Rebecca has to think about things for years before she does them!
I'm still going to Torah study classes at the Conservative synagogue and really enjoying them. For some reason, I love that they're held on a weekday, instead of on Shabbat. At my hometown temple, Torah study always held on Saturday morning, only about sixteen hours after the Shabbat evening service, and it felt like an overload of temple to me. Not to mention that we had to read through almost the entire parsha - even the obscure genealogy passages! - before we could discuss it, which always felt just like a punishment to me. But I should quit complaining.
Anyway, back to the point. The Torah parsha for this week is Beha'alotecha ( בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ ), meaning "when you step up." Last night, the rabbi specifically talked about the Hebrew word korban (קָרְבָּן), which appears a few times in this parsha translated as "offering" or "sacrifice." But he explained that the root of the word is "close," because a sacrifice is something that we do not to punish ourselves, but to bring us closer to God. That's why it's a mitzvot. He gave the example of giving up time when we could be doing other things to study Torah instead.
That got me thinking about Big Brothers Big Sisters. I've been meaning to rejoin since we moved here. My match with Briana was kinda difficult, but I keep telling myself that it'll be easier if I'm matched with a younger girl that I have more (i.e., anything) in common with and we have a better caseworker. There's so much more to do/see in this city than there was in my hometown. I also know that even though it was HARD, I would've rather been matched with Briana than never joined BBBS at all. But every time I go to the local branch's website to sign up, I'm struck by this fear of failure. What if this match isn't any easier?
That got me thinking about our new apartment. The rent here is only $115 more a month than what we paid at Smallpartment. One more time - $115 more. For how much infinitely better this place is than Smallpartment, the difference should be WAY bigger than that. It should be thousands more. I mean, the two can't even compare. And it wasn't very long ago that we were still living in Smallpartment, and I never would've believed then that we could've ever gotten a place this nice for this much rent.
I guess my point here is that with BBBS, I'm still living in that shoebox. I still can't believe that a little more effort on my part could make an infinitely better match. But it could; it's possible, and I won't know until I try. Also, if I'd never tried any new things, I never would've gone to France or become a Jew. And then where would I be? "A fruit-pie salesman with a whoopie cushion living in Wichita Falls!"
Anyway, back to the point. The Torah parsha for this week is Beha'alotecha ( בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ ), meaning "when you step up." Last night, the rabbi specifically talked about the Hebrew word korban (קָרְבָּן), which appears a few times in this parsha translated as "offering" or "sacrifice." But he explained that the root of the word is "close," because a sacrifice is something that we do not to punish ourselves, but to bring us closer to God. That's why it's a mitzvot. He gave the example of giving up time when we could be doing other things to study Torah instead.
That got me thinking about Big Brothers Big Sisters. I've been meaning to rejoin since we moved here. My match with Briana was kinda difficult, but I keep telling myself that it'll be easier if I'm matched with a younger girl that I have more (i.e., anything) in common with and we have a better caseworker. There's so much more to do/see in this city than there was in my hometown. I also know that even though it was HARD, I would've rather been matched with Briana than never joined BBBS at all. But every time I go to the local branch's website to sign up, I'm struck by this fear of failure. What if this match isn't any easier?
That got me thinking about our new apartment. The rent here is only $115 more a month than what we paid at Smallpartment. One more time - $115 more. For how much infinitely better this place is than Smallpartment, the difference should be WAY bigger than that. It should be thousands more. I mean, the two can't even compare. And it wasn't very long ago that we were still living in Smallpartment, and I never would've believed then that we could've ever gotten a place this nice for this much rent.
I guess my point here is that with BBBS, I'm still living in that shoebox. I still can't believe that a little more effort on my part could make an infinitely better match. But it could; it's possible, and I won't know until I try. Also, if I'd never tried any new things, I never would've gone to France or become a Jew. And then where would I be? "A fruit-pie salesman with a whoopie cushion living in Wichita Falls!"