Interview Meme (snarfed from satyrlovesong and estherchaya)
- Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
- I’ll reply and give you five questions to answer.
- You’ll update your LJ with the five questions answered.
- You’ll include this explanation.
- You ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
The Questions
1. Back at you: what do congregations need to do to ensure the future of liberal Judaism?
2. What one lesson, above all others, do you hope Small & Feisty will learn from you?
3. You can send a message to your 20-year-old self — up to 50 words, no reply. What do you send?
4. The genie grants you an audience with anyone you like, living or dead. Whom do you meet and what’s on the agenda?
5. Tell us the story of the ten-pound chocolate bar. 🙂
1. Back at you: what do congregations need to do to ensure the future of liberal Judaism?
Let’s start from the question of what Liberal (Progressive) Judaism needs to do to have a future. First, it must be practiced at home, not just the synagogue (it must be a life choice, not a museum piece). Second, it must be infused into one’s life. Third, it must be a situation where worship is not a burden, but a joy.
So, the answer must be that congregations must find ways to infuse Judaism into home life. This can be done primarily through havurot, and having moving home Shabbat dinners. The growing trend in Reform congregations of Sukkah visits is good, for it encourages people to erect a Sukkah. Encouraging Reform summer camps is also key. Lastly, is making the service accessible. I think the new prayerbook will help with this; new congregational music and ruach helps quite a bit as well.
2. What one lesson, above all others, do you hope Small & Feisty will learn from you?
Given that, as I write this, Small & Feisty is having yet another melt down about going to school… Sigh.
I hope she learns to reason things out, calmly. I was just helping her with her math homework. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. All due to rushing through problems, as opposed to carefully reasoning out the solution. This comes from patience, which I also hope she learns.
3. You can send a message to your 20-year-old self — up to 50 words, no reply. What do you send?
Run. Run as far as you can.
Seriously…
At age 20, I was a twit. But I matured. So, the message would be simple:
“Hang in there. Learn and observe the people around you. Have patience. Don’t use Neo-Senephrine.”
4. The genie grants you an audience with anyone you like, living or dead. Whom do you meet and what’s on the agenda?
My brother. He died before he could impart whatever wisdom he had to me. So I’d ask him to share his lessons on life.
5. Tell us the story of the ten-pound chocolate bar. 🙂
Ah. An easy question. Many, many years ago, I was on the evaluation team for the XTS-200 product. At every meeting, Frank Belvin, who at the time worked for MITRE, would bring a chocolate bar that the team would share. We had been doing about 8 weeks of penetration testing in McLean Virginia, 2 on, 2 off, 2 on, 2 off. He was commuting from Boston, me from Los Angeles. The last week, I told Frank I would bring the chocolate bar that week. I went to Trader Joes (which wasn’t yet in Boston), picked up one of the 10 lb Girardehelli Dark Chocolate bars, and brought it out to the meetings. At lunch, I handed the box to Frank. His jaw dropped open, and he was speechless. The next day, he showed up with a mallet and a swiss army knife. Evidently, it lasted him quite a few months.
