Yo Mo Kids -
Holla at Moishe House of the month!!! February was great in Philly with awesome events and tons of beautiful faces. We had a great Kiddush Shabbat party, an engaging FonDue B'shvat Seder, an intimate text-based discussion lead by Dr. Bernstein (Dean of Pardes), and another delicious round of Brew Club.
On a more serious note, I would like to commend Adam Rose for his articulation of our current concerns at Moishe House Philly, and hope that everyone else feels the same fire sparked within themselves. We, the residents, are the bread and butter of this organization, and with our collective intelligence, energy, and ambition we can sustain our vision well into the future.
Think about it. Do something about it.
with love,
Shelby
Monday, March 2, 2009
Happy birthday, trees!
My favorite event of the month was our Tubishvat Seder, celebrating the Jewish birthday of the trees. Moishe House Boston folks from our local foods team worked together with people from Hebrew College and from Temple Beth Zion to plan a community celebration of local foods, and drew 250 people! Like the Passover seder, our seder was structured around the 4 cups of wine. For each cup, we had a local farmer talk about their farm and what it was like to spend their lives intricately connected to the earth, and had table leaders at each of 25 tables lead discussions about our own relationship with the environment. The seder encouraged people to join CSA's, shares of community supported agriculture that help support local farms. Kudos to Aaron for spearheading that effort.
Judaism and democracy
Last sunday in our community centre we arrange special event dedicated to present political situation in israel concerning a new gouverment and the tension between left and right. The most discussed issue were negotation between israel beiteinu and likud party touching the religious problems and civil rights in israeli society. Conclusion of our discusion was that civil rights are not less important than jewish character of state of israel
Snow days and Ice Cream, how I heart thee
Say it with me: “one, two, three, snow daaaaaaaaaaaay!!” One of my favorite parts of being a Northerner in the DC/Maryland area is that more than an inch or two of snow means life shuts down!!! Definitely no complaints about the two hour delay, but if I was able to ride my bike to school, the roads couldn’t have been too bad, right? But I digress, and am talking about the wrong month. We kicked off the second month of the year with International Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, and I think all months should start that way. In fact, I think every day should be IICFB day. Rest assured, Moishe House foundation – we made all participants sign a waiver saying MH would not be held responsible for any newly developed health conditions related to the overconsumption of waffle, ice cream and hot fudge sandwiches. Some people can’t seem to lay off the ice cream, but it’s OK, because if you eat it with a fork, then calories fall through the tines. It’s science. And by science, I mean lies.
So, as I’m reminiscing on the February events, I’m realizing that they all involved food. I could list them, but I think I’ll just leave you wondering. If you’re dying to find out how well we feed our constituents, you’ll just have to come to an event. I think that just about wraps things up. I’m getting super excited for Purim next week, but I can’t decide what to dress up as. I think my best previous costume was a mermaid, but I can’t find my seashell bra, and besides, I need something fresher. If you have any advice, shoot me an email. Until next month!
Aaron, from MHSS.
Snowfall
It’s snowing here in Hoboken. Gentle crystals of white frozen water float down from the sky and begin to pile up on every surface. Night’s darkness is pierced not solely by light reflected of the moon, the Earths harsh mistress, but by the millions upon millions of little falling flakes each refracting, reflecting, and magnifying that same little bit of light. Bouncing from each flake of snow as it falls, it brightens the deep dark night sky transforming it into perpetual twilight. It has not snowed more than a token in some time and a cold blast from the past, several inches of white powder, cover the land causing a deep chill to set in.
This is the winter of my discontent. For political introverted-ness and nouveau isolationism have begun to coat the land with despair. One need only look towards “stimulative” policies which freeze economic growth with an artic blast. Pretty to those not stuck in it, snow is cold, unwelcoming, and working under its unforgiving rules draining and dangerous. One need only look at the unbridled energies, the blizzard of activity, of former 08 Presidential campaign warriors who unleashed a storm of new activism against Israel. Ostensibly, these winded assaults are in response to actions in Gaza. That is as silly as saying the snow needs a reason to fall, for these people needed something to keep them warm even if it makes other feel the cold.
