Apples, Honey, Fiver, Bigwig

So, it's a new year here at Chayyei Sarah! Shana tova to one and all!

Rosh Hashanah was very nice. Last year at this time I had to ask a local shule's hospitality committee to arrange meals for me, since I didn't know anyone. This year, I got more than enough invitations! What a nice feeling! I had a few meals with families I've come to know, one with an Israeli family I'd never met before (spoke Hebrew the whole evening!), one with singles, and one at my shule. I joined a different congregation from the one I was a member of last year; the people at the new one are friendlier. The shule also had a singles' program at the rabbi's house for seudat shelishit on the last day of the 3-day holiday. It was all a great community feeling, I met new people throughout the holiday, did some teshuva . . . it was all very nice! (and, yes! I made it to shule all three days! Sort of on time! I'm so proud of myself!)

As you can probably tell, I'm feeling better than I did in the last post. Having three days to do nothing but pray and eat and see friends and meet new people did wonders for me.

In other news, my beloved copy of Watership Down has officially fallen apart, due to overuse. I read it for, let's see, the eleventh (twelfth? thirteenth?) time over the last few days. The front cover was already off, and now the book has split in two. I suppose I should buy a new copy, but this one has all my notes in the margins, and my favorite passages marked up, and all the foreshadowing cross-referenced . . . I read the book for the first time as required "summer reading" when I was 15, and each time I go back I discover something new (including this time, when I discovered something super-cool! Well, cool if you are an English-major nerdy former-English-teacher literary type! Maybe I'll divulge it next time)

For any other Watership Down fans out there, here's a site with photos of the real Watership down in England.

OK, pop quiz: With which Watership Down character do you most identify, and why? After some people comment, I'll tell you which one I most identify with. Actually, that's a good extra credit question for those of you who know me in person: With which Watership Down character do you most identify me?