The Real Charlie

The Gates Are Closing

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. I had an unusually easy fast this year, as did a number of people that I know (must have been the nice weather). I went to services alone, since Roxanne had a bad cold (now I'm suffering from it) and Abby stayed home with her. I brought Stella with me, at her insistence, so she could spend the morning in the 1-2 year old child care room, playing with other babies. Or as she puts it, "babies, room, fun!"

I returned alone for the closing services of Mincha and Neilah as I always do. I enjoyed the usual procession of machers - one of the richest men in the United States sat a few rows away from me,  another oligarch stood in the back as usual because he came too late for a seat, a well known investment manager and I sat together (we are High Holy Day seat neighbors going back a few years now and sing at the same pitch) and admired the adorable children in the row in front of us. And I really love the Neilah (literally "Closing") service. Our shul gets totally packed, everyone is hungry, there is a certain air of desperation and often a sort of cool vibe.

This year our new cantor sang a piyut (liturgical poem) that in past years we had read in English. It is called El Nora Alilah "Awesome Wondrous God." It is an old Sephardic piyut, with a beautiful and stirring tune, and words of what I'd call faithful desperation - we know that we have sinned, we are not sure that You have heard our repentance, but please, please, please, forgive as we know You are wont to do. It woke up the crowd, Neilah flew by, and once more I was on the bimah with about twenty other guys with shofars, surrounded by fifty little kids, watching the glowing torch of the havdalah candle, then blowing our shofars as long and as hard as we can to end the holiday. I hope that my repentance was accepted and that my prayers were answered. If you observed, I hope the same for you.

And today? I worked at our Annual Meeting from 7:45 AM until 1 PM, then spent 3 1/2 hours building my sukkah. Now I'm sniffling with a cold, and Roxanne is out grocery shopping with Abby because she napped and her cold is going away. From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Observed at the Natick Collection

Abby and I checked out the local mall, recently expanded and rebranded as the Natick Collection, on Friday night. We had a nice dinner at one of the new restaurants and checked out Nordstrom, which is a new store for me, believe it or not. Later on I was strolling the mall and passed by a pair of nicely dressed "tweens" and their mom, all of them with the sort of very casual look that only very wealthy New Englanders can carry well. I overheard the following snippet of conversation as they passed a certain store:

Tween 1: Oh, that store looks so cool.
Tween 2: Yeah, it's great, my dad has a private equity investment in it.

I think that the Natick Collection has successfully attracted its target market.

Rosh Hashanah Diversions

Shana tova to all of my fellow children of Israel out there. We had a great dinner on Erev Rosh Hashanah, with Abby's super brisket, a decent honey cake (we have bitterly fought over honey cake in the past, so I left it to Abby this year and she did well, but we have still not crafted the honey cake of our dreams) and extraordinary homemade challah.

As good as these look, they tasted better. I am thankful at the new year for so many things, but especially for my wonderful family, most especially for my little girls and my wife, who is good at so many things, such as baking, and brings so much happiness into my life each and every day.

Services were okay. I had some serious concentration problems on the first day, compounded by some poor shofar blowing and a sermon that was not entirely to my liking -  heavy on the pop culture and internet metaphors, light on the proof texts. My shul is one of several in the Boston area that attracts some very wealthy and well known people. One of the members is Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. The Pats are in the midst of a bit of a cheating scandal, so the rabbi's references to athletic scandals  have raised some eyebrows at the shul and in the blogosphere. Oops. Today's sermon focused on one of my favorite Torah texts - the Akeidah, the binding of Isaac. Much better, and no one will blog about it except for me.

Again, happy New Year wishes to all for whom it is applicable.

Back In The Swing of Things

So vacation was nice, but getting back home has been exhausting at work and at home, especially with school for Roxanne starting tomorrow and Rosh Hashanah for everyone Wednesday at sundown. I got a few hours of birding in down in Delaware. We had a nice place to stay, great beach nearby, some good food and just the right amount of time with the in-laws. And the girls had a blast, which is always the most important thing. I recommend Bethany Beach if you like a quiet resort-y area that is great for families but much less hectic than Cape Cod (or, as Roxanne calls it, "the Cod.")

Got back to work and immediately got to work helping colleagues close some nice business. Our fiscal year ends on September 30th and we have had a super one, and we have set ourselves a high hurdle for next year. It will be a challenge, and frustrating, and fun, and all those things at once. If it wasn't, I'd move on.

I'll post again soon, before Wednesday if I can swing it, with some thoughts for the New Year.

September...

Just back from my summer vacation -  more on that later. In the meantime, it appears  (via Universal Hub) that the word is still not out about low clearances on the Storrow after all these years and my post just last week. C'mon, kids - look at your truck, note the height, watch the signs. Not so hard. You are here for college, right?

But the kids are what keep Boston from being Hartford. So welcome back.