John Carrier

I heard a story once that when I was maybe three years old, Bobby held me by the ankles over the rail of the second-floor landing in the house where we grew up, my wavy brown hair hanging fifteen feet above the ground, my thrilled and terrified shriek filling the front hall.

When someone told him to put me down that instant, I said, “No, it’s okay.  Bobby’s making me tough.”

In truth I never knew a man with a tougher disposition, or a gentler heart.

My brother died today.  He was a good man.  I loved him.  I will miss him terribly.

For you John Carrier completists out there, here’s a link to my new blog focusing on Judaism and contemporary Jewish issues:

Teh n00bzer Rebbe

Because when it comes to Judaism, I’m teh n00bzer.

A few weeks ago, we got a new dining room table.  It’s awesome.  It seats six comfortably, and fully-leafed, it can accommodate 10-12.  We have hosted a couple of big Shabbat dinners with friends and family, and this Saturday we’re hosting our first Passover seder.  The funny thing is, we’re still going to need a card table on the end, because we’re expecting 13 for dinner, my personal record for mouths to feed in one meal.

So, one goal down, nine to go…with a twist.

A couple of months ago, I decided to start thinking about maybe considering (in a very preliminary way) the inkling of a notion of possibly changing the course of my career…and becoming a rabbi. 

Since then I’ve talked to my own rabbi and to rabbis at the three rabbinical schools he suggested I check out - JTS, Ziegler, and Hebrew College.  All the programs sound interesting, and all the rabbis gave me something different to focus on in preparing to apply, leaving me with a lot of work to do over the coming year, if I want to apply for admission to rabbinical school for the fall term of 2009.  And I do.  More than anything.

So to the extent I make this a cat blog and talk about myself, I imagine my journey to rabbinical school will predominate in the coming months.

Have you been down this road (or a similar radical career change / ecclesiastical calling), and can you tell me where the pitfalls are?  I’m all ears.