It seemed as if the High Holy Days came early this year, but as one online member of the /r/Judaism subreddit said, they're starting the same time as always, first of Tishrei. I guess the Gregorian months are late getting started this year. Either way, on the Tuesday after Labor Day I tore off the August page of my desk calendar and saw a month of highlighted holidays starting less than a week away.
This year I finally put together enough intestinal fortitude to confront my anxieties and contact the synagogue's office. I had a pleasant conversation with the shul's director and discussed the fact that I had indeed left a significant balance on my account when we stopped attending ten years ago. They were happy to give me a clean slate and start my new solo membership but I had to express my regret over the old past-due balance. It was agreed that if I felt morally obligated to address that balance I could make up for it by donating to the various charitable funds at the shul until it was "paid off" so to speak.
That conversation happened back in mid-August, and then I kept finding excuses not to stop by the office. That was until I saw that Rosh HaShanah was less than a week away. I quickly stopped by and dropped off my membership paperwork and picked up my tickets for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. It was great catching up with the director as she was a friend of ours when we attended regularly in the past.
This week I tried very hard to keep Yom Tov properly. I set the lights on timers and attempted to do things correctly. I even put a small throw blanket over the television to remind me not to use it. More than that, I guess it was to remind me if I used the television I was making a conscious choice to do so.
I woke up early and took a Lyft to shul. This was a combination of thoughts. Not wanting to take up valuable parking space was one, but more importantly not wanting to get a ticket for my expired car inspection. Eventually, I want to move into the same neighborhood as the shul so I can walk every day. I've already made note of two nearby apartment complexes and a very nice house. The apartments I can make happen as soon as my current lease expires, but the house would take a good sized lottery win. Then there's the issue with the quality of the apartments not approaching where I live now for the same price. Maybe no one else will pick 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 on the next few lotteries.
I enjoyed Rosh HaShanah services well enough. I had my usual complaint that more people were there to catch up and have conversations than those who were there to pray. I did notice, however, that there were more empty seats than I ever remember seeing. My first year at High Holiday services here in 2000 was a packed house and we had to sit in the balcony. There were people on folding seats in the kiddush hall. This year there were maybe 10 people in the balcony and many empty seats in the sanctuary proper.
I fear this is part of the Conservative erosion I keep reading about and not limited to our shul. Already we have had to combine forces with our sister shul from across town in order to maintain a daily minyan throughout the summer. It appears this is a long-term arrangement and I see several flyers for joint programming events between the two congregations. It would make me very sad if we ended up having to merge congregations at some point (especially if I end up buying a house within walking distance of the shul that ends up being shuttered).
For whatever reason, I was set upon with overwhelming anxiety all night and only slept for about two hours. This lead to me just not feeling up to attending on the second day. I really wanted to go but I didn't feel adequately rested until about noon. I stayed home and tried to do some reading.
To make matters worse, we currently have a hurricane heading our way. The stores were a madhouse over the weekend and I failed to get supplies before Rosh Hashanah started and had to wait until the end of the second day. That's when I found out that my office was going to be shut down in preparation for the storm for the next few days so this will be a week at home.
I don't know why people can't understand my "out of office" message telling them I was off for the holiday. This obviously goes back to the differences in how Gentiles and Jews observe their holidays. More so, I guess, how the non-religious don't observe. When I say I will not have access to phone or email it means I will not have access to phone or email not "I will not have access unless you call at least six times."
Hopefully the storm will not be so bad and hopefully, I can get back on track with blogging more often. New year, right?
This year I finally put together enough intestinal fortitude to confront my anxieties and contact the synagogue's office. I had a pleasant conversation with the shul's director and discussed the fact that I had indeed left a significant balance on my account when we stopped attending ten years ago. They were happy to give me a clean slate and start my new solo membership but I had to express my regret over the old past-due balance. It was agreed that if I felt morally obligated to address that balance I could make up for it by donating to the various charitable funds at the shul until it was "paid off" so to speak.
That conversation happened back in mid-August, and then I kept finding excuses not to stop by the office. That was until I saw that Rosh HaShanah was less than a week away. I quickly stopped by and dropped off my membership paperwork and picked up my tickets for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. It was great catching up with the director as she was a friend of ours when we attended regularly in the past.
This week I tried very hard to keep Yom Tov properly. I set the lights on timers and attempted to do things correctly. I even put a small throw blanket over the television to remind me not to use it. More than that, I guess it was to remind me if I used the television I was making a conscious choice to do so.
I woke up early and took a Lyft to shul. This was a combination of thoughts. Not wanting to take up valuable parking space was one, but more importantly not wanting to get a ticket for my expired car inspection. Eventually, I want to move into the same neighborhood as the shul so I can walk every day. I've already made note of two nearby apartment complexes and a very nice house. The apartments I can make happen as soon as my current lease expires, but the house would take a good sized lottery win. Then there's the issue with the quality of the apartments not approaching where I live now for the same price. Maybe no one else will pick 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 on the next few lotteries.
I enjoyed Rosh HaShanah services well enough. I had my usual complaint that more people were there to catch up and have conversations than those who were there to pray. I did notice, however, that there were more empty seats than I ever remember seeing. My first year at High Holiday services here in 2000 was a packed house and we had to sit in the balcony. There were people on folding seats in the kiddush hall. This year there were maybe 10 people in the balcony and many empty seats in the sanctuary proper.
I fear this is part of the Conservative erosion I keep reading about and not limited to our shul. Already we have had to combine forces with our sister shul from across town in order to maintain a daily minyan throughout the summer. It appears this is a long-term arrangement and I see several flyers for joint programming events between the two congregations. It would make me very sad if we ended up having to merge congregations at some point (especially if I end up buying a house within walking distance of the shul that ends up being shuttered).
For whatever reason, I was set upon with overwhelming anxiety all night and only slept for about two hours. This lead to me just not feeling up to attending on the second day. I really wanted to go but I didn't feel adequately rested until about noon. I stayed home and tried to do some reading.
To make matters worse, we currently have a hurricane heading our way. The stores were a madhouse over the weekend and I failed to get supplies before Rosh Hashanah started and had to wait until the end of the second day. That's when I found out that my office was going to be shut down in preparation for the storm for the next few days so this will be a week at home.
I don't know why people can't understand my "out of office" message telling them I was off for the holiday. This obviously goes back to the differences in how Gentiles and Jews observe their holidays. More so, I guess, how the non-religious don't observe. When I say I will not have access to phone or email it means I will not have access to phone or email not "I will not have access unless you call at least six times."
Hopefully the storm will not be so bad and hopefully, I can get back on track with blogging more often. New year, right?
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