Another Year Come and Gone

Yesterday I celebrated my 30th birthday. I am officially not able to get away with tantrums...in public anyway. I am officially too old to still know where my blankie is (but I do). I am officially old.

I am now at the age that I thank God that my parents are still around. I am also at the age where I regret not seeing them more than I do. I am now at the age where my friends are moving on. We used to all live in the same neighborhood, now we are all dispersed around the US, with new families, new jobs, new educations and experiences. Some even in foreign countries.

I am now at the age where I can be proud of my accomplishments. I don't think its big headed or egotistical to look back on a year and smile at your merits. I won't say it was perfect. I'm sure I harmed people. I'm sure I didn't try hard enough to repair relationships that I'd damaged. I'm sure laziness and the flaw of wanting to take on too much too fast kept me from helping more people than I did. But, I did do good stuff too.

There have been a lot of changes in my life over the past year. Most importantly, I married my bashert Evan. He is absolutely the perfect match for me. He lets me be myself with no reservations and tells me every day how awesome I am. I pray that I put into this relationship at least a percentage of what I receive, because even that would be a ton. I loved my wedding. Not that I remember much about it, but it had been a long time since my whole family had been together. My fam doesn't have many opportunities to see one another. I got to see cousins that I hadn't seen in years and that was awesome. I am thankful that Evan has a large and loving immediate and extended family. They are all so great and have made me feel incredibly loved and accepted as one of them. Even if I am too busy to say it all the time, I know that Evan and I are very blessed.

I have worked hard to help others too, not just myself. Professionally, I am still working at NJOP and have been writing their @JewishTweets on Twitter. I love having this opportunity and getting to meet amazing Jews throughout the world that are using Twitter (of all places, right?) to engage in their heritage, whether by asking questions, telling jokes or sharing an inspiring story. I'm also interacting with fans on the Jewish Treats Facebook Page. If there is anything you want to learn about Judaism, let me know. If I don't know the answer, I have great people to ask for help.

Also this year I've worked on ParnasaFest (see blog I wrote on it here). What started out over lunch in Downtown NYC last February has turned into a internationally recognized grassroots initiative. After the mass layoffs in the Jewish nonprofit world, a couple friends and I asked ourselves, how can we help. A couple days later, we hosted our first ParnasaFest, a job networking event for those who need it. Whether they're in need of a new job opportunity, in need of new business contacts, or needing to meet people who are dealing with the same craziness in their lives that they themselves are dealing with, if nothing more than to shmooze and commiserate. Whatever their reason for attending an event or utilizing resources on our website, I hope they found utility in our work. I think they have, and that makes me happy.

I have also become a matchmaker on SawYouAtSinai's sister site YUConnects which is meant to facilitate matches amongst those in the Yeshiva University community. I love having this type of tool at my disposal to help Jewish singles. If you are on either of the sites, please seek me out on the matchmakers page and send me a message. I'd love to try to help you find your bashert!

Also, I was inducted into the prestigious ROI Community of young Jewish innovators and attended their summit in Israel this past summer. What an amazing collection of people to be grouped together with. It was a great honor.

And finally, I was honored last month to receive a nomination from a friend of mine in the United Jewish Communities' Jewish Community Hero contest. Its a huge honor. A lot of my fellow nominees are just like me. They desire to help their fellow Jews every day. A couple nominees who I'm voting for every day are Rabbi Moishe Engel who started the Gan Israel in my community that I attended every summer growing up and I attribute a lot of my religious growth to that experience and my friend Sharon Weiss-Greenberg who has just taken on the role of JLI Co-Director at Harvard where she and her husband are working with the Jewish students on campus. Then there is the Jewish Robot William Levin, my fellow ParnasaFester Dave Weinberg, and many more. So many great people on there that I'm happy are being recognized for what they do. Here is my profile, please check it out and shoot me a vote if you can. The prize money could be a huge help for the Jewish projects that I work on.

That's the year in review. I am so thankful for the friends and family in my life. I love you guys alot. Thank you thank you thank you. Shana Tova Umetuka, I hope you have a happy and sweet New Year. I hope you have a prosperous year full of opportunities to better yourself and those around you. I hope you receive all the things you desire at the right times. I hope you take advantage of your new clean slate and start filling it up with mitzvos and good deeds. And I will do my best to do the same. Gmar Chasima Tova, May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for Good!

Susanne

Tehillim for Wedding

Its said that on your wedding day you have a direct connection to God. I plan to take full advantage of this. But I don't want to just pray for myself. I'm here for you too. If theres anything in life that you would like an additional blessings for, please let me know. It could be to find your soulmate (shidduch), find a new job or get a raise (parnassah), pray for someone who is sick (cholim), or anything else you feel you need some extra karma on. Please either leave a comment here (if you want to keep it private, still leave a comment, everything is moderated before its published and if you want it not published, just make note for me), reply to me on Twitter (@susqhb), or message me. Try to include your Hebrew name (if you have one) and your mother's Hebrew name (if you don't know it, just include her name). Also, make note of what it is you'd like me to pray for. You don't need to know who I am. If you are somehow reading this, or a friend sent you here to submit a name, thats good enough for me. Many blessings to all! May we see Only Simchas from here on out!

