Fall Break – Sukkot
October 20, 2014
Following two disastrous midterms, one of which I may or may not have failed, I finally had a few minutes to myself. Sukkot (the festival of booths) and Fall Break. Given my server issues and how far behind I am post wise, I’ll spare some of the details but needless to say despite the large workload I was presented with for the break, I did manage to get a little sleep over the first two days.
Meals were mainly at Chabad with Rabbi Levi and Nechama Haskelevich. Nechama was from Melbourne originally and as a result of my presence and that of another guest, we ended up with a substantial Aussie presence in the sukkah, which automatically made me feel much more at home. Gedaliah, the other visiting Australian, was a fascinating character. The holder of multiple masters degrees and a worker in the NYC financial work, Gedaliah had grown up in Melbourne and had most recently completed an ultra-marathon in the Sahara Desert.
For both the first and second days I pretty much slept the entire time, reading my textbooks in between. I quite looked forward to the dinners, and it gave me a reason to get out of bed. However, the rest was most certainly appreciated.
In Which I Am In A Professional Play
One of the highlights of semester thus far was this week’s rehearsals for “The Events”. A play being put on at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. We weren’t told in advance the contents of the play, other than that it revolved around a choirmaster dealing with the aftermath of a mass shooting. We were to play the part of the choir on opening night and sing the backing music for the show.
I really enjoyed learning the music, some of it was really beautiful and also featured a strong baritone line.
The week also featured two midterms that I studied for on Sunday before the play and rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday night.
The play itself on Tuesday night was really enjoyable and interesting, touching on themes of guilty, forgiveness and trauma. It involved the choir in really interesting ways and I think even had I not been a part of it I really would’ve enjoyed going to see it!
In Which I Could Fast Better
October 15, 2014
Friday night marked Yom Kippur, and after a Penn Pipers rehearsal in the late afternoon, I felt extremely rushed getting ready on time. Dinner at Hillel before the fast however was quite enjoyable as I sat next to someone with whom I had a great many friends at home in common.
After dinner, it was home to change into my good clothes and awkward canvas shoes (one doesn’t wear leather on Yom Kippur) and headed to Houston Hall for the expanded size service. One thing that was particularly enjoyable about Yom Kippur on campus was that a lot of Jews both came out of the woodwork and came from out of town, so I was able to sit with a good few more people I knew than usual. My only disappointment was that Adriel Koschitzky wasn’t conducting any of the services. However, Elan Kiderman’s Kol Nidrei was beautiful and I was eager to hear more of him over the course of the holidays. Aside from being a wonderfully kind and creative person, he also had a beautiful voice that soared above the rest of the minyan with dynamics appropriate to the occasion.
The next day was a little harder. I didn’t arrive too late to minyan, however I already felt tired when I got there. Being sick and fasting wasn’t working out too well. By the afternoon however I was positively exhausted but still made the mistake of going for a walk along the boardwalk with some of the older students. When we got back it was time for mincha (the afternoon service) but I felt so weak and exhausted that I crept back to my room to sleep for two hours.
I managed to recover sufficiently for Neilah, the closing service of Yom Kippur, but felt like falling over towards the end of the service. When fast ended I practically collapsed into a chair with a doughnut. Break fast took place at Naomi Hachen’s with her graduating class, and was really nice and chilled. However, I couldn’t stay long as I had PhD commitments over at Peter Ballen’s (one of the other PhD students’) house. I stayed only for an hour or so before going home to sleep, thoroughly exhausted.