Minneapolis, Mini World

Sunday morning I was met by my new best friend: Snow! Yes, I am thinking about changing my name to Storm since it seems to be following me around. Just the night before at the One Voice concert some folks were complaining about the “mild” winter they were having. True, since I started my speech with the corny joke that I have escaped the cold of Denver by coming to Minneapolis. (I did get the requisite yuks.) Leaving the Embassy Suites was challenging because there was a fender bender in the parking lot due to the snow. Not to mention the gross group behavior at the “free-breakfast”. Wow, “free” and “all-you-can-eat” are two phrases that are like waving a red flag in front of the bull. Luckily I was meeting with members of the chorus for brunch so I did not try to eat with the masses. I just had to walk through the courtyard with the caution of a tourist in Pamplona during the running of the bulls. People had recreated Leaning Towers of Pisa on their plates and like Cirque Du Soleil members they balance these weighty trays with four glasses of syrupy juice or mugs of steaming coffee. To add to the Frogger like atmosphere children were running around screaming often with muffins half in their mouths or fistfuls of sticky buns. Ahh America! No doubt, if I had decided to regale the Mall of America down the street with my presence I would see the same scene with the same people at the Food Court. However, with much cause for your pity, I did not seem to make it to the World’s Largest Underground Mall.

I was late to brunch because of the abundance of snow—everyone had ordered and clucked at the novice making his way through the storm. There were about 10 members plus the Music Director and a volunteer. I had a great conversation with two lesbians who were doing an Americorps type program, but through the Lutheran Church instead. Their organization focused on social justice and reconciliation projects. They chose this program over other because of its explicit welcoming of Gay and Lesbians. Cool, huh.

I had a wonderful conversation with the music director of the chorus. People had been very complimentary about my speech and how well in complemented the music. I was a bit more nervous because I was speaking at the large Reform synagogue. I arrived at the Temple early and began looking at the display of the Stoles. There were four that were added because there had only been one “stole” that was a Jewish one. They received 4 talitot/tallesim (this was a big discussion at breakfast over what was correct) from GLBT Jews. I had only found 3 the night before. When I arrived there was the fourth one and it was a tallis submitted by Amy Bernstein. Amy was a long time CBH member who went to Yeshiva High School when I was there. Once when visiting my family, I went to CBH for Friday Night Services and Amy (who has an incredibly stunning voice) was leading services, she announced to the group that she had gotten into rabbinical as we cheered. It began the wheels turning for me—Amy was a very instrumental person in my choosing to pursue the rabbinate. Finding her stole there was very power. Small world.

The music moved me again to tears. I gave my speech to similar reviews. In a rush, I did not get to stay as schmooze, but I did speak with about a dozen folks. Including one Jewish mother of a gay son, who had tears in her eyes and couldn’t thank me enough. She told me about her son’s coming out and her commitment to him since. She was so proud and the concert had touched her profoundly. What a gift to be a part of something artistic, beautiful and spiritually stirring! I imagine that this was my “surrogate” Shabbat Shirah since I will certainly miss the magical gifts of our community.

I left Minneapolis with a smile on my face. It was dented by my arrival that evening to Philadelphia (teaching rabbinical students) to its first snow storm of the evening. Hmm, Rabbi Storm? Does that have a nice ring?