Week 1, Day 1: Gratitude

From Every Day, Holy Day:

The Hebrew Term for Gratitude translates as "recognizing the good." Myriad benefits come to us everyday, but most of us find it easy to overlook them and instead focus on what we lack.  This trait is an invitation to sensitize yourself to the good and to the gifts that we certain to be present in your life and every moment, even if at that same time there happen to be difficulties.

When Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Kotzker Rebbe, was ready to consign old shoes to the trash,

he would first wrap them in newspaper to show his gratitude.

PHRASE: Awaken to the good and give thanks.
PRACTICE: Say thank you to every person who does even the slightest thing that is helpful or beneficial to you...

Writing gratitude lists is something that 12 step groups always encourage.  It is absolutely true that I spend the majority of my mental energy focusing on what could or, dare-I-say, should have been; rather on what actual IS.  

I have a wonderful life, an incredible wife -- a fulfilling job, and the opportunity to learn and teach almost daily.  Thinking back to who I was three, four, five years ago -- I could not imagine being exactly where I am today.  And yet, I find it difficult to feel truly satisfied.  I find it difficult to be present to the gifts of the present -- to be fully present at any given moment.    

And we have the gift of the high-holidays.  We find ourselves in aseret yammei t'shuva -- the 10 days of repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a time quite literally set aside for us to take an accounting of our lives.  To consciously adjust our behavior.  To recognize the wrongs we have committed -- and seek forgiveness from the people we have harmed.  In short -- to do t'shuva to repent and ask others, God, the universe and ourselves for forgiveness so we might live in concert with ourselves.  So that we might overcome the shame of our past misdeeds.  So that we accept who we are so that we can bring our best selves into the world.

At the base of this project, is the need for all of us -- for me -- to recognize the good we have.  To dwell in the land of gratitude of thanks.  For when I make decisions from the place of gratitude, my endeavors flourish, my relationships blossom, and my self-worth grows.  

However, when I choose to focus solely on the shameful or the negative -- then the entire world becomes a little darker, a little less joyful, and it becomes harder to fully be present at any given moment.  

I pray for the recognition of the good in this world -- specifically in my little corner of it. Appreciation for the good in my life and in this world.

מחיי המייתים

I want to take this opportunity to just update the blog with what is going on in my life, as I haven't posted in over a year.  So much has happened since the last time that I blogged... namely I am one and a half years into rabbinical school at JTS, Michelle and I were engaged last December, and we were married on November 25.

I am currently the Student Rabbi at the Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, CT. Michelle and I essentially split our shabbatot between West Hartford, and Philadelphia this past semester, as we were either working or planning the wedding.

I feel as though I have grown so much since I last looked at the "mensch"...  I can safely say that my Rabbinical school experience has been more incredible than I expected.  The learning is both intense and enjoyable... I look forward to delving daily into the collected wisdom of our tradition, and I especially enjoy the company!  That is to say that my class at the Seminary has really formed into a great chevre!

This past year has been great!  I look forward to whatever the year to come brings.  Look for more posts!

Camp Address

Although I have neglected to post here in quite some time, I will nevertheless leave my address for camp here:

Andrew Markowitz

Tzrif 60

Camp Ramah in the Poconos

2618 Upper Woods Road

Lakewood, PA

18439

So if you need to send me packages or some other sort of mail, please do!

Have a great summer everyone and stay cool!!

All good things...

This will be a quick post... But I realize that I haven't posted in a while! Today I had my final test of college! As of tomorrow afternoon I will have earned a bachelors degree in Religion from Temple University. For those who follow and I have not spoken to recently, Michelle and I have decided to relocate to NYC in the Fall! I will be entering my first year of Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Michelle will be attending Hunter College's School of Social Work, where she will be working towards her Masters of Social Work!




Life is quite crazy at this point in time! Both Michelle and I will be working at Camp Ramah in the Poconos this summer! So in the next few weeks we will have to begin making preparations for both camp and the Fall! Life is exciting and changing. I am both scared and excited to "enter the real world" tomorrow. I cannot believe that I have spent the past four years at Temple, and I will be entering graduate school in the fall! Boy how life flys by!

