Sunday, September 20, 2009

The BIG Rosh

A Brief Summary of the Weekend

  • Location: Ra’anana @ the Rosens’

  • Accommodations: AMAZING! – Second level of a fifth floor, penthouse apartment. I had the entire level, including a private bathroom and a very large balcony to myself. I woke up with the sun beaming in with a beautiful vista of western Ra’anana and watched the gorgeous red and orange sunset over the hills each night.

  • Food: PHENOMENAL! I ate too much. But, there were tons of dishes at every meal and EVERYTHING was delicious.

  • Davening: Orthodox. Shul is shul. But, it WAS shorter than Metuchen, yet still too long for my liking. As much as I seriously LOVE spending the hagim with my family, the time alone in shul, with no siblings to talk to or with whom to leave on a walk, plus the added bonus of no English interruptions, really allowed me to concentrate on the liturgy for the first time. This, I enjoyed (somewhat).

  • Entertainment: Sleeping, reading (more of the Infrastructure issue), and walking. Today I walked for three hours through western Ra’anana. It was GREAT!

As promised, I’m done for now.

~Adi

Befuddlements

  • Why does our body have an internal automatic mechanism to maintain homeostasis and prevent us from overheating, but nothing keeps us from overeating?
    It’s truly a problem for me. I'm working on not overeating here, so I don’t feel like I'm going to keel over after every meal. There's so much to eat in this country and everyone wants to feed you! It's overwhelming. I think I'm getting better at it though; By lunch today, I limited myself enough so I could take my three hour walk and not feel like I had to throw up or lie down. This will be a continuous goal throughout the year…

  • The mehitza in a modern context still baffles my mind. It just doesn’t make sense why so many progressive people I know enjoy it. One of the main reasons for it is to not be distracted by the opposite gender. But, in today’s society, why should there be a separation between the mindset in davening and something like science research? Along these lines, one could argue that it is more important for a cancer researcher to not be distracted by the opposite gender while searching for the cure, yet no one would ever think to put a mehitza in a laboratory.

  • I’ve decided I don’t want to be a journalist. Because, ever since I started writing for the blog, all I can ever think about is what I am I going to tell you next.

Shoutout #14: My dear big sis’, Shira Lee Legman Segal. Welcome aboard! I will truly miss being with you in the City this year. But, fear not, our adventures shall continue when you arrive in J-town.

Shoutout #15: H.Y. Segal, my beloved lil’ bro’. I hope you are enjoying the empty room, with the new light socket. Good luck with all your plans this year. I will miss coming home and having a 2am conversation before bed (or at least before I hit the sack). Good luck with all your plans and can’t wait to have you in Israel as well! Bless you child…

Shoutout #16: Hannah Elkin – You do good things. Take it easy sometimes. Good luck with senior year!

Shoutout #17: While we haven’t been TVAC AAA for awhile, Ari Lifschitz, you will always be my Shabbos Crew (don’t forget your belt pulse ox!). Keep Teaneck safe while I’m gone. Looking forward to returning and meeting up on Friday nights again.

Shoutout #18: Jonah Rank, you are QUITE an individual and talented human being. I love it! Great work on your most recent release! Everyone check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lBKvka3dUA.

Shoutout #19: Ha’Rav Gabriel Seed. Where would I be without your shvaim naim? Keep dancing and see you soon!

Shoutout #20: Joshy Mandell, I knew I could count on you to round out my numbers. You are a great friend and wonderful tripod travel mate. I can’t wait for the next AJJ adventure (wherever that may be…Jason?)! Yours truly, Z-I-N Z-I-N DO-RF…

P.S. You may find this funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR9O67Tqpjw&feature=player_embedded
(Explanation here: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027376.html)

P.P.S. My Befuddlements got published on the Ruminations website:

http://www.ruminations.com/site/ruminations/93448

http://www.ruminations.com/site/ruminations/93444

AYS