Thursday, August 7, 2008

That song by men at work ...

8 - 8 - 08. Who would have thought it ... it's the same date in the US of A as it is in Australia. As you probably know by now, Brett Farve will be the starting rabbi for the Victoria Union for Progressive Judaism. (His cameo in There's Something About Mary is so fantastic ....)

Things continue to be enjoyable in Australia. I cannot believe I'm heading home so soon, it's less than a month away and I think I'll be throwing a welcome home party on the 6th of September on the roof at 786 Amsterdam Avenue -- see all of you there.

The big news in Australia (as i'm sure most other places) is the Olympics. The Aussies, with a population of about 25 million, should be in the top 5 in total medals. (US, Russia, China, Togo. The Roos really want to beat England). It's a little weird to be celebrating the Summer Olympics considering it is Winter. Chalk another one up to Northern Hemispherial Bias.

Actually, from a work standpoint it's interesting to see the way the Jewish Holidays fit into the calendar. Passover is in Autumn, Chanukkah (the festivals of lights) is in the longest month of the year and all of the holidays that celebrate the harvests and the blooming of the fruits and trees, are totally off. August traditionally the down time for Synagogue life, is packed, and this weekend I'm leading a study session for Tisha B'Av, an commemoration day rarely observed by Reform Jews in the US. It's not observed partially for theological reasons but partially because it falls in the middle of summer. Here it fits in perfectly in the calendar.

All else is well. Erin arrived and confiscated my camera so I have no photos to post -- I'll grab it back and make sure to get some other ones up in the future.

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