As customary on Cozy-Shabbat weekends during summer and winter academic breaks at Shabbos House, we go around the table asking students to each share something interesting, inspiring, humorous, meaningful or memorable from their week. This past Friday Night (2/21) seemed to be a Cozy-Shabbat of sorts, with UAlbany on mini-break and there were about 40 students present when we made Kiddush. Had we known that more were on their way, we probably would not have done it, but once we started there was no going back. And we’re glad we did!
We might have missed a few and perhaps its not written exactly as it was said (hard to remember what everyone said, remember we can’t write or record on the Sabbath) but from the spectrum of those we’ve included here you’ll get the gist of the beautiful things people shared and what a meaningful and memorable atmosphere it was that Friday Night – in no particular order:
– I study cryptography, which is the math side of the computer code that protects sensitive data like credit card information online. I’ve grown to really love this kind of thing, and just learned that I may have a job lined up with Apple after my graduation with a Masters. Its like a dream come true!
– While I studied for my PhD at UAlbany, I did my undergrad at Maryland. This week I learned that along with thousands of other Maryland students and alumni my personal information was hacked in a massive breach of data. It didn’t bother me in the least, because just a few weeks earlier I was among those affected by the Target data leak, so I lost nothing new in the Maryland data breach.
– The plan was for me to be home for an extended 5-day weekend. But there was too much work at the office and I couldn’t get home. Aside for my mom the one who was most upset was by 8-year old brother. He is quite handy and was eager to show me something he had put together. Since I couldn’t make it home, he sent me a picture, and a note – for me to enjoy the weekend with my family away from home. And indeed, here I am, with family away from home!
– There’s this website that streams video games being played live by people around the world. One that I particularly enjoy watching is a Pokemon game, which remarkably is being controlled by the viewers. Everyone watching can tell the “player” which way to turn, what to do etc. So it’s incredibly amazing to watch this player go back and forth, in and out of rooms and such, controlled by thousands, even tens of thousands of viewers from all around the world. And the most amazing this is that progress is made, and some extremely technical maneuvers are accomplished – despite (or because?) of the input and control of thousands of “cooks”. It’s inspiring the see this type of “crowd control” and what masses of people, unrelated and unconnected to each other, cross languages and cultures, can all accomplish together.
– Last week I was feeling overwhelmed with assignments and workload. Each professor was piling things on, it was getting a bit much. Then there was some snow in the forecast, and I silently prayed to G-d, “Please, please, let tomorrow be a snowday!” And indeed that’s what happened. My prayers were answered. And not only were classes cancelled but I got a few emails notifying me that many of my assignments were postponed or extended due to the snowday. Wow, what relief. And now that I had a little free time on my hands I got outside and enjoyed some time exploring parts of campus I’ve never seen before. It was refreshing and invigorating. If you have some time without specific things to do, get out a bit, get some fresh air, look around and do something you might not have done otherwise, it will refresh you!
– Most of my life, growing up in Long Island or up here in college, I’ve been around enough Jews or non-Jews who know Jews, so I’ve never encountered personal antiSemitism or discrimination. Until recently. I was in a work environment where unfortunately a supervisors criticism made me question my identity, my beliefs, and my ability to function in secular society as a proud, visibly observant Jew. I took it hard at first, but thanks to speaking with Mendel and Raizy, and support form my academic faculty, I realized that this behavior was wrong and unacceptable, and even illegal. Yes, there will be intolerant and ignorant people out there, but we ought to be proud of who we are, and most will respect and value that.
– This week I celebrated my 21st birthday with friends at Bomber’s, a place downtown that serves a big huge margarita for your 21st birthday. Though I am not much of a drinker myself, it was really nice to spend joyous quality time with good friends, and I guess my inspiration to all of you is to go to Bomber’s for your 21st!
– Often before Shabbat my brother shares me with some words of wisdom. This week he told me that if you want to connect with G-d, you have to reach out! You can’t wait around for G-d to wake you up. Since our relationship with G-d can be the paradigm for all our types of relationships in life, this is an important thing to remember. We have to reach out, we have to take initiative, we should take the first steps and not wait around for someone else to do it.
– I’m getting close to graduation and I realized that I never really fully thanked my parents openly for all they’ve done for me. I guess we often take that for granted. But recently, I took the time to meaningfully appreciate and openly thank my parents for all they have done (and continue to do) for me and I’m really glad I did. Better we be thankful while we still have what to be thankful for. Don’t wait until it is too late.
– I haven’t been on State Quad since freshmen year, but had to go back there this weekend because the rest of the Dining Halls were closed for the mini-break. So I made my way over there and was delighted and surprised to see Barb, the card-swiper, give me a nice smile as she swiped my card. Now, I remember her smile. Some days of freshmen year her warm smile got me going and picked me up when things were down. Think about it. She’s been working there for 30 years swiping students cards, and giving them smiles. Doing that job for thirty years has not jaded her, hasn’t pulled her down, on the contrary she continues to pick other people up. That’s inspiring!
– This week we read about the construction of the Mishkan. We see all the work and contributions that went into it. But we also have the perspective of history and we know that it didn’t last forever, and subsequently. two more Mishkans and two more Temples were destroyed over the years. But although the building and materials may have been destroyed, and the vessels lost or stolen, their memory and their legacy and their meaning and purpose continue to live on. It’s an inspirational message about living on past destruction, about having faith after loss, about rebuilding and starting anew, about continuity!
– One of my suite-mates got a package from his mom. It was a big box of cupcakes. She said she sent extra for him to share with the students he lives with. Now I thought that very sweet. This woman doesn’t know us (or that much) but she thought of the rest of us when she sent something for her son. That’s thoughtful!
