A post of a different sort

I recently had the privielge of attending the Lewis Marshall Dinner at JTS.  My Uncle Ira Schuman has been instrumental in organizing and creating The JTS's 21st Century Campus Project.  You can see more about that project here:
https://www.21stcenturycampus.jtsa.edu/

I admire the work of my alma mater and look forward to seeing how this new dorm and library will help improve the feeling of community that I had whilst living in Brush.  There was something very special about living IN the Seminary.  While I did regularly entertain my classmates by coming to class in Na'ot, t-shirts and shorts in the middle of winter, it was inspiring to know that the desk in my study/living room could have been used my generations of students, many of them brilliant minds and scholars.  It was powerful to know that the halls I walked, the kitchen I shared, and the bedroom I slept in had been a part of the Seminary's history for almost a hundred years.  There was something very powerful about sleeping in the building, being able to walk to class without really going outside, living, breathing, the Torah, the Talmud, grabbing a book from the Beit Midrash in the middle of the night, or sitting in the library until it closed.  One loss was that after I married, I had to move out!

With the new campus project, EVERYONE will be able to have that experience.  Their fixtures and furniture will be much more up to date, but they will be able to live and learn in community in a way that I was able to--as well as generations of single students before me.  I am encouraged by the work of JTS and support this endeavor--and my uncle's leadership in it.

Coming into NYC from Newburgh is a schlep, so I made it an afternoon and saw The Band's Visit.  NPR has a great review speaking about how the show demonstrates common ground.
"It suddenly felt really urgent to say that people are people," says Moses. "And when you strip away politics and the sort of rigid tribes that we seem to cling to and belong to, everybody can connect over the need for food and shelter and music and the need for love itself."

The show is not about "the conflict".  It is not about hate or mistrust.  Rather, it is about how in our hearts, as human beings, we all have the same needs.  We need food, clothing, shelter and love.  I would argue we also need faith--belief--hope--however we call it.

By Tdrivas - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66957987

The music was inspiring and a beautiful blend of Middle Eastern styles--Egyptian, Israeli, Lebanese, with a little bit of Broadway flair!  By the time it was done, I felt the desire to get lessons in OUD!

Overall, it was an inspiring and enjoyable show.  I highly recommend it.