Reflections at 35,000 Feet

On the airplane heading home from San Francisco...

So many wonderful blog posts below this one, people commenting on what they learned and saw during the convention. I can't add much more, except to say that sharing this experience with my colleagues and friends was truly wonderful.

So looking ahead, what do I wish for a future CCAR Convention?

I wish for more time to spend merely interacting with colleagues, meeting them in new ways. I attended as many sessions as I could, and felt that the time spent chatting might have been somewhat more valuable. Can we create a way to do this so that we don't feel a need to skip out on sessions to hold these conversations?

I had a remarkable accidental inter-generational lunch - sharing a meal with colleagues who've been rabbis far longer than I have. It's not often that we interact in that way. I appreciated it and found it to be such a nice way to move outside my own friend-circle. Can we find a way to connect us through personal interactions that we might never have made?

Many of my blogging colleagues here have noted that they attended the sessions on digital media. I think it's time for us to move the conversation  beyond how-to and really start to talk about the community/engagement ideas that the online world affords us, and also the ethical and personal dilemmas that arise through use of this media. I think it's time to take it to the next level, I think it's time to open the discussion on what it really means to connect in this way that might seem new to us as rabbis but isn't so new any more to those that we serve. How can we continue this conversation and how can our future conventions offer us a way to engage ourselves in these tools while also allowing us to grow within them?

Just a few thoughts as I wend my way back home....

Lunch in China town was outstanding!!!

I had lunch at House of Nan King and it was some of the best Chinese food I have had. And so with a happy belly, I attended the afternoon session. I attended the session titled: “visual T’filah – using digital media in the Sanctuary.” It was lead by Dan Moskovitz our colleague at Temple Judea in the San Fernando Valley and Dan Medwin an Erev Rabbi who has an incredible handle on how one goes about creating visual T’filah. It is a whole new world and no doubt change can be intimidating but I think when used in the right situation and setting it can be an incredibly wonderful way to make worship assessable. I was impressed with the level of creativity and I look forward to seeing where this is going to go. After that fabulous session, we had our CCAR meeting which actually was very good as we adopted unanimously the proposed changes to the CCAR code of ethics. We had very important financial updates given to us by our incredibly committed and hard working officers. If I have one criticism it is that this meeting with our CCAR leadership is poorly attended. Yes we are over programmed a bit, but I do not understand why our membership does not take a more positive and active role in such sessions. We should all feel a sense of responsibility toward our conference and I think it would be a great discussion on why so many feel disconnected or disinterested. What do you think?
Well after a fast shower I had dinner at another lovely restaurant. Then our evening program, concluding with none other than eating Ice Cream while overlooking the beautiful city of San Francisco. What a great last snap shot of this terrific convention. Now off to the room to pack and get some sleep.

Roll Call and Conversation.

Last night, I attended a dinner for the Women’s Rabbinic Network. This morning, I attended a breakfast jointly sponsored by the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

These were exciting meals for two reasons. The first was the class roll call. Starting with students that will be ordained in 2010, each class year was called and its students were asked to rise. This was powerful at both meals. At the breakfast, attendees went all the way back to 1936. At the WRN dinner, attendees went all the way back to Rabbi Sally Priesand, the first woman to be ordained in the United States, from the class of 1972.

Another wonderful thing about the meals was the opportunity to have conversations with colleagues. I am fortunate to live in a community with a number of rabbinical and clerical colleagues that I can talk to, but it can be difficult to carve out the time and space to have conversations like I have had this week.

We spoke about our own personal challenges and the challenges facing the Reform movement and the Jewish people. Whether balancing our work and our family life, learning to welcome interfaith families, or navigating innovations in worship, we benefit greatly from being able to share our struggles, and our best practices, with one another.

