Torah etc
I’m practicing Torah. My synagogue needs readers so I have signed up a lot the next couple months. It’s annoying because I feel like it burns time and no one is going to understand I actually did something with that time, but that’s what volunteering is, I guess.
My rabbi recommended that I use the Pocket Torah app, and indeed it is really helpful. I keep thinking I’ll get better at learning and then it’ll be easier and not take as long. This has probably happened, but it still takes me a long time. Much repetition.
The other day when I was reading they apparently weren’t sure I’d show up (?!? I ALWAYS do), so A from shul was going over my portion in the small chapel. It was a super long portion for me- 21 lines.
Me: you can actually get it down just this morning?
A: well I’ve been doing this since I was eight.
I don’t know what this means! Has she read the whole Torah and so it’s just refresher? Does she speak Hebrew and that makes it easier? Are there patterns in the Torah trope that she is familiar with?
Anyway I can absolutely not do that at all. It takes me a lot of time and practice. And i, who can argue in court without a worry, get terrible stage fright when reading Torah. And while my voice is normally very clear and pretty, tomorrow I won’t even sound good because my throat is still not recovered from the cold I had this/last week. But I’ll be there. The 8th Aliyah in Parashat vayigash will be covered.
And this makes me truly kvell: my Isaac is reading January 15. Baruch hashem, I made a Jew.