From rabbi jessica K. Barolsky, Director of Lifelong Learning

Purim, Pesach, and…Planning?

The first year of rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College is in  Jerusalem. The eleven months I spent living in Jerusalem were amazing, and I can hardly believe that I haven’t been back to Israel since then, but that has very little to do with why I’m mentioning my year in Israel. The administrator of the program for the Year in Israel told us, as she apparently tells the Israel class every year, starting in about January, about the Three Ps: Purim, Pesach, and Packing. She encouraged me and my classmates to slow down and enjoy our time in Israel while we still had it, because the spring flies by: once Purim arrives, Pesach is around the corner, and then we would be packing up and getting ready to leave. We all laughed at the idea that the year was, for all intents and purposes, over in March when Purim arrived. But, as we should have known, she was right. Once we all returned from our Pesach break travels, all talk turned to doing things for one last time, departure dates, and getting ready for our new lives back in the US. The Three Ps became a running joke throughout our years at HUC, but they also remained true. We might not have been physically packing up each year and moving to a new home, but each year of rabbinical school had things to finish up and leave behind before the next year: student pulpit jobs, that round of classes, assorted administrative and practical requirements. Every year, time flies after Pesach, and the end of the school year, with all of its loose ends to tie up, arrives practically on its heels. I am coming to terms with being in a completely different position this year after Pesach than I have been.

The school year is still flying by. I knew that after Pesach, there were only five more Sunday sessions of religious school this year. But I’m thrilled that as the school year winds down, I’m settling down to finish UNpacking. This year, I’m replacing the third P. Instead of packing, I’ll be planning. I can’t wait to be planning the calendar for next year, planning new programs and improving on current programs, planning next year’s religious school curriculum, and future adult education opporunities. Unlike the last several summers, where my summer had little direct connection to what I did during the year, and where I transitioned from one set of activities to the next, I am so much looking forward to this spring where instead of packing, whether physically or mentally, I get to plan instead, and stay right here, reflecting on the year that is, somehow, almost over, and look ahead to the one that will start before we know it. As always, input is most definitely welcome. Call me and share your ideas! It’s the perfect time to plan together.

Rabbi Jessica K. Barolsky