it nibbles on your fingers, but it's more cute than anything else.
Ok, now to make more sense.
Let me pose a dilemma, a puzzling conundrum, if you will. This is more a hypothetical situation than one that MHDC currently faces, but I'm curious to hear y'all's response to this paradigmatic example to get a better sense of how you think.
Let's say you've got a real problem guest.
Never brings food or drink to potluck shabbat. always conveniently "forgets" and doesn't RSVP.
Very creepily hits on the other guests.
Smells kind of funny.
Jewish but has a bad attitude about judaica in events.
Occasionally shows up somewhat plastered.
Offensive and politically incorrect.
Calls people grating pet names.
Gassy.
Is a member of the house.
His name is Leo.
Ok, so I'm kidding about the extreme nature of this hypothetical example, but my main question remains - what do you do when you have a guest who isn't contributing to the warm, supportive nature of the Moishe House environment? I don't think we've had guests who really approach this point, only a few awkward fish at worst, but I was curious where and when you see it appropriate to say something to a guest and what you consider defines a "problem guest". What would you say?
Rgds,
Dvid
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Saturday, February 3, 2007
January
Much has happened since my last blog. It's been a month of transitions, and will continue to be that way for many more months. Stephen will be leaving the house, as he begins a new home with some other good people in the community. I have taken on a job that will offer me a new found sense of stability and routine. Jonathan will have a new roommate, and thus, a new home life. It will change the house dynamic and what Moishe looks like in these next few months. In addition, Dave is slowly preparing to step down from his JConnect position in June. And at that point, I think we know that Moishe house will finally be over. It has been quite a year, for at the end of this next month, we will have completed 12 months of MH Seattle. In the meantime we are still here, and after hosting Levi and Phil for the weekend, are as invigorating and involved as ever. Our guests were able to witness a MH soccer game, a classic Shabbat evening, the city sights and the mountains in which we hooked on snow shoes and trekked along the ski slopes. It's been a good month. The weather starting to give us some hope that the winter will end. And it will. As all of this will. 3015-3017 MHSEA 2/3 nh
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Is that you Borat? Vanilla Face?
Oh What up Moishe Housers?! 2007 is alive and kickin' and after traumatizing travels to the far east to learn the true meaning of yum yum boom boom - I'm back in fine form with Moishe House as my shelter.As you can see here I a) lost all my money and dignity at another poker night [sweatshirt reads: I LUV TO HUDDLE] and b) that it seems like no matter where I try to run a serious meeting I'm met with cock jokes [notice the Morris B. Squire original looming large in the background; soon to make us all millionaires].
If I had to pick one thing I'm most excited about pertaining to Moishe SF it's the upcoming softball season. We had such a big demand for spots on the team this coming spring that we're splitting into 2 teams with 3 people on each who stepped up to coach. We're having a draft next Monday! So it's no Beit Midrash but it's certainly spiritual. Moishe House Jersey is on board in beautiful Hoboken and I'm getting my first taste of a real winter in quite a long time. How do you East Coasters do it? No softball in January?! Seriously?! Much love from the city by the bay - stay healthy! - Isaac
Like my chrum BY:Lee Levin, LA Moishe House
We had a visit from the film crew (phil) and it was fantastic. We laughed we cried Levi crapped himself it was fantastic. We only hope they captured our good sides.
This month we had a recored number of people come through our house. Poker has now doubled in it's average size and we are on the look out for our next great community project. Could it be more toys for tots? cleaning up a bumb? Helping Isaac become the Pres? who knows. What I do know is that I can't wait for the next blog from.
We journey into the next stage of 2007 lets hope it's as fun and energetic as the last stage.
This month we had a recored number of people come through our house. Poker has now doubled in it's average size and we are on the look out for our next great community project. Could it be more toys for tots? cleaning up a bumb? Helping Isaac become the Pres? who knows. What I do know is that I can't wait for the next blog from.
We journey into the next stage of 2007 lets hope it's as fun and energetic as the last stage.
HANNAH HUMPED LEVI!
What's up y'all Moishe House LA is a day late for our blogs because Hannah saw her shadow on January 2.
(pause for LOLs).
Levi and Phil came to MoHoWeHo this week to grab some content, give us our long-awaited welcome mat, and to get humped by Hannah. Phil was a little shy, but Levi went at it.
We started off 2007 with some pretty cool stuff.
An exclusive comedy night at the Hollywood Improv featuring a lineup of Jews and a fellow Clevelander. Performers included Jeff Ross, Jeremy Hotz, Jordy Fox, Dana Gould and Drew Carey if you didn't guess that one. We were rolling with laughter all night!
Two successful and relaxing Shabbat dinners. We continue to have new people come through to our Shabbat dinners. The majority are young people who don't normally participate in Jewish rituals and haven't since their Bar/Bat-Mitzvahs. These people all rave about how awesome it is for them to have this at the end of the week, and about how they want to do it more often. It's been cool to incorporate those little pieces of Jewish culture into the lives of secular Jews like us.
