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.

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