The future of Placement

I attended a very important lunch meeting on the future of our Placement Director and Placement Services. With the vacancy in the Placement Director position (thank goodness for Lenny Thal stepping in to be the interim Placement Director) our Conference is taking the time to imagine and re-imagine what this position and what Placement look light. A task force, chaired by Stephen Pearce has been named by our President Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus to examine and think broadly about the Placement Director and Placement in general.

This was an open meeting to the whole conference over lunch. It was a fairly well attended lunch affinity group with more than 25 people gathered including representatives from the College-Institute, WRN, the Placement Commission and past Director, Arnie Sher and Interim Lenny Thal. Many good suggestions were made by the crowd, including thinking about placement in a movement wide way. What would Placement look like if we had a central placement office for all the professionals of the movement, staffed by multiple specialists?

In an era when there are many other options for congregations and agencies to find Jewish professionals and rabbis in particular why should a congregation or Hillel turn to the Reform movement to engage Reform rabbis? Today the congregations can turn to any one of a number of other seminaries and Jewish job listings to find rabbis. We definitely need to grab this moment to rethink and re-imagine. I hope the Union will want to be as creative. They are are partner in the Placement Commission. But increasingly more than a quarter of our Conference rabbis serve beyond the Movement alone. The jobs just aren't there. And so we as a Conference need to be mindful of not only our dedication to our Reform congregations but to our colleagues. I am pleased that the Board and leadership of our Conference is taking the time to think this through.

This is consistent with the themes of this conference which has been looking at the Jewish future. It was the thread in Ellen's opening remarks at Monday's Shacharit service, it was the focus of yesterday's tiyyulim to cutting edge San Francisco programs, museums and communities and Dollinger's address to us as the kick-off yesterday morning.

Our conference leadership is paying attention that we are in the 21st Century. How refreshing! Bravo to them all.

Nothing is like Roll call at the CCAR convention!!!

This morning we had our annual HUC breakfast. The big difference this year was that the HUC breakfast has become the Reform Movement Breakfast and thus URJ, CCAR and HUC-JIR have joined forces. There is no doubt that this is part of the exciting future which our colleagues Ellen Dreyfus, Eric Yoffie, David Ellenson and Steven Fox discussed during the breakfast. We need to be one unified family working together. There is no doubt that the economics of our time have given us a wonderful opportunity. Everyone spoke from the heart and they were concise in their comments making this a very enjoyable session. Of course the highlight each year for me is Roll Call! There is something about our class sitting together and jumping up yelping our “YEAH”. The feeling that each year we wait longer to hear our class year being called out is balanced with the sense of awe that I feel toward our colleagues who have been rabbis for so long. The annual standing ovation for those who were ordained 50 years ago is heartwarming. There is a sense of Kesher that we share with each other that seems to be so present at this session each year. I appreciate the process that “roll call” has gone through over the many years I think we got it down now. It works really well. Then we had the first part of our Professional Development Day as we attended the first of two sessions dedicated to improving our rabbinate. I took the session titled, “The Well Connected Rabbi – Having an Online Rabbinic Presence,” lead by Dan Moskovitz. I thought it was a great session with lots of wonderful and practical ideas for getting our vision, our teaching to our congregants. I have a lot to learn about blogging!!! Now time for lunch break and then off to round two!

Judaism without Baggage

What would your synagogue look like if it had no baggage? No money troubles? No institutional memory? No “we’ve always done it this way”?

This question crossed my mind as we engaged in a day of field study around the Bay Area. The theme of the day was “Innovations in Jewish Life: On the Edge of the Continent,” and I joined a group that went to the Marsh Theater to see a one-man play called Rabbi Sam.

In Rabbi Sam, actor and playwright Charlie Varon plays an innovative new rabbi, as well as nine of his congregants. Rabbi Sam presents his board with a radical opportunity: an anonymous donor has given them $2 million for outreach, and Rabbi Sam wants to use the money to take his congregants—and anyone else who wants to come along—on a transformative trip to Jerusalem.

