This past week, my hectic schedule got to me. I’ve been having trouble falling asleep and waking up in the morning in addition to losing my cool a little more frequently than I should. On Monday,  I received a notice that a package was waiting for me at the post office, but because of my late hours, I wasn’t able to pick it up until this morning.  I had been waiting for some important documents that I was anxious to review, so in anticipation of reading them, I speculated, projected and stressed myself out!  I was creating tsouris for myself.

Yesterday morning, I woke up just in time for the post office to open and I was confused that my package was in fact a box not an envelope as I was expecting.  I looked at the return address and it was from my mother. A care package of trinkets and items that she had noticed were missing from my apartment.  Only an amazing mother would have intuition that I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and stressed as of late.

In the words of my new favourite Klezmer/Jazz musician Paul Shapiro, “If tsouris were a dollar, I’d be a millionaire”!  Needless to say, I’m taking a mental health day tomorrow…

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This week, Rachael delves into a dilemma that she’s facing. To avoid gossiping, Rachael turns to her inner process and reassesses how she will problem solve.

A key moment in our prayer service is the Shema. It is our personal and community declaration that we have one God and that our God is One. My synagogue community is small with only a couple dozen people attending Shabbat services on a weekly basis, and maybe 200 people when there’s a Bar or Bat Mitzvah happening. In small congregations like mine and small Jewish communities spread all over North America it can sometimes be hard to feel a greater spiritual connection to Judaism.

This past weekend I spent Shabbat at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Biennial Convention in downtown Toronto.

Kabbalat Shabbat services was attended by over 3500 Jews from all across North America. Talk about a lot of Jews in one room. The most amazing feeling was being able to join in prayer with over 3000 people, and standing all together as we recited the Shema, “Hear O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is one!” It was such a wonderful experience surrounded by so many people joined together by prayer.

Last weekend I traveled to Boston for my cousin’s wedding. From my research I discovered that Boston is a beautiful walking city and in the fall it has even been described as “heaven on earth”. In addition to exploring the natural beauty, I was looking forward to discovering Jewish Boston.  While we have the Bathurst Street strip in Toronto, I was excited to engage in something new.

This is what I found:

Only in America!

Again...Only in America!

Only in Jewish America!

The Brookline neighbourhood in Boston proved to be rich in Jewish culture and I thoroughly enjoyed my adventure. In addition to the sites and sounds of Jewish life, particularly on a Friday afternoon. This was my favourite:

Bubkes!

So, in sum, Boston had what to offer AND it lived up to its beautiful reputation…

Minus the power lines...

Rachael explains the exciting story of an ancient woman who taught a great Torah scholar a lesson on how to study.