Reviewing this week

It's been a long, good week.
Sunday I officiated at the wedding of a woman whose Bat Mitzvah I facilitated in 1998. It was a beautiful wedding outside of an old mansion in Arlington, VA. The day was gorgeous. The weather was perfect. The bride and groom were delightful and beautiful. Only the planes flying in and out of Reagen gave pause to the perfection. A joyful celebration of two young people in love - one of the great pleasures of being a rabbi!
In the evening I flew down to Florida to assist my sisters with arrangements to move my parents back to NY for supervising their care. My mother has deteriorated in recent weeks due to recently discovered cirrhosis. So on Monday we cleaned up around the apartment, went through the box in the bank vault, met with their lawyer, picked up lunch for everyone together and sold my mother's car. It's more than sad that after 30 years part-time and full time in Florida - my parents needs require them to be closer to my sisters. Whew! - what a 27 hours round trip for me.
Tuesday Night I finished a mini-series workshop in the Upper School: Leading Junior Congregation. The course covered a mix of learning: skills, words, affect and cognition of our Saturday Morning Abbreviated Service. I hope I helped those who are already leading and will soon be leading ... to be better able to continue the tradition and educational experience provided for so many years by Larry Froehlich (z"l).
Wednesday's highlight was the Regional Rabbinical Assembly meeting. Beside seeing two long standing colleagues who are new the area, we had a thoughtful session with Rabbi David Rose to prepare us to teach/preach this Shabbat about Domestic Abuse. It's important to teach about this every once in a while - because it does exist in the Jewish community and someone could very well be helped by just opening the door to the resources that exist to assist those in distress and need.
Last night, we our monthly meeting of our CE21 (Congregational Education in the 11st Century) Task Force. The centerpiece was text and reflection about the nature of and our tolerance for risk. Change always has risk and changing a 100 year old model of synagogue learning involves great challenges to communal norm and individual perceptions and needs. It was a serious and worthwhile sharing.
Shabbat Shalom.