– I am grateful to be here for Shabbat Dinner. I recently transferred to this school, and am glad a classmate told me about dinner here tonight. Growing up I didn’t know too much about my Jewish side and didn’t do too much about it, but I am grateful for this opportunity to get more involved and learn more.
– In our American Jewish Experience class Professor Barry Trachtenberg assigned us a 1,000 word paper on how Jews in America transitioned from immigrants to the middle class. It had to be no less than 1,000 and no more than 1,200 words. This is a rich topic with lots of information, and one that we have a lot of material (both from books, personal knowledge and family experiences) that instead of having to add words to fill the paper, I found myself chopping out words to trim it down to 1,000 words. I kept rethinking: is this paragraph or sentence important? How can I say the same thing in less words? Is there a better way to put it? I even started examining my “and’s” and “the’s”! This challenging exercise helped me look at words and sentences differently, and it helped me condense my thoughts and get to the key points.
– There’s an actor who has been doing really well in films the past few years, his acting is stellar and strong, he really comes across great. But he was in a slump for a few years prior, acting in films that weren’t a good fit for him, didn’t come across great. The lesson? Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t feel stuck or trapped. It may take time or different circumstances for you to find your groove and niche, but even famous people struggle to find that place.
– I love to study Chinese. I study it here, spent time abroad studying it in China. As I near graduation I wonder how I can I earn a living doing what I enjoy to do? Then my father found out about an Israeli government program that pays for fluent Hebrew speakers to learn Chinese. Ah! Wonderful! If I can earn money to do what I love to do! What greater blessing is there? I don’t know yet all the details or how it might work out for me, but I am excited for this opportunity.
– I am in the midst of working for a graduate student with his doctoral research. It’s quite tedious, lots of copying and pasting, looking through articles, running question searches etc. The good thing about it is that the subject is humor. How even a little humor can be quite transformative and make big positive changes in our lives.
– Here’s an inspiring story I heard at a friend’s engagement party last week. It’s an old classic. A man dreamt that a treasure was buried under a bridge in Cracow. He first dismissed it but then the dream kept recurring so he set off to Cracow. He tried to find a time to dig but people were always around. A policeman saw him loitering and came over to investigate. The man sheepishly told the officer the truth. The officer laughed and dismissed the dream saying, “Why I dreamt that so and so from the town of X has treasure buried under his oven. Do I travel to X and ask that man to dig up his oven? Of course not!” Strangely, the officer mentioned his very own name and town. He hurried back home, dug out his oven and found the treasure. The message? Sometimes we have to travel far only to discover that the treasure we seek is in our own backyard!
– My parents returned from a cruise, only to have a delay and get home 6 hours later than planned. And what did they come home to? A four foot wall of Syracuse snow! So they had to get out in the cruise clothes to shovel their way into the house. The message? Be prepared? Stay away from Syracuse in the Winter? If you need to get inside you’ll do whatever it takes to do it!
– Here’s a teaser for “My Mighty Morphin’ Torah” this coming Tuesday. One of the lines is “Once a Ranger – always a Ranger.” It doesn’t matter if the person was a ranger for one season or for ten seasons, once a ranger always a ranger. This is like how Mendel and Raizy treat those who come to Shabbos House. You can be here for all of your undergraduate and graduate years, or come sporadically for a few Shabbat weekends, for one semester or for five… no matter! You become part of the extended Shabbos House family!
– When I was college age I thought I had the answer to most questions. I had life pretty much figured out. It’s been a couple of years since and that has all flipped. Now I understand very little, have more questions than answers, and am quite baffled by most of what life throws at me. My inspiration to you? Don’t get all worried when you no longer understand everything, or when things stop making sense. That’s normal for a lot of people. Hopefully, more things will make sense to you as go and grow through life, but if they don’t, don’t lose it. I’m here to tell you to keep asking questions even if you don’t have many answers.
– Here’s a thought: Don’t wait for someone to give you a flower. Make your own garden, plant the seeds, care for them and grow it yourself.
– We were cleaning up the Hillel Office and came across a box of old music records, some were actually still in their original wrapper. It was mostly Jewish music, Klezmer type stuff but then I found in middle of the pile a Jurassic Five record. Wow! in the big stack to find that! My message? You never know what you may find, dig deep, don’t judge by the first few things you see. Take a closer look, to find what you cherish most.
– I was in the Hudson River Coffee House the other day, I like the wonderful atmosphere, playing there and the open mic nights. It’s amazing how much raw talent you can find there. I ran into an old friend, my roommate from Freshman year. We were catching up, and one thing struck me how this guy relishes to live in the moment. He doesn’t want to get stuck living today for tomorrow, and tomorrow for the next day. While everyone has their style, I’d like to learn some of that attitude from him, to appreciate and value what we have right now and make the most of it.
– One day last year I saw a post about an internship opportunity for a Zionist organization. At first I dismissed it, didn’t think it was for me, wasn’t sure if it exactly fit my viewpoint, but then I figured, why not – let me give it a try. So I did, and am I glad I did. It was a great work experience, I met lots of interesting people, got exposed to different viewpoints, even flew to Israel and was able to see and meet new people with additional opportunities. It led to new possibilities, open many new doors. So here’s what I want to share with you. Take a second look at opportunities that come your way. Don’t simply dismiss it. You never know what it may lead to…
– For a few days this week in middle of this very cold winter we had the blessing of sunshine & warmth… wow, what a change, its really an uplift, makes such a difference. Its amazing how good it feels!
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