We also had a couple of events with just the three of us that were both learning experiences--a road trip to Mammoth and an evening of setting up HIGH DEFINITION TV! That's right, MoHoWeHo made it to the 21st century. 2007 is gonna be a great year.
Peas,
Nate Blogg
(pause for LOLs).
Levi and Phil came to MoHoWeHo this week to grab some content, give us our long-awaited welcome mat, and to get humped by Hannah. Phil was a little shy, but Levi went at it.
We started off 2007 with some pretty cool stuff.
An exclusive comedy night at the Hollywood Improv featuring a lineup of Jews and a fellow Clevelander. Performers included Jeff Ross, Jeremy Hotz, Jordy Fox, Dana Gould and Drew Carey if you didn't guess that one. We were rolling with laughter all night!
Two successful and relaxing Shabbat dinners. We continue to have new people come through to our Shabbat dinners. The majority are young people who don't normally participate in Jewish rituals and haven't since their Bar/Bat-Mitzvahs. These people all rave about how awesome it is for them to have this at the end of the week, and about how they want to do it more often. It's been cool to incorporate those little pieces of Jewish culture into the lives of secular Jews like us.
We also had a couple of events with just the three of us that were both learning experiences--a road trip to Mammoth and an evening of setting up HIGH DEFINITION TV! That's right, MoHoWeHo made it to the 21st century. 2007 is gonna be a great year.
Peas,
Nate Blogg
Gettin' It Done!
There is nothing like coming home to your Moishe House and finding a group of friends in a joyous and heated discussion. On one particular Thursday evening in late January this discussion surrounded neither politics nor religion, but the upcoming Matzah Ballstars season. A team which only lived in our imagination less than a year ago had now taken on a life and following all its own. In the Summer we were doing our best to fill a roster with 14 to 20 players. Now, in late winter we were realizing we would need to have two teams to accomodate the tremendous amount of enthusiastic, if not talented, ballplayers we had interested in suiting up for the most intimidating non-profit sponsored ballclub in the Bay. Now sides were being taken, responsibilities divided, a plan set in motion.
This would be an exciting event to find at our house on most evenings, but all the more special because a Mo House poker game would be taking place in that very room only minutes later. There would be a different host for this event, participants arriving to play cards as Ballstars exited, and a whole new electricity in the air as the second event of the evening was about to take flight. As Thai food containers were shuttled to the garbage, corn chips and salsa were poured into bowls. As softball paperwork was organized and cleared, poker chips were being counted and distributed across the table. The poker faces were in place, and the cards dealt. Just your not-so-average night at Moishe House San Francisco.
Let the games begin!
This would be an exciting event to find at our house on most evenings, but all the more special because a Mo House poker game would be taking place in that very room only minutes later. There would be a different host for this event, participants arriving to play cards as Ballstars exited, and a whole new electricity in the air as the second event of the evening was about to take flight. As Thai food containers were shuttled to the garbage, corn chips and salsa were poured into bowls. As softball paperwork was organized and cleared, poker chips were being counted and distributed across the table. The poker faces were in place, and the cards dealt. Just your not-so-average night at Moishe House San Francisco.
Let the games begin!
Gandhi, Sol, MHB
The past two weeks I have been watching Gandhi with Ben Kingsley. At 188 minutes, I decided to break it up and savor it. It has been particularly inspiring for me to reflect that the sacrifice, the love, the thirst for justice that Gandhi expressed so fully through his life is present in all of us. At the risk of seeming ridiculous, I must admit that I have been sitting on T trains, standing on street corners, praying in Shabbat services, wondering, imagining one, two, five, maybe 10 revolutionaries like Gandhi emerging from the crowd. But Friday night, Sol confirmed my suspicions. At the end of a bouncing Friday night service that nearly took the floor out from under us, Sol rose to share some Torah.
Sol taught about the first mitzvah that the Jewish people receive after being liberated from slavery in Egypt: the mitzvah of a new month. The question is, how can a new month be a mitzvah? As Sol so beautifully taught us, once we received freedom, time itself became the first imperative. As free people, our time is ours. So what are we going to do with it?
Sol shared how he his devoting his time: he talked to us about his holy work with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, which campaigns for Universities to make new medicines and medical innovations available to communities in the developing world. Check out the Philadelphia Concensus Statement here: http://consensus.essentialmedicine.org/ . It provides good summary of what UAEM has been up to, an opportunity to sign the statement in solidarity, and information on how to get involved.
Sol taught about the first mitzvah that the Jewish people receive after being liberated from slavery in Egypt: the mitzvah of a new month. The question is, how can a new month be a mitzvah? As Sol so beautifully taught us, once we received freedom, time itself became the first imperative. As free people, our time is ours. So what are we going to do with it?
Sol shared how he his devoting his time: he talked to us about his holy work with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, which campaigns for Universities to make new medicines and medical innovations available to communities in the developing world. Check out the Philadelphia Concensus Statement here: http://consensus.essentialmedicine.org/ . It provides good summary of what UAEM has been up to, an opportunity to sign the statement in solidarity, and information on how to get involved.
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