mabfan | Shavuot

This past Friday and Saturday marked the holiday of Shavuot on the Jewish calendar. Although Shavuot is one of the Biblically mandated holidays, it isn't as well-known as some of the other ones, such as Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, or Pesach (Passover). Thematically, though, it's still rather important, as among other things it commemorates the giving of the Torah.

This year, Nomi and I spent the holiday at the home of Nomi's sister's in-laws, who in many ways have become something of another set of parents for us. (They had also invited Nomi's parents, so we got to spend time with them as well.) Because we were guests, we had a chance to relax more than we would have had we stayed at home. If we had stayed at home, not only would we have done cooking and cleaning, but in my role as a gabbai at Kadimah I would have helped organize the services. Instead, I got to enjoy services organized by others at Congregation Shaarei Tefillah. I even got an aliyah, as a guest.

The one disappointment was that our hosts had invited

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introverte, and their family to join us for one of the meals, but in the end they couldn't come because the kids had gotten sick. Still, we got to see many other people in the Newton community, and it was a nice way to spend the holiday.