Listen to the Rain

​Last night, schoolpsychnerd and I went to Shabbat dinner at a stranger's house. It was organized by Mishkan Chicago, which I've heard good things about from multiple people before, but I've never signed up to one of their events or attended their services. I keep an eye on their schedule, though, and when I saw the dinner, and that it was within walking distance, I thought it might be nice.

And it was! It was organized by Mishkan, but they didn't really take part in the actual working of the event. We signed up through One Table, which gives out free gift cards for people to host Shabbat dinners in another of those "rich benefactors endow an organization to encourage more Judaism" plans, schoolpsychnerd made a carrot and chickpea salad with tahini apple cider vinegar dressing, and then we walked down to Andersonville for the dinner. We (all 13 of us) sat around in the hosts' living room for a bit, then moved into the dining room, lit the Shabbat candles and said the blessings, and ate and talked. I was a little surprised at the informality--at schoolpsychnerd and my Shabbat dinners, we always read the week's parashah and talk about it after we finish eating--but it was nice to meet new people and talk about environmental sustainability and how terrible Chicago's recycling programs are. schoolpsychnerd picked up on another guest referencing about Sailor Moon and ended up talking to him about RPGs for most of the night. It definitely makes me want to go to future Mishkan events if these are the kind of people who attend.

We got several invitations to attend Mishkan services as we left. We might.

Today is crowded, with Call of Cthulhu taking up most of the afternoon, and then we have tickets to Symphony of the Goddesses in the evening. This tour is supposed to include music from Breath of the Wild, and I'm really curious to hear how they're going to do that because while I still haven't played the game, I've listened to the soundtrack that came with our copy and most of it is merely okay. There's nothing like Ocarina of Time's Gerudo Valley or Majora's Mask's Deku Palace. Maybe even the subdued ambient pieces will sound better in an orchestra hall, especially when I'm closing my eyes to avoid spoilers from the video accompaniment.