You know sometimes when you wake up, and the day seems like any ordinary day? Today was just that for me. I woke up to my alarm, in a field here at the maintenance facility of the park headquarters at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, I made coffee, met with some folks from the park service to plan the worksite, campsite and other logistics, and went about my day with my co-leader Kara doing the things that we need to do in anticipation of the arrival of our kids on Wednesday. We just now returned from dinner (this all sounds very urban, until tomorrow when we begin quite the streak of no showers and living in the immediate backcountry)....anyhow, we just returned from dinner, got a few more things done, and I was looking a copy of a printed certificate marking the completion of silly government online IT training (ironic now that I'm using their computer to write this) and I noticed something very special. Not about the form itself, but about the date on the form 6/13/2011 - Three years ago today I immersed in one of the most gorgeous and meaningful ritual baths, to become Jewish.
Now of course, that I've realized this so many memories of that day, and that time frame are coming to my mind. My grandfather had just passed away, I left my job with Blue Man Group, and I accepted a position, the one I most recently left behind, at Temple Beth Shalom. One of my most fond memories of that day at Mayyim Hayyim was holding the Torah for the first time. I was embracing everything that made sense to me, everything that I believed in, and everything that I was unsure about, still needed to learn about, or perhaps didn't agree with. I think since then I've learned to embrace many things -- Differences, change, new experiences, uncertainty, a great many things.
It is indeed because of what I have experienced, and what I have learned, starting from that day in December 2007 to each day in between, to today, having left everything concrete and familiar back in Massachusetts, and embarking on a new journey...everything except Judaism that is. You see, the nice thing about being Jewish is that you can take it with you, you can apply it, adapt it, teach it, learn it, all while taking it with you. Here I am in my wilderness, in a place that is unknown, with a group of students coming who are unknown, yet I feel so comfortable here, so at home, not in this place necessarily, but with this idea, with this concept, with what I am doing with my life, who I am teaching, who I am serving and what I am working for. It all feels so right. I think that is why today felt no different than any other day and was not, if you will, a big deal. Three years ago, I finished many journeys, embarking upon many new ones - and today, as I have continued to do I am on my next journey. I may not be able to see what is on the other side of the woods, the wilderness, but what lies ahead does not scare me, rather it excites me, it envigorates me, it keeps me going and wanting more.
The next time I write i'll have met 6 young people, new to my life, they will begin a 30 day journey of their own, getting to know Kara and I, getting to know each other and learning something new every day. I end with a hearty Mazel Tov - Mazel Tov to journeys, to people, to the earth and sky, to simple beauty, to the unknown, and to life. L'Chaim
Peace, love and dirt
Avshalom
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