Busy on the Sabbath

This Shabbat was full, even though it was relaxed as usual.

First off, I was Toran for Shabbat night. That means that I was on duty to serve the food, and then responsible for kitchen cleanup. It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it was, and looking back, it was actually more enjoyable than the other Toran jobs I've done, such as washing the Beit Midrash floor, serving a weekday meal, or pre-Shabbat set-up. I also got to eat with the other Torans Ronen, Rafael, and a Shiluv Tet guy I believe is called Yaakov, eating in the kitchen on a cart, keeping the choiciest everything for us. It was good work, but also a blast. If I have to do Toranut again, and I suspect I will, I hope I get assigned this.

I was late getting up, again, on Shabbat morning, so I prayed instead from atop the tower. The "tower," if I haven't mentioned it yet, is a two-story building where some classes are held. The view from up there is amazing, and a great place to look at the view and, today, get in touch with God, especially as I have been experiencing some difficulties with prayer in general. I did make it back to shul for the conclusion, a tune of Anim Zmirot where the entire [male] congregation dances around the Beit Midrash in a circle in a powerful display of unity and brotherhood. For lunch, Josh and I were invited to Rav Elisha's house, where we discussed community service and Hamlet over grapefruit, schnitzel, and cholent. And lest you think that I did not get our homemade cholent, fear not: Cholent Bowl IV took place in its usual grand fashion, and this time, there were kishkes and spicy sausages to give the cholent an extra kick.

After a rest period of Yaniv and chess, it was back to the Beit Midrash for mincha and some brief learning time. It was then on to the lunchroom for Seudah Shlishit, which, in addition to most of the usual weekday food, is marked by the addition of tuna, plastic cutlery, and a suspicious lack of pudding (in Elul, we had pudding at Seudah Shlishit. Where did it go?). Over dinner, I pondered about the many choices of footwear on Shabbat. There is the sleek dress shoe, of course, but also sandals, sandals with socks, hiking boots, sneakers, flip-flops, and, my favorite, cloglike blue shower shoes. There are some things I will never understand.

During the meal, we were an audience to a phenomenal display of color in the hour between afternoon, dusk, and night. The afternoon began with skies of a breezy blue, whcih quickly forgot themselves as the rapidly sinking sun caused the stunning appearance of an almost too violent pink. Then this shade gave way to a dark majestic purple as night began, before ultimately yielding to the black of night, and the end of Shabbat.

Before I log off with an emphatic "Shavua Tov!" I will review the two movies I watched Thursday night and Friday afternoon:"The Life of Brian" is a movie that I had seen before, albeit long ago. But it is a simply hilarious movie, from the opening irreverant song to the closing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." And almost everything in between, although I still think "The Holy Grail" was better. Ilan, who is setting next to me as I write now, thinks that this is better than "Holy Grail," but Ilan is wrong.

Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

Reg: If you want to join the People's Front of Judea, you have to really hate the Romans.
Brian: I do!
Reg: Oh yeah, how much?
Brian: A lot!
Reg: Right, you're in.

Biggus Dickus: Let me come with you, Pontiuth. I may be of thome athithtanthe if there ith a thudden crithith!

[Brian is writing graffiti on the palace wall. The Centurion catches him in the act]
Centurion: What's this, then? "Romanes eunt domus"? People called Romanes, they go, the house?
Brian: It says, "Romans go home. "
Centurion: No it doesn't! What's the latin for "Roman"? Come on, come on!
Brian: Er, "Romanus"!
Centurion: Vocative plural of "Romanus" is?
Brian: Er, er, "Romani"!
Centurion: [Writes "Romani" over Brian's graffiti] "Eunt"? What is "eunt"? Conjugate the verb, "to go"!
Brian: Er, "Ire". Er, "eo", "is", "it", "imus", "itis", "eunt".
Centurion: So, "eunt" is...?
Brian: Third person plural present indicative, "they go".
Centurion: But, "Romans, go home" is an order. So you must use...? [He twists Brian's ear]
Brian: Aaagh ! The imperative!
Centurion: Which is...?
Brian: Aaaagh ! Er, er, "i"!
Centurion: How many Romans?
Brian: Aaaaagh ! Plural, plural, er, "ite"!
Centurion: [Writes "ite"] "Domus"? Nominative? "Go home" is motion towards, isn't it?
Brian: Dative! [the Centurion holds a sword to his throat] Aaagh! Not the dative, not the dative ! Er, er, accusative, "Domum"!
Centurion: But "Domus" takes the locative, which is...?
Brian: Er, "Domum"!
Centurion: [Writes "Domum"] Understand? Now, write it out a hundred times.



Now, "The Breakfast Club"The movie's tagline is "They only met once, but it changed their lives forever," and though we get no further image of the characters in their later lives, you have the feeling that this is correct. The meeting of a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal in a high school detention is a great movie that not only encaptures the '80s, it is also a great description of the high school environment (or at least what I can assume is not a private Jewish modern Orthodox Kohlbergian democratic high school). The film isn't afraid of confrontation and of touching on serious issues such as class, language, suicide, peer pressure, expectations, sex, and hatred. Good film.

Brian: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
Andy: ...and an athlete...
Allison: ...and a basket case...
Claire: ...a princess...
Bender: ...and a criminal...
Brian: Does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

Vernon: Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns.

Vernon: Well, well. Here we are. You have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to think about why you're here. You may not talk, you will not move from these seats. Any questions?
Bender: Yeah. Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?

And now, a very emphatic "Shavua Tov!"