Category: Uncategorized
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Annual Tradition
It is fall marathon season, which means it is time for another lame article on back of the pack marathoner ruining the race. Come on, what is wrong with people? Good for you if finishing a marathon in six hours isn’t a big deal, but it is for some people and why on earth would…
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Weekly Totals
Running so few miles a week, I just don’t feel like I have much to say around here lately, but to try and keep some discipline to writing here I’ll note that I ran 11 miles this week in 1:39:46. Still experiencing some pain in my foot from time to time, but nothing serious. In…
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Cathedrals in Time
Class this week was pretty amazing, the subject for discussion was the Sabbath, something E and I in our own way have been attempting to honor. We light candles, we say Kiddush, but we’re not shomer shabbas, and we don’t always get the candles lit by sundown. Still, you do what you can do. Readings…
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The nature of the convert.
As someone pursuing conversion, one of the things I find it important (and difficult) to balance between enthusiasm and fetishization and between interest and hobbyism*. I’m excited about Judaism, I love diving into new areas of study and this is an area of study big enough to keep me busy for the rest of my…
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The Three Mile Loop
The three mile loop is a nice run. I turn left out of my apartment building and then left again onto 16th St and head up 16th street towards the Maryland border. The first half mile of so is flat or downhill, then it is up hill for the next mile. About a half mile…
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First Class
We had our first conversion class last night. I think it went very well. The Rabbi is a welcoming and thoughtful person. The breakdown of the class was as I expected – nine people six of whom were couples who were either married, engaged or considering getting married and three who were there by themselves.…
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Weekly Recap
9 miles in 1:23:23. Hey, at least I have miles to report, even if it is a ridiculously small number. Starting over from (close) to zero is both insanely frustrating and kind of exhilarating. This time as I build the miles back up, I can take my time, I can plan, and I can stay…
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Interesting Gers: Martha Nussbaum
I am going to start a new Friday feature here on Nom De Ger. A short little profile on an interesting or inspiring convert to Judaism. First up, an intellectual hero of mine, Martha Nussbaum. Martha Nussbaum is one of the most important poltical philosophers working today. She teaches at the University of Chicago, has…
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On not meeting goals.
Goals When I started back in at running seriously this year I had a couple of goals – I wanted to run a marathon again, and I wanted to run a total of at least 1,000 miles for the year. For a while there, things went well. I got the miles in, I was getting…
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Yom Kippur
Monday was my first ever Yom Kippur fast, and yesterday evening was my first Yom Kippur service. Maybe it was the hunger, but I was genuinely moved by the whole experience. We had our pre fast dinner around five o’clock so as to finish in time to go to the evening services, dinner was pasta…
Milo and the Calf 