Tormenting the rabbi
I have a feeling I’m tormenting Rabbi S. The other day, I was unable to attend a service (due to a previously mentioned car issue), so I watched the livestream on YouTube that the synagogue provides. Because I had my laptop open to watch, I started taking notes and posing questions, as well as making general observations about the content of the service itself.
It’d be a colossal bore if I shared all that with you here. Suffice it to say, there was a pretty hefty stack of these things by the time I was done — a three-hour service will do that to you, unfortunately — and some of the questions were pretty heavy. Stuff like what happens when we die? Nothing difficult to answer via email, right?
Poor Rabbi S was swamped over the High Holidays, and there I was peppering him with things I want to learn right this second. It had to be frustrating for him, not least because he’s the kind of guy who would answer these questions if he had the time.
But that’s what it’s like to be a potential convert, hungering for knowledge. Though I had some basics under my belt at the start, we agreed to begin as if I knew nothing. Unfortunately for Rabbi S, that means I’m asking questions about everything, filling out the corners of my knowledge in every direction at once.
I think Rabbi S reads this, so if he does, I’m sorry!