to give is to receive

In addition to my studies and general revelries around London, I've also been enjoying an education of an entirely different sort -- through all the extracurricular activities I've predictably oversubscribed to.

Some were obvious choices (feminist society, literature society), some are totally new (like the capoeira team... but I'll have to discuss that in another post!), and one has been a combination of both: the jsoc.

At a challah making pizza party... classic jsoc

Since traveling to Israel last summer, my curiosity in Judaism (as a religion, philosophy, and culture) has been piqued. But when it came to joining the Jewish Society here on campus, to actually staking a claim in the community, I wasn't entirely sure of myself.

My oh my, am I glad I did.

I've attended shabbat every week, bunches of educational-slash-social events on campus and off (like the challah making party, pictured above -- our loaf was delicious, I'd like to note), and have found a truly fantastic group of people who are graciously guiding me along this new path.

Yesterday, I learned something particularly cool that I wanted to share with you:

In Hebrew, the phrase "and they shall give" (v'natnu) is spelled vav-nun-tet-nun-vav. In fancy parlance, this is called a "palindrome," a word spelled the same forward and backward. And this is precisely how Jewish tradition understands generosity itself -- it impacts your own soul, just as much as it benefits the recipient. It's magic, in its ability to give as it takes.

Shabbat shalom!