The Word of the Day for Sep 16 is:
shofar \SHOH-far\ noun : a ram's-horn trumpet blown by the ancient Hebrews in battle and during religious observances and used in modern Judaism especially during Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur

Example sentence: The first blast of the shofar echoed within the sanctuary, announcing the beginning of the High Holy Days.

Did you know? One of the shofar's original uses was to proclaim the Jubilee year (a year of emancipation of Hebrew slaves and restoration of alienated lands to their former owners) or the anointing of a new king. Today, it is mainly used in synagogues during the High Holy Days. It is blown during the month of Elul (the 12th month of the civil year or the 6th month of the ecclesiastical year in the Jewish calendar) until the end of Rosh Hashanah and again at the end of the last service on Yom Kippur as reminders to attend to spiritual matters. The custom is to sound the shofar in broken notes resembling sobbing and wailing followed by a long unbroken sound.

And with that, let me wish you all a very happy new year (the year 5765 !) that is healthy, happy, and prosperous. We had our Rosh Hashanah dinner tonight, rather than last night, as I was at a field trip to Petroglyphs Provincial Park. I don't feel too bad about it since Petroglyphs is a very spiritual place. It was a fantastic field trip ending a day of field trips (Lang Pioneer Village as well as the Canoe Museum). The Canoe Museum was pretty moving, too, but for other reasons. I've never seen an institution so desperate for financial donations and volunteers as it is. If I had millions of dollars, I would give them a fat donation so that they could give their substantial and important collections (not just of canoes) a proper facility. That said, I think I've been inspired to volunteer there.

I don't have much else to add. Go to Chabad online to read more about Rosh Hashanah if you're interested.

I am in the process of finishing up my homework for class tomorrow. It's bizarre to have homework again after all this time. It's a "brief" assignment, but despite that, it is a thinking assignment and has taken me much longer to write than I'd anticipated. I am writing of a museum experience and the effect that it has had on me, at the same time observing its broader implications within the parameters laid out by the instructor, based on the programme of study. Phew, that was an awkward sentence. Initially, I had intended to write about the Degas exhibition I attended as a kid at the National Gallery in Ottawa, but in the end, I've decided against it. You see, I have written about it in the past, and when you get down to it, the "Eternal Egypt" exhibition at the ROM this past spring afforded me many more fresh, interesting experiences and a very new outlook on the place of museums in our society.

I am specifically discussing the visit early on in the exhibit's run of the special needs group. They were a group of downs-syndrome sufferers and high-functioning autistics. And they were wonderful. At any rate, they make a fascinating experience to discuss, especially when putting it in the context of just who exhibits are meant to appeal to and the prejidice inherent in such judgements. Or something to that effect. And also how it changed my outlook on the exhibit, my role as an educator, and exactly what a museum ought to be.

There really only need to be one or two paragraphs in order to conclude this assignment, but for some reason, despite seeing the conclusion in my mind, I'm having a terrible time putting it down in words. This is what happens when you have been out of school for two years. My highly pollished thought process has become rusted and stiff through disuse. Arg. It is terribly frustrating. I really feel the effort involved in synthesising my ideas and getting them down on paper in an ordered way. No rambling allowed, tangents are to be avoided, if possible, and please, no more than 1500 words ! 1500 words?! In university, that could be the equivalent of two paragraphs ! How am I supposed to say everything I want in such a short assignment?!

*thunk*