The Life of Maya

After all the apples with honey are eaten, Yom Kippur fasting nothing but a distant memory, the sukkahs dismantled, and the tired feet recovered from all the walking and dancing of Simchat Torah, it is time to reflect on the first month of  5768 with Rosh Chodesh Chesvan coming right around the corner.

There were times when I found it very difficult to connect with the true meaning of the season. Yes, I ate lots of wonderful, delicious, food; participated in great conversations, and reflected on areas of my personal and spiritual life I improved on over the past year and will need to improve on this year. But I did wonder when we will get back to 5 day work weeks instead of 3 day work weeks and was sometimes so exhausted it was a miracle I made it to services at a decent hour and managed to stay awake through most of it. Don’t even ask me about the last few hours of Yom Kippur!

 At the Simchat Torah services I went to on the west side, there was an auction and we pledged not only monetary donations but also the kind of donations that require you to spend your time. Several people pledged to learn one-on-one with a charvusa (learning partner) for one hour a week, others pledged to learn Hebrew for one hour a week, and one woman said she will have her kitchen kashered. 

I thought the aucton was a brilliant idea. By saying you will take on a mitzvah in front of lots of people, you really have to step up and put your money where your mouth is. Yes, we all get busy with work, hobbies, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, family, but in the end we make time for things that are truly important to us. It seemed to me that nearly everyone in that room places Judaism at the top of their lists and it is a wonderful thing to see and I hope that we all feel that way for a very long time.

Now I’d like to end this post with a video to remember all the walking I did with my boyfriend throughout all the holidays but especially on Simchat Torah. All the walking killed my legs and especially my feet but I wouldn’t have changed a single thing. I wish I could take credit for thinking of this song but it was Bill (my boyfriend) who thought of it. Without further ado (pay attention to the chorus):