East Bay for the Holidays...

This past month we were without one Brady Gill for about a month. His time in Cambodia was raw well spent though as he learned valuable training and teaching strategies. Despite his absence the house has been shaking and rolling though. Due to 4 earthquakes and a house that is similar to a boat the house has really been on the move. Despite the fear of the big one hitting at any moment we were still able to have a very memorable deep fried food party; chimmies, spring rolls, deep fried ice cream...things got wild and oily all night long.

To celebrate the end of the year and a successful start to Moishe East Bay Dennis and I celebrated in San Francisco by riding a trolley to and fro and enjoying a spectacular display of fireworks. Dennis liked the cranberry juice, but he did not enjoy the spicy mustard he had packed away. Anyway, things were in upheaval all night and well into the new year, what a way to celebrate.

I am glad the consumerism of Christmas has passed. I am tried of being told how bad my life is and how much I need something for $49.99 that will change it and make things better. It makes me fearful that people can be trapped into this. How quickly smart rationale people can be changed into a meaningless mass of consumers. I continued my tradition, no gifts, not for you, not for anyone (sorry mom, but it's the principle).

Here's to a new year and new resolutions. I will be folding on a couple of my resolutions at the January 7th beer and chili festival, but hey, resolutions are made to be broken (that could really catch on, maybe a t-shirt...)

Scooby-Doo Scooby-Does

DAVID is part of something bigger than oneself

DAVID SAYS: So... I just returned from a week and a half in Florida with the fam. Miami to be precise. It was warm, though not hot. Humid, windy, and absolutely just what the doctor ordered. That all having been said, I missed some good times in the Moishe House of Washington.

However, I would like to share a special story of my experiences down south that reminded me that I am part of something just a smidge bigger than myself and my immediate circle of confidants, archfriends, and associates.

So, here's the scene. I'm having a very late breakfast out with my cousin. I'm eating something fishy. Grouper, perhaps. And I'm sporting my Moishe House stylez, wearing a shirt so very kindly shared with me by the SF Moishe House of their official softball team, the Matzah Ballstars. Also, it is worth noting that the shirt says "Moishe House" on the back, with the snazzy Moishe Mem logo as well.

Anyways, so these two lovely Jewess approach the table, and they ponder aloud, "hey, what are the Matzah Ballstars?"

I explained that the shirt was the official softball rags of some friends of mine in San Francisco, to which the one on the left so thoughtfully informs me: "oh, because the back of your shirt says 'Moise House,' and there's a Moishe House in the city in which we live - Washington [DC]." !!!!!

It turns out the two girls, both Washington-metro-area 20-somethings, read about us in the Washington Jewish Weekly and the younger of the two definitely expressed interest in coming to events and is now on our mailing list. To be fair, their DAD read the article and urged them to attend events, and they had no intention of doing so until they met me in person, I believe, but, really, how priceless is that all??

To make a shong story lort, I then returned to DC, accidentally ate at a vegan restaurant run by African Hebrew Israelites, and promptly went to bed, only to find myself awakened at 11 am by a Moishe House DC community Sunday brunch, with homemade pancakes and an omelet so sweet it'll make you get down on your knees and beg for buttermilk.

References to movies in which my home-state's governor stars aside, what this brought home was that I am part of a community now. and I have all of you to thank.

but especially the grouper. and haShem.

January first

I woke up this January 1 with a hacking cough, and after assuring all my parts had successfully made it through the New Year's Eve party we had last night, I decided to start my day and year off with a Richard Brautigan poem. This is what I turned to in my book, and I think I'll share it with you all... I feel pretty facedown in a well of my own making right now...



I Cannot Answer You Tonight in Small Portions

I cannot answer you tonight in small portions.
Torn apart by stormy love's gate, I float
like a phantom facedown in a well where
the cold dark water reflects vague half-built
stars
and trades all our affection, touching, sleeping,
together for tribunal distance standing like
a drowned train just beyond a pile of Eskimo
skeletons.

The Future Is Now

Not only did December mark the end of 2006, but also the end of my 26th year. With my birthday came a reminder that time is the one thing we can't control. It is up to me on this January 1st to make sure that how I live my life today, is in direct relation to how I want it to play out tomorrow. And so I do my laundry on this Sunday, preparing for a clean start to the new year. It is also a day where I reexamine my work life. I am choosing between something concrete, real, but not quite right, and the unknown. At what point in your life do you play it safe? Or when do you assume you can do better? This is the great question of my twenty-seventh year. And as for the rest of this life in 2007, I think it's all going to be fine...even wonderful.

