The Life - Mikvah

Transcript

My name is David Rodwin and this is the life. So, I just got back from taking a dip in the ocean, but this was not any ordinary dip. This was my first mikvah. A mikvah is a Jewish ritual bathing, and I'd never done one before. It's more often associated with women and especially for marriage or conversion or cleansing. Generally speaking, men don't do it as often. And in fact, I had never done it ever. And I used the original mikvah this morning, the ocean. This is the morning of K Nidra and it is the end of the 10 days where we're supposed to be atoning for all the things we've done wrong over the last year. Both to the people who we have done wrong to as well as making atonement to God. Doing this mikvah is a mitzvah and it's the last physicalization of this total cleansing process. I got up at 6:30 in the morning with just 4 hours of sleep. I ran over to Santa Monica lifeguard station number 26, right where Ocean Boulevard meets the beach. And there we actually also prayed beforehand. It was sort of a morning minion except there were three of us, so it wasn't a full minion, but we did these morning prayers, which I I don't know if I've ever done in my entire life. So, I was barely being able to follow along. And these guys are so much more learned than me. One of them actually is a rabbi. The other was saying he was thinking of becoming a rabbi. But they were very generous. Every now and then they would turn to me and say, "Hey, do you want to try and say this verse?" And I would sound it out word by word, letter by letter, phonetically because I'm sort of like that kid in high school, like one of those after school specials where the high school kid who you think could read, but then when they actually hand him a book, it sounds like he's in kindergarten. It was very sad, but they were very patient with me and it was great to feel a part of the ceremony, even though I am so not yet learned in some of those ways. And I actually wrapped myself with tofillin for the third time in my entire life. It's an amazing thing to put on this tfillain. And you can actually feel a certain kind of power going through your veins. And once we prayed for about half an hour, just before the end of our little prayer service, the rabbi actually turned to us and said, "Let's actually say a prayer out loud our hopes for the new year because we're in this special liinal time right now. Roshashana has come. There are new beginnings about to happen. What do you want? What are you praying for? And each of us had big things that we were praying for. And for me, it was a prayer for livelihood. And not just for a job and not just for money, but the hope and the prayer that I have the opportunity to use the talents that have been given to me in a way that makes a difference and in a way that I feel fully utilized. So I'm not just living part of a life. So, I'm not just using part of my talents, but that all of me is fully invested in something that I'm doing that works in my community and actually is valued in a very real and a spiritual way and also make a living from doing that. And we each had these beautiful prayers of things that we were looking for in our lives. And after we said those prayers, we finished up the Elenu and we ran into the ocean, taking seven ceremonial steps. And it was freezing cold. We were laughing our heads off. It was so cold. I say freezing cold, but it's actually the warmest the ocean is the entire year round. And the waves were huge. The surf was enormous this morning. It was beautiful. I was getting wrecked by these waves. I mean, like 9 foot crest getting slammed and it was fantastic. And once we got far enough out into the ocean, then we took off our suits and we did it one at a time. I passed my suit to to Mike and he took it. And then I did the ritual three dunkings. My head completely underneath the water, then back up again. And I have to tell you, it was an amazing and wonderful feeling. And I have not spent that much time in the ocean in over a decade. Partially because, if not mostly because I'm afraid of fish. It's a stupid phobia, but I am an ichthophobe. Luckily, I had my two friends there with me who could give me courage and support as I screamed like a little girl every time I stepped on a piece of seaweed and I thought I was stepping on some fish or a shark or I don't know what. But there we were, the three of us together and I'd taken off my suit and I was completely naked in the ocean. And it is this amazing freeing experience. I can't describe the kind of joy that we I think all were feeling that we just started laughing and we spent maybe 10 or 15 minutes in there and then we swam back to shore. It was just such a beautiful enlivening experience and I feel amazing. I haven't had so much fun in the ocean since I was a kid and I'm so grateful that they invited me along with them and I'm very excited about something but it's a secret so don't tell anyone. It's very naughty. After Cole Nidray, I'm going to a concert. It's Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra. And gosh darn it, I'm going to see her this time, even though I have to race away from temple straight to the show. And this is a fantastic way to begin the new year. My name is David Rodwin, and this is the life. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Applause] No internet working is this bohemian equivalent of having no firewood in the 19th century in Paris. It's like that's what you live on. That's what keeps you warm. That's what makes it possible for you to do anything all day long.