But Rabbi Sam’s vision—as well as his charismatic preaching style—puts him in conflict with his board and some of the synagogue’s founding members, who threaten to remove him from his post.

The play was brilliantly acted with a well thought out story and nearly a dozen well-developed characters, which, frankly, made it really uncomfortable to watch. Any leader or layperson that comes to see this is confronted with these questions: What sacrifices are we willing to make for innovation? What price are we willing to pay to move forward?

Back at the hotel, we compared notes with participants in some of the other trips, all of which showcased innovative Jewish projects that take place outside of the confines of the synagogue. One woman I spoke to toured the Contemporary Jewish Museum, which contains no permanent exhibits. What would our Jewish organizations look like if we had nothing permanent? What would they look like if we were constantly innovating?

A great day so far!

The day began with an excellent presentation from Marc Dollinger, a professor at San Francisco State University. He spoke on the topic “Seeing Opportunities in Innovation.” He was not only humorous and kept our attention, he spoke honestly and thoughtfully. He set the San Francisco Jewish scene for us brilliantly as he did a sweep of the last four generations of Jews living in San Francisco. He said many wonderful things, but one of my favorite quotes was that “no generation is more authentic than another.” Professor Dollinger helped frame for us the various adventures we would experience on our day out of the hotel and into the San Francisco Community. I attended the site learning session on “friends, foes, or somewhere in Between? Jewish-Muslim relations in the US: challenges to confront, ways to move forward”. The session was lead by the co-Executive directors of Abraham’s vision Aaron Hahn Tapper and Huda Abu Arqoub. It was held at the Islamic Society of San Francisco and we learned about their two major programs, the unity program and the vision program. I would suggest going on-line to their web site to learn more . Although it was a long session, I felt it was incredibly valuable to hear about a successful program that brings Jews and Muslims together in the hopes of giving them a vision of the future that is just and fair.
I really appreciate spending the day, in an intense learning experience as we had today. Well done program committee!!!

The Universality of Hate

I was on the "Coffee Beatniks and Jewish Lit" tiyul today. The speaker, a poet/author/artist (I guess I can just say "Beatnik," right) was talking about a trip he took to Germany, where he was surprised to see a number of Confederate Flags. When he also noticed a great number of skinheads around those flags, he decided (without revealing his Jewishness, naturally) to ask them why they had so many Stars-and-Bars. The answer was that the Swastika had been outlawed in Germany, so they couldn't fly that flag. This was their substitute.

It brought up, for me, two totally disparate thoughts. First of all, it's silly to ban hatred, or its symbols. I'm not saying that I'm in favor of hatred (my favorite part of the Beat Museum was a simple poster which said, "F#$K Hatred" - with that first word spelled out, obviously). But, forcing it underground seems, to me, to be ineffective, at best. At worst, it keeps the hatred out of site where it can fester without being confronted. But, more often than not, the hatred just takes another form. Confront hatred, and hateful people, more directly, I'd say.

I also found myself (as others did) thinking about the universal nature of hate. To these skinheads, it didn't matter what hatred was being represented, or where it came from. They were brothers, unified in their hate, and that was enough. Hatred, in any form, is still just hatred.

F#$K Hatred, indeed.

Remembering mandatory services

Apparently, when I was a year-in-Israel student, the faculty and staff found the attendance at morning services so terrible the following year they made them mandatory for all YII students.  That's right, they were taking attendance at rabbinical school.

Last night there was a performance/presentation by Peter Sagal of "Wait, wait don't tell me."  It was extremely well attended.  The evening was designed to transition immediately into Ma'ariv.  As soon as the service started the room emptied by half.  That's right.  The rabbis were walking out of the room for services. 

I'm not suggesting that services every should be mandatory.  Believe me.  However, it makes me sad to realize that the opportunity for spirituality, a chance to be a congregant at services, was not a priority for my colleagues last night. 

