Tuesday, November 01, 2005

207. Still way behind

...with life, work, and sleep, and looking forward to that elusive caught-up state when I can sit in Starbucks in the company of a four-million-calorie espresso brownie and write about Simchat Torah and Yom Kippur for a few hours.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to learn 24 verses of Parashat Noach for this Shabbat. (I originally agreed to half that much, but don't know how to say no. To reading more Torah.) I've concluded, happily, that it's much easier to learn the words for "beasts of the ground" and "birds of the sky" than those pertaining to sacrifices and skin diseases, the sections I usually get to do over the summer.

These are the most positive and optimistic verses I've been fortunate to sing: we leave the ark and learn that God will continue giving us second chances, and then the promise is sealed, on both sides, with a rainbow. I can think of no better words with which to begin my next year of chanting.

4 comments:

~Jan said...

aa, I knew if I kept reading long enough, I'd find some new area of commonality: a four million calorie espresso brownie sounds divine.

alto artist said...

Agreed. Fuel of the gods. (If ever I wrote a book, I'd feel obliged to give Starbucks a prime spot on the Acknowledgements page.)
--aa.

Barefoot Jewess said...

The one time (and first time) I leyned Torah was the maftir of Parshat Noah. Makes me nostalgic. I am so totally envious! You have no email, so could you email me? I have a query.

alto artist said...

Thank you so much for reading and commenting. More than anything I think I'm in a continual state of awe and wonderment about my experiences these past few years. I feel so lucky.
--aa.