It’s been an eventful couple of months, and I haven’t been aggressive about writing for the blog. Passover was magical this year. Nezzie was a nightmare at the community first night Seder at our synagogue. Did we fulfill the halachic requirements? Yes. Was Nezzie tedious and embarrassing? Also yes. The second night was even better.
Every year we head to Virginia over the winter holidays. We visit Williamsburg, live in a timeshare, go see faux Colonial nonsense, and wonder what it is about that area that attracts so many people to it. I’ve discovered a new dimension to this annual excursion: I miss Maine terribly. There were some things that
The 8 days of Chanukah this year were busy for my family On the second night, my wife invited a family from the Hampden Library children’s story group. My wife made her exquisite latkes, and it marked the only night of the week we sang Maoz Tzur, with the Israeli-born grandmother of Nezzie’s little friend. For
The ice atop our wooden deck crackles as I venture out to the woodpile. The night is quiet, but the cracks are loud, intrusive, and it feels like a violation. I kneel down in the snow by the shed, lifting up the blue tarp and grabbing what remains of the wood left by the house’s previous
I’m sitting here in front of our wood stove, sipping on a mug of spiced apple cider. We had our first serious snowfall of the season last night. I joke about being “of a desert people,” but I think my ancestors’ extended stay in Lithuania resonates more. I love the cold. When I was a
Like so many other Mainers, we were without power from Monday morning through Friday night, and again Saturday morning. What an experience. We were already planning on buying a generator and transfer switch rig. I work from home as a programmer and writer for my civilian job, and so keeping the computers running (my primary
The High Holidays are over. I’ve mentioned before in posts that I sort of key our sense of time off of our Jewish holiday schedule. It’s a good way to live, in anticipation of this or that time of communal celebration. In between Simchat Torah and Passover, aside from Shabbos and what minyan times we can
I awoke the other night, prior to Rosh Hashanah, to what sounded like the terrified scream of a teenage girl. I checked on Amelia immediately. She was snoring in her bed in the third floor loft. No, the sound was coming from outside. It wasn’t an owl. We have plenty of those and their noises don’t
Last night, serendipity caused a delightful convergence that reminds me the distance between Jews is largely arbitrary. Our shul had three people and our permanent non-Jewish guest (a displaced Southern gentleman with a heart of gold) turn out for selichot, so we crossed the street and joined a service led by our local Chabad shaliach. It
.אהוב את המלאכה, ושנא את הרבנות, ואל תתודע לרשות
Love work; despise public office; and do not be intimate with the ruling authorities.
Pirkei Avot 1:10
Writer, President of Bangor's Congregation Beth Israel, retired soldier, programmer, father, musician, Heeb, living in the woods of Maine with three ladies and a dog. Brian is also a rabbinical student with the Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary.
Director of Education for Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor, Maine, runs joint religious school with our sister congregation, special educator and former school board member, mother to Avi and Nezzie.