LA Weather

Dear God,

In 2 days I will be privy to the 10 Day forecast for December 28th. That's my wedding day. Please let the weather be beautiful so my guests can appreciate the "divine" (double entendre there, how do you like that God?) weather of Southern California. Thanks.

Your Most Benevolent Worshipper,

Susanne

40 Days til Wedding

Forty days until my wedding on December 28th. The number 40 has great significance in Judaism. So I compiled some different sources speaking about why the number 40 is so important to us Jews.

Take for example from Rabbi Shraga Simmons of Aish:

"The number forty has significance throughout the Torah, and the Talmud.

For example, when a person becomes ritually impure, he must go to a ritual bath, a Mikveh. The Talmud tells us that a Mikveh must be filled with FORTY measures of water, and a person, must completely submerse himself in it. After being submersed, he leaves the Mikveh ritually pure. It is no accident, that in the story of Noah, the rain poured for FORTY days, and surrounded the world with water. And just as a person leaves a Mikveh pure, so too when the waters of the flood subsided, the world was pure.

According to the Maharal (16th century, Prague), the number FORTY has the power to raise up something's spiritual state. Just as FORTY measures of water purifies a person, and FORTY days of rain purified the world, so too Moses being on Mt. Sinai for FORTY days also had a purifying effect, in that the Jews arrived at Mt. Sinai as a nation of Egyptian slaves, but after forty days they were G-d's nation.

In the Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Jewish people that he had "led them FORTY years in the wilderness," (29:3-4) after he told them that "G-d has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day." So we see, it took the Jewish people FORTY years in the desert before they could understand the things that took place. Accordingly, the Mishna in Ethics of Our Fathers explains that "a man of forty attains understanding." (5:26) (Ethics from Sinai)."

This I found on the Torah.org site:

The number 40 occurs most conspicuously in connection with the Flood (40 days), with Moses on Mount Sinai (40 days, during which the Jews made the Golden Calf), and with the time the Jews spent in the desert (40 years, in punishment for their listening to the spies who had spent 40 days exploring the Promised Land). Thus 40 seems to be associated with punishment. Note that for violating a negative commandment the Torah specifies a punishment of 40 lashes (which the sages interpreted as 39). Perhaps the association with punishment is related to the fact that 40 is the numerical value of "yad Ha-Shem" (14+26).

This is from the Faqs.org site:

Forty days after a child is conceived, the Talmud tells us, the soul
enters the body. Forty, therefore, is a symbol of birth, rebirth and
change. It is interesting to note that it was recently found that
neural activity does begin at 40 days after conception. This also
means that abortion is permitted in more instances within the first 40
days of pregnancy than during the rest of pregnancy.

And finally, there is an idea that praying for a specific thing for 40 straight days is a great segula. I have friends that recited Shir HaShirim 40 days in a row to merit finding their bashert. There is a group, Western Wall Prayers, that will pray in your merit at the Kotel (Western Wall) for 40 straight days. They explain their mission as:

"Chazal (our Sages) have long spoken about the Segula of praying for 40 consecutive days. Whether one recites shir hashirim (King Solomon's Song of Songs), tehillim (King David's psalms) or personal heart-felt words, 40 days is a significant time period to arouse G-d's mercy.

Praying for 40 consecutive days specifically at the Kotel (Western Wall) is a famous practice of Jews in Jerusalem. Most people have heard about the popular Segula through word-of-mouth and have made the pilgrimage for marriage partners, income, children, healing and other.

According to Rav Sheinberger, author of a popular commentary on the Zohar (the definitive book of Kabbalah), the Segula was officially coined by Rabbi Yisroel Yaakov Fischer, of blessed memory - one of the leading Sages of the last generation. Dayan Fischer reportedly said that if someone goes to the Western Wall for 40 consecutive days to pray for 1 thing, it was a special Segula of its own."

I get it. 40 is an important number. I have 40 days until my slate is once again wiped clean. Evan and I will start a brand new life together on this day. I must do teshuva. I must free myself of all my ill feelings towards others. I must make ammends. I have 40 days left to "pack" for this journey.

Had I known...I'd have been a Rabbi

I just spoke to a lovely rabbi in the Greater Philly area. When I went to her shul site to double check the address I saw that the other rabbi in her shul had the same last name. Its not the most common name, so my guess is that they are married. It comes up pretty often when I find that two rabbis at a congregation are married to one another. Obviously I'm not referring to Orthodox institutions since they do not ordain women. I guess in the Reform and Convervative movements when a couple meets in Rabbinical school, they have a good heads up that their suitor is like minded in terms of their connection to Judaism, making it a good match from the get-go. Of course, there was one time when I called a congregation and asked for Rabbi X and the receptionist asked, which one, and I said Rabbi XX, and asked, oh, are they married? She said, um, they're divorced. Awkward! But anyhoo, point is, had I known how easy it was to meet my match had I gone to Rabbinical school I would have gone years ago. Well, it took some time, but at least I did in fact find my Rabbi. The question now is, when they announce us for the first time as husband and wife, do they say "Rabbi and Rebbitzen", or "Rabbi and Reverend"? :D