Greetings from the Mile High City! Hope you’ve all been having a delightful summer. I moved in about a month ago and have very much been thinking about my TBO family. Before the HHdays, I wanted to just send a mini update.

Norway and Ireland had a lot of wonderful moments, my favorite parts hands down were goofy times at night in our bnb’s and cabins, singing along to pop songs as we drove throughout the countries, and both the funny ridiculousness and personal introspection that happens when we travel. As amazing as the sights were, what touched me most deeply were all the little shared moments between travelers–which of course is so true about life universally. Pictures attached below….

My new place is lovely and petite. I’ve been purging and slowly powering through unpacking– so not the same without my TBO crew to help. 🙂 I’m not even close to being settled– yesterday I located my shower curtain rings, so my shower curtain is no longer being held up by dental floss–a major cause for celebration!! Practicing patience with all of it…slowly, slowly. I’m working part-time at an organization called Judaism Your Way running the Boulder arm of their b’nai mitzvah program. This organization does wonderful outreach to unaffiliated families. They take a really progressive open-arms approach and I’m working with colleagues I respect and admire. It’s a huge change to be a newbie again without a larger sense of organizational culture and wondering if I’m doing things right. As soon as a catch my breath, I’ll begin diving into my main endeavor~spiritual entrepreneurship around creative lifecycle rituals. My work email is jessica@judaismyourway.org.

For the first time in my rabbinate, I won’t be leading HH services, about which I have a lot of mixed feelings. I’ll be at Erev Rosh Hashana services at Judaism Your Way and then biking in the mountains with a new friend for a few days. We’ll be doing some introspection, intention setting, and gratitude in anticipation of 5778. I’ll miss the beautiful sacred space we created as a TBO kehillah.

I’m making friends, getting homesick, feeling excited about the spiritual entrepreneurship I’m creating, feeling completely overwhelmed with all of it, biking a ton, and holding my arms open to all the adventures. Last night, I was re-reading the beautiful book you created for me and getting all faklempt, which is exactly how it should be. I’m sending love and hugs.

I wrote a prayer the morning of the eclipse, which I’ll share in closing.

Light and darkness play in the skies this morning.
We count each Jewish day beginning in darkness and moving toward light. Evolving from

darkness, the day reaches its full potential.
Duality crumbles as we emit light to sustain us in darkness. The light of rising to face challenges.
The light of choosing expansiveness instead of narrowness. We open our palms to budding possibility.