I am grateful that I got to be at services at services last night.  I prayed, I was moved, and I felt God's presence sitting amongst my colleagues, being led in prayer by my colleagues. 

Celebrating 20 years

Last night's late Maariv service was very moving for me. The Maariv service marked 20 years of the open ordination of gay men and lesbians as rabbis. 20 years since that Seattle conference that was the culmination of so much angst and scrutiny. I was an openly lesbian rabbi serving a gay congregation at the time. The conference was such a big huge step!

I was ordained in the time before Seattle when every breath of rabbinical school was filled with the terror and angst that you would be found out and kicked out.

But last night's celebration of how far our movement has come on inclusion of gay and lesbian people and particularly rabbis was I hope a proud moment not just for those of us who participated in the service but for our whole conference.

Because of the late hour many of our colleagues left and this was disappointing.

But for those of us on the bima-reading some of our stories and reading the liturgy from congregations who have primarily toiled in the GLBT world it was a moving service.

Kudos to our colleague Yoel Kahn for creating an inspiring service.

But as I looked out in the congregation of rabbis still awake--I saw colleagues who are still closeted in their work. I listened to the sweet voice of 5th year rabbinical student Reuben Zellman who is a trailblazer in his own as a transgender person and I look to what his future will be and where will his resolution of support and where will the workshops be to help congregations like the way we had workshops to help educate congregations about gay and lesbian issues?

But I am grateful for the freedom of this 20 years.

It has been a long day!

The afternoon session titled “The Challenges of Intermarriage for the Reform Rabbi” was divided into a couple key components. A well put together presentation from the Task Force and small discussion groups. It is always a wonderful experience to build new relationships and to have times to share with colleagues. Although there was nothing new to be learned from the session, I always appreciate interaction with our colleagues. Then it was time for dinner! This evening I had a wonderful dinner at “Scala’s Bistro” with members of my ordination class (it is our minhag to have a “class dinner” at all conventions) we attend. Then we had a wonderful treat. An evening with Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.” He was terrific, highly entertaining and hilarious! After that conference highlight we experienced a special Maariv commemorating the twentieth year of the inclusion of Openly Gay and Lesbian Rabbis. It was a beautiful service and I especially appreciated the personal stories that were woven into the actual liturgy. Then of course we had a reception on the top of the hotel looking out to see the beautiful late night sky line. The reception was…. Well not nearly as good as the view. Well time for some sleep and then off to our all day look at San Francisco innovations of Jewish life program.

Blurry and Bleary but Happy

The travel day is always a long one, and for me that was today.

A list of highlights for today:

- walking into the Fairmont Hotel and feeling instantly at home. Friends and colleagues are using the hotel lobby as our meeting place and when we arrived at lunch time it was hopping!

- listening to the rather long but well-attended session on governance. Seemed a bit overly complicated to me, but went well and the governance resolution passed.

- a really excellent session on intermarriage and its challenges

- a $3 Coke Zero to keep me going through the afternoon.

- dinner in Chinatown with friends. Wow that was a LOT of food.

- an evening with Peter Sagal - possibly one of the funniest people to ever address a room full of rabbis. He made sure to make fun of his brother (the rabbi) as well. Perfect.

me with my husband and Peter Sagal.

And so it goes....a little blurry, a little bleary-eyed, but ready for site-based learnings tomorrow.

Jewish Star Struck

As someone who grew up in the movement, I always get a little star-struck at Jewish conventions. So you can imagine what it was like to start my day studying with Lawrence Kushner and end my day meeting Peter Sagal of NPR’s comedy news quiz Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. I was fully prepared to act like a teenager at a rock concert (and I did, landing a front row seat, a photo, AND an autograph).

Sagal was hilarious, but clearly intimidated by being in a room full of rabbis. He mused about what the collective noun for rabbis might be. If there is a “school” of fish, or a “gaggle” of geese, what does one call this large gathering at the CCAR? A “certainty” of rabbis!