Norah

Margie's first blog, honoring the work of MoHouse Boston in '06

Here's to Moishe House Boston, 2006!

10 hours till 2007. I like take time on New Years to reflect on my last 12 months and make some resolutions for next year. Still have a lot to work on, but this year, I'm feeling pretty good, and a lot of that is because of Moishe House Boston.

Last year around this time, I was feeling pretty good. I had moved to Boston 3 months before, and had pulled off a few successful Shabbat dinners. I'd made 5 good friends, usually finished my homework, and made it to the gym a few times a week. For a recent transplant, that felt like good progress.

But I hadn't been able to find the kind of community I was looking for. I kept visiting different synagogues and social groups hoping to find it, and talking with my friends about what we felt was missing. Together we dreamed about finding a community that was creative, engaged with the world, filled with interesting people that cared about each other. We dreamed about creating a space allow young Jews to create this kind of community, with programs and gatherings that represented their skills, passions, and interests.

Thanks to the Forest Foundation, that dream is starting to feel real. Our house is regularly packed with amazing people, doing fun things that mean something to us.

Like just last week, we held a Chanukah party where we cooked latke's with exotic vegetables like beets and turnips. Our friend Andrew created an elaborate wheel-of-fortune-like Chanukah game to get us thinking about the story of Chanukah and what it means to us. Andrew is a Jewish educator and Burning Man scenester, but doesn't usually get to combine his interests to create giant art for grown ups (ala Burning Man) with his talent at creating meaningful Jewish ed. programming. The game was hysterical, but more than the fun I had playing, I felt deeply fulfilled that our house could an outlet for this amazing person to share his talent and passion.

Beyond the (literal) fun and games, our house is also become a vehicle for powerful social action work. Last Friday, our friend Peter, who helps run the Harvard Homeless Shelter, called to say that the shelter was in dire need of volunteers. He knew that if we sent out an email, we could help cover the needed shifts. I was scrambling to finish my history final paper, but I knew that it was worth it to stop, because I really believed that members of our community would step up. And they did.

There is still lots more work to do, buiding up our leadership, encouraging more people to get involved, and working to make an even greater impact on social justice work. But thanks to the help of the Forest Foundation, Moishe House has made 2006 an fabulous and fulfilling year.

-------------
That's all for now. Happy New year!
Margie

Blogging from NYC...

So, peeps, I celebrated my first Christmas this year. What's that you say? I'm a Jew?

Too true, too true.

But MHB: KJSJH (MoHouse Boston: Kavod Jewish Social Justice House) took some time off this past week, and so I decided to celebrate the birth of the little baby Jesus -- not the Jesus who rocks out with Lynyrd Skynyrd with angel wings, for all of you Ricky Bobby fans -- with an old friend in Long Island. Suffice it to say, I now have enough myrrh and frankincense to last me a lifetime.

Weird.

Anyhow, our December actually rocked in Boston, Jew-style. Not only was our visioning meeting a beautiful thing at the beginning of the month, but that good vibe kept on going, with two gorgeous Shabbats and an exotic latke party that just about blew all of our minds. By mind-blowing, I simply mean that latkes of squash and beets and other such roots of the earth, when dropped in enough delicious oil, will trip you out like LSD never could. Not that I'd know that, of course.

Plus, I've been getting serious about this "personal board of directors" thing -- even if it's not a requirement, I like the idea behind it -- and I spent some quality time with Rabbi Josh Elkin of PEJE (the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education) back home in Boston and with Rabbi Steve Greenberg while I've been here in NYC (you might recall him from the awesome film Trembling Before God) talking about, among other things, "my Jewish journey." By that I mean we mostly just bull-shitted and caught up and talked about jobs and girls and doing good in the world and doing well in the world, but both meetings felt really good. Like I've got some folks looking out for me. And that ain't too bad at all.

So with that, let me wrap this post up here. Onward to '07, I s'pose...

My first Blog too!!

So this is my first blog ever as well. The Moishe House L.A. in December has been putting on social events galore for our Jewish peeps and a few goys ;) I think one of my favorite nights was the night we had The Ventriloquists play in our backyard. If you look at the pictures you can see a 5 (and at times 7) piece band jamming in our tiny backyard. In fact, some of us even crawl up to our roof just to watch them play from above. These guys are fantastic musicians and it was one of the best shows I had heard them play ever. BBQ, Beer, and a Band in you backyard....you can't beat that.
We also had a great time during our Chanukah party which produced some latkes that would even make your Bubbie cry (or so we were told). In fact we even went for a round 2 of latkes at 3 AM!!!
We are looking forward to next months events...hope we have as much fun as we did this month!!!