Live and in person, part 1

For Christmas Adam gave us all tickets to Fiddler on the Roof at the Village Theater and we went on Friday.  I grew up watching that movie and I have always loved it.

Nothing is as good as live theater though.  It was wonderful!

When I was younger, I identified with the young girls...hoping for a good match in a husband.  (Yente came through for me--I got a good one.) Now I identify with the parents.  I'm struck as an adult by the love they feel for their girls. 

During Sabbath Prayer, I listened to the mothers and fathers singing to their children:

May the Lord protect and defend you.
May He always shield you from shame.
May you come to be
In Israel a shining name.

May you be like Ruth and like Esther.
May you be deserving of praise.
Strengthen them, Oh Lord,
And keep them from the strangers' ways.

May God bless you and grant you long lives.
(May the Lord fulfill our Sabbath prayer for you.)
May God make you good mothers and wives.
(May He send you husbands who will care for you.)

May the Lord protect and defend you.
May the Lord preserve you from pain.
Favor them, Oh Lord, with happiness and peace.
Oh, hear our Sabbath prayer. Amen.

I looked down the row at my own, each of them absorbed in the music.  I started crying then and didn't really stop until the end of the musical.

Indeed, may the Lord protect and defend you.  May the Lord preserve you from pain.

It is my prayer every day.

We all loved the play.  It was magical.  It was also late.  When we got home near 11:30 and Mark staggered to take off his shoes, everyone else was still euphoric and he was just plain tired.

He said, "The new rule is that no one can talk to me after 10:30 at night."  Then he went to bed.