This morning, Rabbi Kushner led one “certainty” of rabbis in the study of a number of Hassidic texts about rabbinical leadership. He laid out the categories of gadlut—spiritual “bigness”—and katnut—spiritual “smallness.” When we find ourselves in a state of katnut, Kushner said, we should go home immediately, as we are not going to do anyone any good if we ourselves are not spiritually sound.

But spiritual gadlut is also something to be wary of. A text from R. Levi of Berditchev reminded us to remember that, whatever spiritual level we have achieved, there is always a higher level to attain. A tzaddik, we concluded, was not someone who had attained the highest level, but a person in a constant state of striving for a higher level who recognizes that he or she is not quite “there” yet.

It was easy to remember how far we have to go after this morning’s Shacharit service, where first-timers (like me) were offered an aliyah, right after an aliyah honoring those who have been in the rabbinate for 50 years. It was a moment of both gadlut and katnut. I felt gadlut at taking on such an important honor in such a beautiful service, and katnut in the presence of my distinguished colleagues.

I have to imagine that those standing beside me were asking the same question that I was: what will we learn over the next 50 years that will make us better rabbis? And, 50 years from now, what not-quite-attainable goal will we still be striving towards?

Signs of the Messiah

I got a chance this afternoon to study with Rabbi Larry Kushner, and he discussed some Hassidic texts on Rabbinic leaders and spirituality. I'm a big fan of Rabbi Kushner, having had the chance to study with him in New York.

Overall, the session was great. It may not have been new, but Rabbi Kushner would be the first to tell us that "new" is overrated. The important spiritual truths are well known and obvious; we just need constant reminding about them. For example, the surest sign of a true tzaddik, and a good leader, is the constant awareness that there is a spiritual level which he or she has yet to attain. It's the constant search, and the constant humility, which is the true sign of spirituality, and of leadership.

During an aside, it also led Rabbi Kushner to offer one of his many wonderful quips. Quoting Zalman, he said, "If someone says that he's the Messiah, check with his wife, first."

Bring on the first full day of the convention!

Our day began at 7am with our Ayelet breakfast and discussion on the next "potential" Machzor. After that program we had our convention service which not only was the shortest one in recent history but more importantly was filled with great Kavanah. The energy in the room with colleagues praying and engaged in worship was as close to the energy of Shabbat services at camp! It was very cool!
Then our Torah Lishmah sessions, focusing on various subjects that have at the core of their learning some element of text study. After my session, I was part of a regional meeting with URJ leadership that was informative and thoughtful. The goal of our session was to give us an update of our region (Northern California) and to exchange some thoughts and ideas. I am currently in the session “CCAR of the future,” which is being held in the large ballroom, but for the record it is not called a Plenary session. We are discussing the CCAR task force on Governance and their proposed changes. Now I better get off the computer and pay attention!

Fate, Free Will, and Facebook

The existence of fate or destiny is clearly a major philosophical question for any rabbi, especially since we believe so strongly in individual free will, and this was the subject of Dvora Weisberg’s afternoon Talmud study. As we navigated a conversation about astrology found in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 156a-b), we discussed the larger question of whether the Jewish people are subject to the influence of the constellations.

The answer, as is typical of the Talmud, is: yes and no. The alignment of sun, moon, stars and planets (which, the Talmud reminds us, is subject to the will of God) DOES influence the fate of human beings. But the Jewish people have a way out, a get-out-of-fate-free card: the performance of mitzvot. In each of three aggadot, a person’s fate is determined at birth (two out of three were doomed to death by snakebite), but then transformed by the performance of a mitzvah, such as preventing the embarrassment of a friend, feeding the poor, or devoting one’s life to study and prayer.

While each of us has a fate determined by forces greater than ourselves, our covenant with God provides us with opportunities to reach beyond that fate. Furthermore, our practice of Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Chasadim makes us well-attuned to opportunities to do good in the world.

