A Day in the Life

Posted at 1:00 PM, Sunday, March 9, 2008

"So what do you do when you're not teaching me? Do you have another job?" (from a 1998 bat mitzvah student)

There are days when I marvel at the variety in my job. Friday was an awesome day from that perspective. We managed to get the boys to school at 8:25 a.m.--a heroic accomplishment, and a necessary one, since I had been asked to lead the children's service that morning. I had never actually been to a Massada College service, so I floundered a bit. But the kids--especially Yonatan--were very happy to guide me along and tell me what I was doing wrong ("Ima! You're singing the wrong way!").

I drove west and south to the suburb of Somerton to make a condolence call. A member of our congregation had lost her 60 year-old daughter on Wednesday, and due to a variety of factors the funeral wasn't scheduled until Tuesday. I would sit down with the extended family this morning, but this visit was just for the mother. She has two surviving sons, grandchildren, and four beautiful great-granddaughters, but a loss like this is still very hard. I snacked shamelessly on delicious pastries flavored with nigella. (What is nigella? I have no idea, but the pungent taste is familiar.) The recipe originates from the island of Corfu with perhaps some modifications after three generations in Egypt.

I drove five minutes north to the seaside resort town of Glenelg for a quick sushi lunch. I found a Japanese restaurant where the chefs stand in the center of a large room and place color-coded dishes on a conveyor belt. The belt takes the dishes around the restaurant, and the customers pick what they want to eat. I had salmon sashimi and bean curd dumplings with rice inside.

I drove up the western side of Adelaide to North Adelaide and parked just opposite Womens' and Children's Hospital. I had a new baby to meet. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Baby Bess had arrived the night before and was very keenly observing everything that went on. Both parents were thrilled with the new arrival, although a bit uncertain what their lives will look like now.

I dashed over to the synagogue briefly to line up materials for Friday evening and Saturday morning services. Good thing I already had much of the services planned in advance! Then it was time to pick the boys at the end of their school week. I dropped them at home and ran off to do some quick pre-Shabbat shopping.

It was while I was in the confectionary aisle that I remembered that thirty minutes earlier I was supposed to have called a bar mitzvah student for a phone lesson. I called the family, and discovered they were too pre-occupied with getting ready for the huge world music festival Womadelaide to have remembered the lesson either. It's too bad the lesson didn't happen, because that would really have filled out my life cycle day nicely.

At services, a young couple announced their engagement. No, I didn't plan this, but I admit I thought it was just a terrific way to bring this crazy day to an end. I got home at 7:30 p.m. for Shabbat dinner, drank a well-deserved beer, and settled in to the day of rest.