On The Coming Months

I don’t even know where to start. The past few weeks have been a real rollercoaster and I’m not here for it. I am totally over quarantine and working from home. I am struggling to maintain some key relationships during this weird time, which only adds to the general melancholy that comes with the state of the world.

Yet, I’ve had some career highs: presenting at the Association of Jewish Libraries’ digital conference, being quoted in an American Libraries article, being officially installed on the AJL council, and recording the lightning talks session last night for the Society of American Archivists’ online conference. There are some exciting work projects on the horizon, as well as a couple of other programs I will be a part of. I’m just feeling disconnected from my communty, both work and personal.

The High Holidays begin in mid-September, but the preparations have already begun at work. I’m feeling really sad that we won’t be gathering in person this year. The time before Rosh Hashanah is usually one of my favorite times of year. The halls are bustling with preschool teachers preparing for the return of the children, everyone is finalizing details for High Holidays programming, religious school teachers are preparing for a new year, and the Temple is fuller than ever. But it’s different this year. The halls are quiet, Temple is distressingly empty, and while we are going forward with programming, it is with the caveat that the virus could turn those plans upside down at the very last minute.

I’ve mentioned before how much the holidays affect me. In the best of years, it is hard for me get through the holidays without feeling out of place, so I can only imagine how it’s going to feel this years when we won’t even be in the building reflecting and celebrating together.