depending on your political leanings ( Read more... )

In honor of the last night of Chanukah! Actually, this is not necessarily my top 8, but it is the 8 I will bring to your attention for this year ( Read more... )

Here's the Rosh Hashanah postcard I sent out. Let me know if I forgot to send you one!
Note to vettecat: I fixed the typo you pointed out. :-}


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So, lately, I've been doing and seeing some awesome stuff, performance-wise.

Two weekends ago, I went and did the negass 35th Anniversary Sing-Out marathon, wherein they sang through (no dialogue) all 13 extant Gilbert & Sullivan operettas in two days. ( Oh, it's too much happiness! )

... of the Jewish(ly knowledgeable) sort.

As I'm averaging one or two weekends a month in NYC this year:
Where should I go to services when visiting the Upper West Side?Preferences ( Read more... )