We watched the “debate” tonight.

I wasn’t surprised to see Trump refusing to let Biden speak without interruption and ignoring the moderator’s attempts to reel him in. I wasn’t surprised to see him dodge questions and lie whenever he could. I wasn’t surprised to hear him bring in his favorite stories (like the leader of an unnamed nation with “forest cities” calling him “Sir”). I wasn’t surprised to hear him condemn Democrats at almost every opportunity (he did claim to get along well with California Governor Newsom while blaming him for the fires here).

But I was shocked when he didn’t take the softball that Chris Wallace threw him asking him to condemn a White Supremacist group (I won’t name them), instead telling them to “stand by”. Not surprised – Trump is who he is – but shocked that he couldn’t manage to dissemble for just a little bit and look just slightly less racist.

Vote Biden. Vote Democratic all the way.

And in the meantime, please stay sane. Here’s a short video from the Oregon Zoo that might help.

The Yom Kippur services were engaging. The “core” service this morning was pre-recorded at the synagogue, with the Rabbi, Cantor, our pianist, and a few choir members (plus a song which brought in the entire choir from their homes); the rest of the services were live on Zoom.

In some ways, it was more engaging than our usual services at Sacred Heart Church because it was just us and the screen – we could sing along without fear of distracting anyone else who wanted to hear the Cantor or choir. And there was no traffic to contend with, and no rest room lines. And there were some opportunities for small-group discussions, which doesn’t happen in the big service. And we could set the air conditioning to our own preferences.

On the other hand, most of the service was without the choir, and I missed them. And there wasn’t a chance to have an informal chat with friends between pieces of the service, and I missed that. And the final shofar blast of the evening was just one person and one shofar instead of shofarot scattered around the building with each shofar blower trying to hold the note for the longest time.

I hope we can go back to services in person next year.