This is my discontent. It is winter outside Moishe Hoboken. And whilst all is well inside - a fire burning of friendship, hope, and ideas, outside coldness grows. A deep chill has set in across the land and soon I worry it will form a figure and knock at the door begging entrance. Disarming from a distance, the approaching blizzard appears pretty but the packed white powder is draining and unrelenting. No one can know what danger it conceals. Our community is gathered, our desire for a better, warmer, caring world is marshaled. It is still snowing in Hoboken but we are ready for the storm.
This is the winter of my discontent. For political introverted-ness and nouveau isolationism have begun to coat the land with despair. One need only look towards “stimulative” policies which freeze economic growth with an artic blast. Pretty to those not stuck in it, snow is cold, unwelcoming, and working under its unforgiving rules draining and dangerous. One need only look at the unbridled energies, the blizzard of activity, of former 08 Presidential campaign warriors who unleashed a storm of new activism against Israel. Ostensibly, these winded assaults are in response to actions in Gaza. That is as silly as saying the snow needs a reason to fall, for these people needed something to keep them warm even if it makes other feel the cold.
This is my discontent. It is winter outside Moishe Hoboken. And whilst all is well inside - a fire burning of friendship, hope, and ideas, outside coldness grows. A deep chill has set in across the land and soon I worry it will form a figure and knock at the door begging entrance. Disarming from a distance, the approaching blizzard appears pretty but the packed white powder is draining and unrelenting. No one can know what danger it conceals. Our community is gathered, our desire for a better, warmer, caring world is marshaled. It is still snowing in Hoboken but we are ready for the storm.
MHSS Alan wrote a creepy love haiku
i call it "Facebook":
you defriended me
but i'll always remember -
i copied your pics
*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*
In honor of friday the thirteenth and valentines day, we had a "creepy love" haiku share at MHSS Shabbat this month! It was a fun way to end a great night with MH first-timers and new food experimentation (I made citrus and salsa baked salmon, and the other MHSSers made some great salads, pastas, and kugels). Pre-dinner living-room-style services were relaxing and song-filled, as usual, and all the new faces led to some spectacular conversations.
you defriended me
but i'll always remember -
i copied your pics
*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*snapping*
In honor of friday the thirteenth and valentines day, we had a "creepy love" haiku share at MHSS Shabbat this month! It was a fun way to end a great night with MH first-timers and new food experimentation (I made citrus and salsa baked salmon, and the other MHSSers made some great salads, pastas, and kugels). Pre-dinner living-room-style services were relaxing and song-filled, as usual, and all the new faces led to some spectacular conversations.
Celebration of Trees
What's not to love about a T'bshvat Seder? Fruits, nuts, trees, people, singing, talking about the cycle of life. For me, the whole seder is just delicious and something I had been looking forward to since last years seder.
We co-sponsored the event with Shomreih Adamah and several other local jewish groups and hosted bye the historical 6th & I synagogue. The event was such a success that we keep squeezing chairs at the tables to make sure everyone had a seat. It was great to share the seder with Moishe House Silver Spring community members and to meet many other people in the area. It was also wonderful to share the evening with friends who were T'Bshvat seder virgins (as I had been last year) and know that it will be their first, but most definately not their last.
The seder was lead by variety of people in the community, jewish leaders, jewish farmers, jewish singers, etc. We also focused on creating as little waste as possible that evening. We purchased (and then donated to the synagogue) plates and silverware that they will now use for future events. Hopefully, these gifts will help 6th & I avoid using disposible plates and silverware in the future. And after the seder, there was a group of us bonding while we washed and dried all the dishes.
I look forward to next years seder and working towards more ways to reduce our garbage and sharing the gifts of the earth.
We co-sponsored the event with Shomreih Adamah and several other local jewish groups and hosted bye the historical 6th & I synagogue. The event was such a success that we keep squeezing chairs at the tables to make sure everyone had a seat. It was great to share the seder with Moishe House Silver Spring community members and to meet many other people in the area. It was also wonderful to share the evening with friends who were T'Bshvat seder virgins (as I had been last year) and know that it will be their first, but most definately not their last.
The seder was lead by variety of people in the community, jewish leaders, jewish farmers, jewish singers, etc. We also focused on creating as little waste as possible that evening. We purchased (and then donated to the synagogue) plates and silverware that they will now use for future events. Hopefully, these gifts will help 6th & I avoid using disposible plates and silverware in the future. And after the seder, there was a group of us bonding while we washed and dried all the dishes.
I look forward to next years seder and working towards more ways to reduce our garbage and sharing the gifts of the earth.
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