We went to Shir Hadash this morning to hear Mark Oppenheimer discuss the book he wrote about the effect of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting on the Squirrel Hill community in Pittsburgh; it was quite interesting, as were the questions afterwords. The session was recorded and is available on YouTube – be warned, it starts with a little over a minute of black screen!

After that, we had a quiet day with walks and travel planning. This morning’s Murky Nooz had a multi-page ad for Mariposa County and Yosemite, and we got inspired to plan a two-night stay there before tourist season really starts. The Ahwahnee Hotel was available for one of the nights we want to visit, but we’d have to move for the second night – and it’s pricey! So we’re casting a wider net and hope to hear from a nearby B&B when they open tomorrow.

We did something unusual this evening – we attended an in-person talk at Shir Hadash. The speaker was Mark Oppenheimer talking about the Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, which he’d edited along with the other two principals of the Unorthodox podcast – their goal was to touch on all aspects of being Jewish and to be funny in the process.

The entries he read during his talk certainly lived up to that goal; I’d hoped he’d have copies for sale, but I guess that would have been too much to schlep, so I’ve ordered a copy. And we’ve put Unorthodox on our podcast queue.

He’ll be giving another talk tomorrow on his most recent (and much less funny) book, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood, and I’m looking forward to hearing him again.

Beyond that, it was a typical Saturday – Torah Study and Shir Shabbat in the morning and lots of walks. The weather was pleasantly warm, and flowers are blooming!