This conversation was on my mind as we began our formal program with a panel on “New Visions for Our Jewish Communities.” We heard from Daniel Sokatch, the CEO of the New Israel Fund; Joe Green, creator of the “CAUSES” application on Facebook; and Rabbi Steven Pearce, of Congregation Emanu-El.

Like many presentations by Jewish leaders in the trenches, they listed the many challenges facing the Jewish community today: a lack of engagement, particularly amongst our young people; a decentralized Jewish community; an inability to talk about complex issues without creating an “us” and “them” mentality.

But with each of these challenges, our speakers chose to rise above what many Jewish communal leaders would simply call our “fate.” Sokatch emphasized the need to create space and provide tools to have difficult conversations about complex issues. Green showed us how CAUSES uses existing social networks to engage individuals and their communities in acts of tikkun olam. Rabbi Pearce enumerated the different types of Jews in our communities today that needed us to reach out to them (my favorite was the “alimony Jews: those who support Judaism but who are unwilling to live with it”).

Both conversations—one recorded in the Talmud and one taking place in the Venetian room of the Fairmont Hotel—reminded me that there are certain existing forces that are beyond our control. But they also gave me hope that we have the tools and skills that we need to rise above them, if only we would keep ourselves attuned—not just to the prophecies of snakebites—but to the ever-present opportunities to do mitzvot and to make change.

The pros and cons of technology

Last night's opening session had two of the three speakers talking about the ways in which we can use technology to serve our larger, Jewish (and Rabbinic) missions. There was a lot to learn from the talks, but I couldn't help but notice an irony - during the majority of the presentation, I was surrounded by people who were constantly tapping away on iPhones, Blackberries, Droids and more.

I'm certainly no technophobe, but it was yet another reminder to me of the downside of all of this technology. If we're going to complain when our members use their gadgets during board meetings and (!) services, then shouldn't we, at least, be committed to that same discipline?

Sorry to be a nag, but I just couldn't help but notice it!

A Visit to Muir Woods

We find God in the Sanctuary while lifting our voices in prayer.  We also can feel God's presence in nature, when we are struck by the beauty and awe of our world.  The redwoods of California grow hundreds of feet in the air over centuries.  Their roots allow them to overcome fire and drought.  I was inspired by a walk through Muir Woods near San Francisco on Sunday.

Start your Engines

It took long enough. What should have been a quick plane ride turned into a marathon as the ground hold kept my plane from taking off. Two and a half hours later I made it to the holy city of San Francisco. Not enough time to hit the opening program. That was frustrating.

But the lobby was buzzing at the Fairmont. Maybe as many people in the lobby shmoozing as in the session. It was great seeing so many friends! To me that is the essence of the CCAR conference. Really a time to connect with classmates, colleagues, former interns and former campers who are now the younger crop of our colleagues.

The opening banquet was particularly fun for me as I was able to welcome everyone on behalf of the PARR region and lead the Motzi! It was amazing to look out and see everyone gathered in one place. that is what I think we all have to remember. That even though we are spread across the world serving from Israel, to New Zealand, East Coast to the Gulf Coast, Canada to California
we rabbis are one kehilla kadosha. And this is our Beit Knesset-our Conference.

I am so glad to be here with all of you!

What a beautiful day in San Francisco!

The weather is gorgeous! And luckily so too is the hotel. For as you know often one is more indoors than outdoors at a convention. Well sometimes. ;)
The Fairmont Hotel is beautiful and the staff and rooms are lovely. The morning program that I participating in “Why Israeli Arabs Are a Jewish Issue” with Brian Lurie was excellent. Although not well attended, we experienced a thoughtful presentation and provocative discussion. The session’s theme was on how the Arab Israeli is treated, how they may feel and what our responsibility is towards them. We talked about the majority of Israeli-Arabs who wish to live in Israel and whether they understand their responsibility towards the State of Israel. Brian Lurie is a fantastic resource and his organization which I believe he said was the Inter-agency task force on Israeli Arabs seems like an organization worth learning more about. I think their website would be worth checking out. If I have time I will try to get more information before the convention ends.
Now off for a walk around the hotel to enjoy some of the beautiful weather!

