Doing pretty well -- started a new job this summer and it's a great group of people. As you probably noticed, we're in the high holy days now, so Jewishly busy. :-)

How've you been?

@MonicaCellio Been good. New job myself. Been in it about seven months now. Many advantages over the last job, not the least of which is 1/2 distance commute.

On the other job, I officiated my first baptism (my eldest son) and my first funeral (the aunt of a church member) about three weeks apart.

@FrankLuke it's always nice to be able to reclaim commuting time. (Mine's about the same, and not terribly long so that's a win.)

Now all I need is a wedding.

@FrankLuke mazel tov on the first and condolences on the second.

@MonicaCellio thank you! And the new work place is also better.

@FrankLuke one of the conditions of the para-rabbinic program I went through some years ago was that we would not do weddings. Apparently there's politics involved or something. I've overseen a bar mitzvah (which was pretty daring for my congregation, having a layperson do that -- extenuating circumstances). We were trained for b'rit (not the actual act, you know, but the rest) and funerals, but I've done neither.

It does a lot of things right.

(For the onlookers: yes I know "para-rabbinic" is a funky concept. Basically, this was a program to train lay leaders to do things that the Reform movement usually expects only rabbis to do. Aimed particularly for small congregations that don't have rabbis, but not just them.)

@FrankLuke that's good to hear!

@MonicaCellio But not daring to have a woman oversee? Is it common to have women oversee bar mitzvahs? (My studies in Judaism don't typically get into the modern era, so it might be quite common.)

@FrankLuke the Reform and (mostly) Conservative movements support egalitarianism, so that's ok. It'd never happen in an orthodox or traditional setting.

The reason is that per halacha you cannot do, on behalf of someone else, something that you yourself are not obligated to, and halacha says that women are not obligated in parts of the prayer service. (Some parts we are obligated in, and there are traditional communities that allow women to lead those parts.) So in that setting it would depend on what exactly is involved -- reading torah no, leading many prayers no, giving a d'var torah (speech) ok.

@MonicaCellio My own tradition (A/G) once had 40% women pastors. It's way down now. The districts stopped encouraging it in the 40s(?) and the numbers just went down from then on.

@FrankLuke was that relatively soon after they were first permitted, by any chance? Or were they always permitted but there happened to be a lot during that time?

@MonicaCellio They had been permitted shortly after formation in 1914. The 40s was the peak.

We have lots of women missionaries, though. In fact, single women can become missionaries more easily than single men.

The reasons for that were explained to me long ago, but the memory is fuzzy.

BTW, if anybody in here would prefer that Frank and I get a room, please speak up. We're friends who haven't seen each other in a while, but I recognize that some might find this distracting. (Some rooms are more tangent-tolerant than others.)

@MonicaCellio "get a room" sounds inappropriate.

@FrankLuke I think the 40s were a peak for women working outside the home in general, at least in the US. My maternal grandmother worked in a factory during the war years, for instance. You're talking about something different -- a vocation rather than just a job for a few years -- but it might be related?

@MonicaCellio I had never made that connection. Could be!

@MonicaCellio Do you speak to Dan often?

@FrankLuke very irregularly, unfortunately. You know he started grad school, right? That seems to be keeping him pretty busy. But I did chat with him elsewhere on SE just a couple days ago, which was nice.

@MonicaCellio I haven't spoken to him in quite awhile. Our chat room times don't coincide.

← 28 messages moved from V'dibarta Bam

@FrankLuke there, this should work better.

Looks good. The other room doesn't have the tangent now.

(I was afraid that somebody might prefer that we not do that there but also be hesitant to speak up because I'm a mod, so...)

@FrankLuke right, I brought most of it here, just leaving the beginning and as hooks.

So anyway, good to see you again! Are you still active on SE anywhere? And are you still writing fiction?

(Haven't noticed you pop up on Writers lately.)

Oh, and FYI, Worldbuilding SE just went into public beta:

@MonicaCellio I'm still active on herm and doing a little on Christianity. That's about all for SE. I'm still writing. I have a western ghost story coming out in January (tentative release date).

To my astonishment, I like writing westerns.

@FrankLuke coming out in a collection, or self-pub?

@MonicaCellio Collection. "Supernatural Colorado." Each story had to be set in Colorado and include a different legend/monster. I pitched a story (based on the haunted cemetery of Silver Cliffs) about a girl visiting the cemetery and finding the haunting is because of a fairy mound.

Setting: 1890s, during the bust of the town.

@FrankLuke sounds like fun. Are the fairies the cause of the bust (or of the prior prosperity)? If that'd be a spoiler then don't answer -- but do tell me how to get the collection.

@MonicaCellio Neither. The boom was because of a silver vein. The bust was because the train station was built in the nearby town. The businesses followed. Silver Cliffs had been the third largest town in Colorado at that point.

I certainly will tell you when the collection comes out.

I've got several stories to go in a personal collection once I finish the set.

And I'm going to have to go now. I'll check back in here later this evening. Great talking to you!

@FrankLuke thanks. You have my email address, though we should also be able to keep this room around. The one thing about that mess (alludes vaguely) is that I don't run into friends from there as much. Hence the "and friends" in this room title; let's use this any time we like.

@FrankLuke looking forward to hearing about that too. Take care, and talk to you again soon!

@MonicaCellio I'd like that.

Take care, Monica.

@FrankLuke I miss our chats -- you, and Dan, and a couple others.

Take care!

@MonicaCellio I'm sorry I missed the party! I was so honored to be invited!