Greetings from my cozy bed in NYC on this cold and rainy, October Sunday evening.
First of all, let's pause and take a moment to reflect on the fact that this is my very first posting NOT from Lincoln 12 in Jerusalem. Sad.
Now, let's take another moment to rejoice in the fact that lazy Sundays are back in my life!! In Israel, Sunday was Monday- it was no fun to get up Sunday morning and go to school. I am basking in the glory of having these precious Sundays back--to relax, read the newspaper, go to the gym, be a couch potato, and enjoy the many delicious brunch establishments that lie just beyond my doorstep. This morning's egg white veggie frittata hit the spot! Ah. Life is good.
Speaking of life, those of you (still not quite sure who that includes...) who were loyal blog followers last year will notice my blog's new make-over. Very exciting. Please note the new web address, . "LifewithLeslie" was already taken so I had to add a few extra "s's." Everyone says my name wrong anyway, so I figure it couldn't hurt to throw in a reminder of the soft "s." It's Leslie with an S, not Leslie with a Z 'Cause Leslie with a Z goes "zzz" not "sss." ;-)
So much has happened since my last post, I'll do a brief catch up so you feel like you're in the loop.
I left Israel and spent a week in Boca Raton visiting with family and friends. It was wonderful to see everyone after being away for so long. It also felt great to sing at Beth El again with Lori-actually, it almost felt like I never left. I even gave a sermon about my year in Israel. Perhaps I'll post it if people are interested.
I spent the entire summer working at a Jewish camp in the Berkshires called Eisner Camp. I was a unit head for the 9th grade- the oldest campers. It was a great experience- I loved working with kids again, I picked up a lot of new folky Jewish tunes, and I learned a lot about URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) camps. However, 10 weeks is a long time to be removed from the real world-too long.
Post camp stint, I returned to NYC to begin classes. In fact, I had to leave camp almost a week early for orientation. There was literally no transition time. I dove in head first to orientation, followed by a week-end retreat for the entire NY campus. All of the rabbinic, cantorial, and education students went to a camp a few hours outside of the city. It was a nice week-end and a successful transition back to the NY campus for the 2nd year students. Everyone was very warm and welcoming towards us.
We began classes, yet there was an added layer of stress with the high holidays looming in the distance. For a few weeks, you could really feel the spirit of the approaching high holy days in the air. There was tons of music to learn, sermons to write, and new congregations to become acquainted with. We had two full weeks off of school while all of the students reported to their various jobs, scattered throughout the country.
I spent the whole time in Texas- from the Wednesday before Rosh Hashana until the day after Yom Kippur. It was too much of a schlep to go back and forth so I decided to stay put. It was my second high holy day experience of leading all of the services on my own. My first was two years ago in Boca. My experience this year was very different. I had never been to Texas before my first visit at the end of August, so that in and of itself was a great learning opportunity. Texas is like a different world. And Fort Worth is an even more remote part of the that different world. The Southern charm, cowboy boots, stockyards, and succulent BBQ- it's all true! And everything really is bigger in Texas! I was really hoping I would come back with that southern drawl but it hasn't quite worn off yet... maybe by the end of the year.
The congregation has been extremely welcoming and they are lovely people. The Fort Worth folks have an intense pride in their city- it's really nice. Around my busy rehearsal schedule with the choir and organist and service schedule for the actual holidays, I took in some of the sights in Fort Worth- modern art museum, downtown, stockyards, a glorious grocery store called Central Market, . I even took a day trip to Dallas with my Grandmother to check out the big city. My parents, sister, and grandparents came in for Rosh Hashana. It was very nice to have them there and celebrate the holiday together. It's comforting to know that wherever I am in the country leading services, my family will be there to support me.
I should also mention that I stayed with an amazing host family for the entire 2 weeks. In fact, they are now my official Fort Worth family and I will be staying with them for each of my monthly visits throughout the year. I had so much fun staying with them and I am eagerly looking forward to my next visit in a few weeks.
One very noticeable difference from my previous high holy day experience is that this year I had much more liturgical integrity. Now that I am in school, studying to be a Cantor, I have already learned a lot about the prayers- their meaning and the way that they fit together. I was much more aware of the translation and underlying meaning of the prayers, as well as the magnitude of the holy days this year.
The entire high holiday season is very long...it's an incredibly extended period of time to be repenting. Who can repent and reflect for so many weeks?! So as enjoyable as the holidays were, I was UBER HAPPY to return to regular life when it was all over. Despite the horrendous allergies that I battled for two weeks I survived High Holidays 2009 in Fort Worth. Amen!
I returned to NY and just now in the past several weeks, I have finally started to find my daily routine and rhythm in New York. It's a hard city to live in... When I was a kid I loved it, but now I think I've been spoiled by the Florida weather. I like having a car and the beach nearby, being able to wear sandals 365 days a year...it's a different lifestyle. I'm sure eventually I will grow to love NY, but for now I am slowly developing a relationship with the city.
I miss my close friends from Israel a lot- they were mostly shipped off to the HUC LA campus. We keep in touch and of course, we will visit each other, but it's not the same as seeing them every day.
It has been nice to re-connect with old friends who live in NY. It has also been great to try out different synagogues in Manhattan on Friday evenings. Like I mentioned in my blog last year, in Israel, specifically in Jerusalem, it's easy to be an observant Jew. All of the food is kosher, everything is closed on Shabbat, and the country follows the Jewish calender. Here you really have to make an effort or you wouldn't even know it's Shabbat. I find myself looking forward to the end of the school week so I can relax and celebrate Shabbat with close friends. After-all, it's a built in rest to our busy week!
In other positive developments, I found a phenomenal voice teacher. Lessons are going well and I can't wait to see where my voice goes under her instruction.
My big current project is my upcoming practicum at school. It's sort of like a Jr. recital that I did at Carnegie Mellon except with a Jewish theme and Jewish music. My assignment is a Contemporary Interfaith Thanksgiving service. It's an awesome topic- really creative. My goal is to incorporate many different styles of music and introduce some new pieces that will be useful to other Cantorial students down the line. The presentation is the day before Thanksgiving. Stay tuned...
Speaking of Turkey Day, I'm excited to go home to Pgh at the end of November. I haven't been home since before I left for Israel so it will be wonderful to get a dose of the Burgh and all of my favorite places and people there.
That's all I got for now. I'm happy to have finally revived the blaaaahhhhhg, as Pam affectionately refers to it. (Thanks, favorite Rabbi) I think it will continue to be fun and therapeutic to write about my next step in Cantorial school as well as this huge transition that is LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY.
I forgot to mention that I miss Israel. SO, SO MUCH.
Perhaps a bit more about school and classes in the next post...
What's up with this cold weather? It's freeeezing and it's not even real winter yet. I haven't been in legit cold weather since my senior year of college. I took off for Florida in January of '07 just as winter was setting in. Time to bundle up!
Till next time, blogos.
Signing off from 3rd Avenue,
LeSSSlie
