I missed it

[יום שני ט''ו בחשון תשס''ז]

יום שלישי ט''ז בחשון תשס''ז

Well, today was the first time I forgot to enter the Hebrew date in this blog since I committed to doing so every day (and, thus, you find above the Hebrew dates for the last _two_ days).. . . . . In my defense, I was on-call last night (was woken up from my nighttime slumber twice by the pager).

But the real _headline_ is that (mostly) I’ve been following my plan(s) to have regular Torah/Hebrew elements of the blog. . . . And, _more_ significantly, the plan seems to be achieving its goal – to increase the role of Torah learning in my life and to increase my awareness of the flow of the Jewish time.

Torah study, of course, is supposed to be an important part of every Jew’s life. We place an especially high value on what we call Torah Lishma (תורה לשמה), or Torah study for its own sake (literally, in its own name). . . . I think I need a little _help_, though, to make Torah Lishma more effective in my life. Specifically, I am the kind of person who needs to be teaching in order to be learning.

That’s the beauty of the blog for me (and what makes it perhaps even a spiritual practice): just the fact that someone might be reading what I write here turns everything that I write into a potential teaching. . . . . Being a teacher/blogger of Torah makes me a better learner of Torah.

I don’t yet know what the shape of this blog will be down the line. Perhaps it will become something that people will want to read. . .. Perhaps it will become more personal. Or, perhaps it will focus more on professional issues. . . . But for now I think this blog is really meant mostly for one person -- myself. It is blogging by me, for me. . . And I guess what I’m trying to say is that that is working out just fine for now. I’m really happy with it.

Anyway, it was when I was riding my bicycle, this afternoon that I realized that I had forgotten to write the Hebrew date in my blog. . . . I guess I could have turned around and made it back home before sundown . .. . But I really needed the ride. It was the first time I’d been out in about a week and a half. Went about 25 kilometers roundtrip down my usual route. Good weather. Temps around 10C. Fall is still near its height around here. Stopped at the supermarket on the way back and bought some groceries that I hauled home in the single pannier I had with me. . . . I was proud of myself for getting out on the road; I was pretty tired from being on call the night before and it took a lot of self-cajoling to talk myself into it. (1:49/13.3/24.38/45)