Reflecting on the past decade....

Last night, as we approached midnight, Lindsay and I were reminiscing about where we were 10 years ago. The year 2000 was upon us, and we were in Jerusalem.

I was in my first year of rabbinical school at HUC-JIR, on the Jerusalem campus. I lived there for one year, and Lindsay was kind enough to come out for a visit over winter break. We were so afraid that either, a) the world would end (Y2K, etc) as midnight approached, or b) some crazy group would decide to decimate Jerusalem. Thus, my class chose to celebrate the new year at school, a few yards from a bomb shelter. We were overlooking the Jaffa Gate to the Old City, and we watched as Christian pilgrims carried torches into the gated city. It was majestic, awe-inspiring, and even a little terrifying.

Nothing happened, of course, but there was nowhere else I wanted to be as the new decade began (and, yes, I know that, technically the decade began in 2001, but no one seems to count that way).

What an amazing way to enter the new decade.

Here are some highlights of the decade in my life:

1. Moved to New York for the duration of rabbinical school in August, 2000.
2. Ended the engagement to my college fiance, started to figure out who I truly was for the first time - Fall, 2000
   
3. Appeared on the short-lived Oxygen Network game show, "Trackers," and won! (a karaoke machine, naturally!!) - Fall, 2000
4. Adopted my calico, Precious, in January, 2001
5. Developed a long-standing passion for KARAOKE!
   
6. Began a two-year student pulpit in Brandon, FL at Congregation Beth Shalom - learned so much about being a rabbi - 2001-2003
7. Lindsay moved to NYC, and in with me, in 2002
   
8. Was in a longterm relationship from 2003-2007
9. Ordained as a rabbi in 2004
10. Worked at an amazing NYC congregation for five years (2004-2009)
11. Started THIS BLOG in February, 2007!
    
12. Underwent successful spinal fusion surgery in December, 2007
13. Joined the Temple B'nai Torah family in Wantagh as their rabbi this past summer.

So much to celebrate - and these are just a few of the highlights. Wishing you all a blessed 2010 filled with light, joy, and love. Here's to another terrific year!!