Talia, She Wrote

I am emotionally exhausted. Since the boats with "peace activists" heading to Gaza was intercepted I have fought and fought this issue round and round with my friends and acquaintances. Emotionally, I am drained. My head hurts. I can't think of the permutations any more. I want to just say that this is how it is, no more conversation.

But nothing is ever so simple or easy.

I have been a very bad blogger.

Beyond being busy with Patheos work and my personal thesis for my Masters, there have been a couple other things going on. This year the Omer was particularly poignant. The Omer is a time when you should be reflecting on your life and working on personal growth but amidst that, I was asked to pray the section Resh of the 119 Psalm. Long story short, when someone is sick you read Psalm 119 and since it is so long, you read the letters that correspond to their Hebrew name. Resh goes like this -

I was initially struck by the URL. RabbiDov.com/HateIsraelWeek... HATE ISRAEL WEEK?

What is the world is Hate Israel Week? As I read, the good Rabbi made some insightful points, many similar to my father's arguments.

Yeah, I know that isn't a word. :)

I have been working on my Capstone proposal for the culmination of my Master's degree lately. It is do super soon... and I am just about to wrap up the proposal process. (Now I just have to cut 1000 words... yeah, I'm wordy, we know that right?)

I have a blog to write... it's about intermarriage and the effect on kids and I interviewed a friend for it but really what's on my mind right now is this...

I live in a space in-between too many worlds.

What if the National Day of Prayer meant we actually came together as a country, despite our differences and prayed together? What if we lived in a country where a kid like me wasn't bullied for trying to participate with the Christian kids in the National Day of Prayer... because I think jesus was a nice Jewish kid who was misunderstood?

My friend posted this on Facebook and I thought... damn, that's true... well, sometimes! :)

A Guide to Jewish Holidays: Purim is for alcoholics.
Pesach is for obsessive compulsives.
Shavuot is for insomniacs.
Lag B'omer is for pyromaniacs unsatisfied with Hanukkah.
Tisha B'av is for depressives.
Rosh Hashana is for those obsessed over dying.
Yom Kippur is for anorexics.
Sukkot is for the homeless.
Simchat Torah is for those in the happy stages of bipolar…
And people wonder why Jews invented psychoanalysis.