Need I Say More?

Seen on a bumper sticker in Phoenix, Arizona (March, 2009):

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”

(thanks Dad!!)



Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Purim -- Megillah Reading -- Part III

Each year, I get a little smarter.

I stayed home on Purim night, and went to bed at a reasonable hour, so I woke up well on Purim morning.

On Purim morning, not only do I have to arrive on time for Megillah reading, but I also have to help everyone with their costumes. This year, I had it pretty easy. I just had to make up A's face (white face, contrasted with very RED lips).

Y, my daughter, also wanted me to check her reading, as she practiced one last time. She read well. We were ready to go.

We arrived, right on time, at my daughter's school. There was even parking! (YAY!)

My daughter was reading the second half of tet (the ninth chapter), which is all the way at the end. It did not occur to me that this would give my daughter ample time to develop stage fright.

Of course, she had chosen to sit with her friends (instead of her boring old mother...), so I had no clue. (Actually, she was sitting with her madrichot (youth group counselors) who came to hear her read, and she was being a gracious hostess)

The other girls read well; one or two read particularly well. I was confident that Y would read at least as well.

I did not realize just how nervous she was until she started reading.

My daughter, who read so loudly and clearly at her Bat Mitzvah, read soooooo q-u-i-e-t-l-y. I was worried that people would not hear her. Thankfully, though the auditorium was packed, everyone could hear every word.

Y read her reading flawlessly. All the repetitions and the work at home paid off.

I was so proud of her!!

As soon as the reading was over, I told her what a good job she did!! She smiled so sweetly.

Then I mentioned that she did not read as loudly as she had when she practiced at home and I wondered if she was nervous.

She looked at me, her eyes wide and serious. "I was shaking!" she admitted.

Probably, nobody else could tell. But I knew how wonderfully she was capable of projecting her voice. I had heard her practicing.

Y justified her nervousness, quite matter-of-factly, as she explained that she spent almost a full year learning for her Bat Mitzvah parsha (portion) and only one week learning her Megillah reading.

I missed the opportunity to emphasize that she might have started preparing in earnest a little bit earlier. But I did not want to be too critical. Even if she had started preparing earlier, she only had about two and a half week's notice, and she had never even learned Megillah trope (cantillations). I wanted her to feel good about what she accomplished.

She really did an amazing job!

Later, one of my friends told me that Y's voice was sounded trained. My friend, who does not know my daughter well, said that when she heard the beautiful voice, she looked up and, only then, recognized my daughter.

Years ago, Y's choir teacher told me that Y has a very beautiful and distinctive voice.

I do not know much about voices, but I love listening to her sing.

I am so happy that she is using her voice for the good of her community.

I might just have to go hear her again next year....




Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Purim -- Megillah Reading

Women! Come one, come all!!

I am hosting a women's Megillah reading at my home on Tuesday night. (We live in Jerusalem, so we celebrate Purim on Shushan Purim, one day later.)

This is the third year that I am organizing a women's reading in my neighborhood, Homat Shmuel, but the FIRST year that I am hosting it in my home.

My home is not neat and orderly (to put it mildly), so I was embarrassed to host. But the woman, who hosted in the past, can't host this year. And, since this is really my baby, I decided that it really made the most sense to host it in my home.

So, with the help of a friend, we placed an announcement in Al Homotaich, a local weekly magazine.

In shul (synagogue), this past Shabbat, I invited everyone I thought might be interested! Many had already seen the invitation in Al Homotaich. I hope I created enough of a buzz....

We have the privilege, for the third year in a row, to have my friend, TS, read for us. She is an amazing reader, exacting in both nikud (pronunciation) and ta'amei hamikra (cantillations), and she also does voices! How fun is that?!


----------------------------------------------------


Originally, as some of the long-term blog readers know, I wanted to organize an additional morning reading. I would have broken up the reading by chapters and I would have read a chapter as well.

Just as I was starting to plan the morning reading, my eldest daughter announced that she was reading half of tet (the 9th chapter) in her school on Purim morning!

"But you don't know how to read Megillah!" I responded, confused as to how she could volunteer for something she does not know how to do.

My daughter smiled sweetly at me and asked "Can you teach me?"

In two weeks?!?

How could I say 'no'?

She already knows how to read Torah, and she is quite musical, so it was just a matter of helping her learn a new melody.

With more than a little help from TS, my daughter is ready to read on Purim morning.

I am so proud.

At first, I deliberated about what to do on Purim morning. It did not help that my daughter kept telling me that I did not have to come to her reading.

"I know I do not have to come," I reassured her, "but don't you want me to come?"

To my chagrin, my daughter was perfectly fine with me doing my own thing at home.

But I really could not imagine missing the first time she reads Megillah.

So, despite her cavalier attitude, I decided that this year I am going to hear her read Megillah at her school.

Hopefully, next year, I will organize a morning reading in my home.

Though, who knows what surprises might wait around the corner....

PURIM SAMEACH!!



Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Just Hand Me Those Power Tools!

Our front door handle fell off.

It happened before... a few years ago. The door was still under warranty. The fix-it guy came and screwed the handle back together in less than five minutes. No fuss, no muss, and no money.

So, I called the lock people and they said there is no more warranty and it will cost 250 NIS (about $60) to come fix it! I noted that was a little outrageous for five minutes of work.

Then, the secretary mentioned that I could fix it myself.

OK, now we're talking!

In less than a minute, I learned what size Allen wrench to use and how to fix the handle myself.

No problem. I own Allen wrenches. I even know where they are. (no small feat, given the state of disaray in my home)

I was so proud. I could do this!

Except.... I could not.

The simple instructions did not work. No matter how much I tightened it, the handle kept coming apart.

So, I bit the bullet and made an appointment with the fix-the-door people. (I tried to negotiate a better price, but the best I could do was 230 NIS, which is still outrageous for five minutes of work.)

Then, I had another idea.

I called our local hardware store. The store owner, who also is a fix-it guy, told me to bring in the handle.

Sure enough, the handle was totally broken.

So, I bought a new handle for 60 NIS (it even came with its own Allen wrench), and fixed the handle myself... in less than five minutes.

So cool!



Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA