It was Shabbat and I spent most of the day doing things with Shir Hadash. This morning we attended Torah Study and Shir Shabbat, on Zoom as usual; we’re getting deep into the Joseph story which always leads to interesting discussions.

This afternoon, we were physically on campus for a Limmud (learning session) led by one of the candidates for the Senior Rabbi position. The candidate took us through the evolution of the Hanukkah story, looking at texts from I and II Maccabees, Josephus, and the Babylonian Talmud and discussing the similarities and differences. I hadn’t realized that the “miracle of the oil” wasn’t part of the original story – it was added in Talmudic days (about 500 CE). It was a very interesting session, followed by wine, snacks, and Havdalah.

And I got the first paper issue of my revised Economist subscription today – fortunately, it’s one without bonus sections so there’s a chance I’ll finish it before the next one arrives!

Tonight was the Hanukkah Shabbat Service at Shir Hadash, and I was pressed into service as camera operator for our livestream. The service was outside because of Covid, so we couldn’t use the cameras and microphones in the sanctuary; instead, the whole thing was streamed from my iPhone (mounted, fortunately, on a tripod).

It worked surprisingly well – the audio was clear (thanks to the PA system), and the video was mostly acceptable. I had to back away fairly far to be able to fit everyone into the shot, and that meant people were in front of the camera at times. And I couldn’t resist the urge to try to zoom in or pan occasionally – luckily, the app we used (Switcher) limits the speed of the zoom, and having the phone on a tripod mount made it pretty easy to move slowly and steadily when I panned.

It was windy, so the candles in the various menorahs didn’t burn too well, but that’s probably the worst problem we had by being outside. They’d set up a tent over the chairs, and there were enough patio heaters to make it quite pleasantly warm in there.

Shabbat Shalom!