As has become our custom, we gathered some of our nearest and dearest to spend the turn of the calendar year at our house. We're a hands-on, do-it-yourself kind of crowd; over the course of the weekend we rebuilt our ger, and half a dozen of us slept the first night of the year within its walls, which is a treat. I love the transition from the dance party in our living room to the crisp quiet of a snowy night, and ringing in the new year by sleeping in the outside air always feels sweet to me.

Our New Year's gathering is rich, full, and overwhelming. It tires me out, but it also recharges my emotional batteries, leaving me profoundly aware of how lucky I am to be part of such a loving community.

I'm lucky to be part of several such loving communities, actually. And another one is about to gather; tomorrow morning at an absurdly early hour I'll head out to Ohalah (the annual meeting of the Jewish Renewal Rabbinic Association), preceded by a student-led Shabbaton, in Boulder, Colorado. It's something of an embarrassment of riches, going from New Year's to Ohalah within the span of a few days.

The Myers-Briggs personality test tells me I'm neatly balanced between introvert and extrovert. The classic question that aims to determine where on that spectrum one falls is, "At the end of a busy day, do you recharge by being alone or by being with people?" My answer tends to be, "I need more information -- who are the people?" At the end of a busy day (or a busy week), being with strangers can be tiring and being alone can feel lonely. What I really want is to be in community.

Fortunately for me, the folks involved with the various ALEPH ordination programs constitute a pretty wonderful community, and I'm eager for  the chance to talk and sing and pray with all of them again. Though I suspect that by the time I come home from that trip, I'll be more than ready for the quiet solitude of our snowy backyard! (As seen in the above photograph, taken during a quiet moment on the cusp of New Year's Eve.)

Here's hoping 2008 will hold the right balance between conversations and quiet time, for all of us.

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