Shall We Dance?

While loading my car with groceries, I got a call from school. Seems there's a new student at Cal State who is interested in starting a Jewish club. Just like me. Hence, the office of Student Affairs called to see if they can release my information to this student so we can join forces.

Oh yes! It's my goal to bring Chabad to campus. It was truly bumming me out that CSULA is like the only So Cal campus without a Chabad rabbi. Dennis Prager, writing in a column a few weeks back, said to him, in this day and age of air travel, defining an area that is remote means there's no Chabad house there.

So technically, Cal State can be classified as remote. The good news is, this may not last long. After a brief conference on the phone and even briefer email, this student and I just might be able to bring a Chabad rabbi to CSULA in the very new future.

Time to dust off the dancing shoes!

Cooling Down

The weather is cooling off - we've dropped about 10 notches and now bake at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The mayor, in a news conference from Washington, D.C., has told the citizens of Los Angeles to stay indoors if we can, and visit cool rooms located around the city.

Cool rooms. That must be like a shopping center with chairs. Whatever. Truth is, most of us are laying low, venturing out only when the need arises.

Me, I've been in and out of my car six times, in and out of two supermarkets, one library and a sukkah, briefly. Having ridden my bike all over town yesterday in 110 degree heat, I'm taking advantage of the cooling trend.

I"ll lay low when it rains. May it be speedily in our days.

Learning Something Useful

I stand by my claim that nothing happens by chance. G-d talks to us in different ways, and one of those ways is by showing us something we need to know.

Some people are very special, and G-d shows them specials things. Like the prophets, who saw amazing things and told those things to the rest of us.

In my case, it's not usually something amazing. Rather, it's usually something useful. For example, today I got on the subway with my bike and noticed that there was already a bike propped up next to the wall. So I put mine near it.

On closer examination, it was actually the way the other bike was propped up that made all the difference. I turned my front wheel to the right, like the other bike, and put down the kickstand. Although I was nervous at first, the bike held steady, meaning I could take a seat and relax. Just like the other bike's owner had.

I'm okay with G-d communicating useful information. Just the fact that He's communicating with me at all makes me feel like a special person too.

In Spite Of Myself

Every once in a while I can somehow get over myself. What do I mean? It means there are times I can do the right thing even when I don't want to.

This is one of those times. It's Chol HoMoed Sukkos here (and also 104 degrees, thank you!) and my husband is taking the kids to a Chai LifeLine sponsored amusement park. My daughter had invited a friend yesterday, and we thought everything was set, although we hadn't talked to the parents and they didn't return our calls.

This morning, just hours before they were ready to go, we still hadn't heard from the parents of this sweet girl, and we told our daughter to invite another friend. Which she did. Then guess who called back?

That's right, the parents of the first sweet girl. Oh my gosh, it was like the end of the world. The mother reproached me for uninviting her daughter, and I countered with why didn't' you call back? Nothing was settled, other than her daughter was a hysterical wreak.

When I asked my husband about it, he was adamant. The parents hadn't responded to repeated attempts to contact them, although he may have had a wrong number. Right then, I felt the world spinning around me.

While I don't really like the mother of this little girl, it's not right to punish her. Especially if my husband had the wrong phone number. So I scrapped together the $30 it costs to buy a ticket at the door (as opposed to $5 if purchased beforehand) and had my son call the mother telling her we had an extra ticket.

Truth was, I was hoping we had an extra ticket, but when said son came home with his friend, I realized that we would have to buy another ticket.

I say HAVE TO because I wasn't about to let this little girl suffer for what was truly blunders all around. Smelling a rat, her mother called to confirm that there actually was another ticket, and I protested that indeed there was.

Looking back on something that happened barely an hour ago, I realize that in spite of myself, I did the right thing. In fact, $30 is a bargain to pay for the happiness this child will feel at the end of the day and the relief I feel at having been its cause.

Another Miracle Story

Motzei Shabbat, which is Saturday night to the rest of the world, I got a phone call from a neighbor. Though a Los Angeleno by birth, she asked me, in a strong New York accent, if I have a son named Mattishyahu.

Why yes, I do have such a son, I told her. Then she tells me that her brother in Crown Heights, New York, has found his wallet on a park bench. Oh please. Thank you for confirming that indeed my son was in Crown Heights this week. What is it with teenagers - don't they tell their parents anything?

Well, I was overjoyed and promised to call my son immediately. Which I did, and left him a message. He called back, sounded so excited and told me that he had given up his wallet for gone and was currently in Times Square.

We rejoiced in how G-d brings people together, and I reminded him that few months back some creep tried to blow up Times Square and he should be careful.

Such is the world we live in. Isn't it marvelous?

I Was Melting

A Sukkot Update: for those of you who do not live in Los Angeles, the weather here went from kinda chilly, take a light sweater to that resembling what one would expect at the equator. We went from double to triple digit temperature in two days.

So when we went to friend's sukkah to eat lunch, and found ourselves literally roasting, I felt my mind start to melt. Our host read a few Sukkot stories, and when he was done, I started talking about microbes and wondering what could possibly be the Ebola vector. I mean, does that make sense? It is any wonder that no one shared my concern?

I know I say I can't live where the weather is cold, but maybe I can't live where the weather is hot either. Here's hoping I find where I belong. L'Chaim!

Huts with Food

The first three days of the holiday of Sukkot were actually, for me, a three-day long eating binge. There were only three reasons to stop: Prayer, use of the facilities and sleep. The only thing that slowed me down was getting up to get more food.

So today, when my Rabbi was giving his sermon and someone (okay, a man!) thoughtlessly started to sing as a signal for him to stop, the response brought down the house. "I know, everyone is tired," my Rabbi said. "I'm tired. And hungry. I'm sure most of us haven't had enough to eat."

Believe me - we weren't laughing at our Rabbi, we were laughing with him. And at ourselves. We are all truly blessed, with what to eat, where to sleep, and good friends to share our lives with. It's not easy doing all that in a Sukkah,*but somehow we come through it in one piece. Thank you Holy One, for everything. Again.

*Lubavitchers don't sleep in the Sukkah - yeah!!