I will always cherish my memories and the friends I made at Temple, but I am also looking forward to the changes and growth that next Fall will bring!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Nothing but Simcha

For those who are unaware, I have been in the process of applying to Rabbinical for the past year. I just returned from a trip to the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in LA where I interviewed for a place in their school. I was told almost immediately after my interview that I have a place at the Ziegler School for the upcoming academic year. This was the culmination of much hard work on my part for the past 3 years. My dreams for my future are beginning to come to fruition.

In addition, my close friend, Jonathan Magen, proposed to his long time girlfriend, Sarah Kopman-Fried today. Needless to say, she accepted.

All I can say is that these past two days have been chock-full of simchas... Michelle, my long time girlfriend, reminded me that simchas are meant to be shared with friends. So Mazel Tov to the young couple!!!

This is going to be a year of much change and growth. What a way to begin 2011!

Tis the season...

Tis the season for Rabbinical School applications and interviews. I know that I have not posted in a while, but I have been so busy applying and preparing for the application process. I feel as though the past 3.5 years of my life have been spent preparing myself for this moment. I have worked extensively in the Jewish community of Philadelphia, and have even taken the time to do some (emphasis on some) real text study. I feel as though I am the most ready I have ever been for this process... and yet I suppose I could always be "more ready".

Rabbi Merow graciously put a mock interview together for me last Friday, I am particularly grateful to her and Rabbis Warmflash and G-K for taking the time out of their busy schedules to grill me. While the mock-interview was unnerving, I can confidently say that I know somewhat to expect. This process is highly formalized, in that they are not required to even grant me an interview after reviewing my application. The interview is my next step towards becoming a Rabbi.

The kicker of this whole process is that they decide whether or not I am to be admitted to the school immediately after I leave the interview room. I believe that there is a possibility that I could be told the day of my interview as to whether or not I have been accepted. This is both a blessing and a curse, as I do not have the anxiety of waiting to hear back but I do have to hear their decision face to fact... one way or another.

At the end of the day, I know that this is what I want to do with my life. I have known that I wanted to pursue a career in the rabbinate since I was a senior in high school. All I can do is put my best foot forward and be "me". I know that I have what it takes to be a Rabbi, now all I have to do is let the admissions committee know as well.

I can go the distance...

I'm dreaming of a white... Shobbos?

I recognize that it has been a while since I last posted, and the only excuse I can come up with is that I have been "too busy". While this most certainly is true, as I have been gallivanting across the country looking at and applying to graduate schools, I still would like to have had some sort of record of my thoughts during this hectic time. As of right now I have officially applied to one Rabbinical School and I am in the process of finishing up my second application. I am looking forward to this upcoming semester and dreading the unknown of the future. I would like to think that I am "ready" to face the challenges of adulthood at this point, and yet there is some part of me that is frightened. It is interesting to have such conflicting feelings struggling inside of me. I am just so grateful for my friends and family who have been there for me throughout my life. I am really grateful...

Also on a completely unrelated note, it is currently snowing in my neck of the woods and I think it is really funny how much people freak out when it snows in Philly. I went to the bakery today to pick up some stuff for the "impending storm", at the behest of my mother, and I waited in line for 20 minutes waiting for people to purchase the entirety of the storefront. One would think that these people are going to be snowed in for days based on the amount of food they were purchasing.

I just want to put it out there that I am I am not such a big fan of snow, as it means that there is much shoveling to be done. Cest-la-vie! However, I did have a pleasant experience with snow this past weekend when I staffed a shabbaton at what became of my High School. It snowed Saturday morning, and I was afraid that it would make my trip home that night unbearable. What I did not account for was the amount of fun I could have in the snow on Shabbat. I enjoyed watching the boys play football in the snow, and the grounds on the School's campus were nothing short of picturesque in the snow. I felt like I was in a winterwonderland. I wasn't worried about shoveling the snow away, I was merely present and enjoying the gentle crunch of it beneath my feet. It was nice to be rid of life's pleasures for a few precious moments and feel fully immersed in an experience. So for the moment... I am going to dream of a white shobbos...