Getting excited

In a few hours I will be traveling to San Francisco for the CCAR convention.  I needed to be in Toronto at Temple Sinai to teach a family education class this morning, and will arrive in San Francisco after the opening banquet, unfortunately.  Because this is my first convention, I am looking forward to the opportunities for learning about a myriad of topics, connecting with friends and making some new ones. 

I look forward to the blogs that I will be able to share, as well as those of my colleagues as we go through the convention. 

See you in SF!

We're not in Kansas anymore

So, I get into SFO last night - a full 40 minutes ahead of schedule. I collect my luggage and head out to the Taxi stand. Out of the driver's seat pops a 60-something woman with spikey, electric blue hair. As we chat on the way to the hotel, I learn that she is (as she described herself) a straight, white non-Christian grandmother who enjoys going to a local Black Baptist Church every Sunday, in order to hear the sermon from the lesbian minister.

As a north-easterner, currently living in Tampa, this is not what I think of, when I use the word "Cabbie"! Welcome to San Francisco!

By the way, her favorite lesson from her minister is, "you're only as sick as your secrets."

Nothing is like packing up the car and driving an hour or so to get to a CCAR convention.

No airports, no complex packing necessary, just throw stuff in the car and go. The anticipation of seeing friends, recharging the battery, and enjoying the beauty and culture of San Francisco is great. Living in San Jose and often coming into San Francisco for a life cycle event or meeting is very different than being able to just be in this diamond of a west coast city. I am always excited to enjoy the city in which our convention dwells. When else can one enjoy such great cities like Jerusalem, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Boston and now San Francisco! Tonight my wife and I enjoyed a taste of the night life here in San Francisco as we saw a show and had a nosh. I am looking forward to blogging about the convention and sharing some thoughts and perspectives.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Tomorrow I leave for San Francisco. It's a short hop from Los Angeles. But I can't wait to see all my classmates, colleagues and friends and welcome them to the West Coast. PARR -our Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis is glad to welcome our national convention!

I look forward to visiting!

Coffee anyone?

See you at registration.

Exploring the Wonders of San Francisco

After the long cross-country flight from JFK, we arrived in the early afternoon.  Jet lag demanded that we have a snack, and Chinatown was the destination for Dim Sum.  A cable car ride back to the Fairmont completed the experience.

Counting the Days!

In 3 days I will be in San Francisco!

Although I managed to attend a couple of URJ (UAHC back then) Biennials as an excited youth grouper and college student, this will be my first time attending a CCAR Convention. I am very much looking forward to the convention programming in general, and a few things in particular:

1) Meeting Rachel Naomi Remen, author of My Grandfather's Blessings, and Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (which I listen to as a podcast because it is always on during either Shabbat services or Religious School).

2) All of the opportunities we will have to discuss how our movement can accomodate the growing number of interfaith families in (or not in) our communities.

3) Catching up with my colleagues, some of whom I haven't seen since ordination (or before). We've been able to keep up with each other through social networking sites, email, and Skype, but nothing quite measures up to seeing each other panim al panim.

Shabbat Shalom and see you there!

All my bags are packed...

As I sit in chilly Chicago, I realize that I'm just a few days away from making the cross-country trek to the Coast! For me, this is my third Convention, and it's only the first I've ever attended in the USA. (Toronto and Jerusalem were the others.)

So, mostly for my information but also to see if there's anyone out there reading (is this thing on?) ...

- What do YOU wear at a CCAR Convention? Do you dress up? Dress down?
- What is your BEST tip for Convention-going?

See you in San Francisco!

My Test

This is my first time doing "event blogging." Looking forward to it!