Homecoming

After all the waiting, I’ve finally come home. Mostly, that is. As of this past Shabbos, I am now one of the rabbis of my home congregation — with my father as the senior colleague. (See January 15, 2006 entry for more details)

It was a lovely service, but I must admit that I was really, really nervous. As the service began, I had some serious Bat Mitzvah flashbacks. I couldn’t remember which melody I’d chosen for the opening song and I made certain (as instructed by my childhood cantor) not to cross my legs for fear I would forget to *uncross* them and fall flat on my face. (She was not making this story up; the senior rabbi managed to do this very thing at his kitchen table about 20 years ago the same day his family had planned a trip to Disneyland!)

Nervous? you ask. About what should I be nervous?

A bimah partnership is not built overnight. It comes with time and with many shared bimah experiences. My dad and I have well over 50 years of collective bimah experience — only we don’t have it together. And though we know each other really well (!), we’ve yet to learn one another’s non-verbal cues and worship styles. Additionally, I’m learning which keys work best for me, work best for him, and work best for our congregation. I can already see that several pieces will need to be lowered if the congregation will have any hope of joining with me in song.

Now I’m on my own! It’s July — historically, a time when senior rabbis go on vacation. I’ve been moving boxes into the building these past few days. You may recall from the May 5th entry, that I moved 40 boxes out of my last study. And I’ve still got some boxes that never even made it to the JCC since I was a little short on bookshelves. So I’ll be transferring boxes throughout the entire week! Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of some congregants, my newly-painted study will have plenty of bookcases to house my precious friends.

You can look forward to more regular postings now that Frume Sarah is back in the saddle!!