TRS tagged

I was tagged by Mr. Rationally Pious to fill out Nemo's "25 things about me" thingie. Joy. Seriously, have you ever seen one of these things that wanted 25 facts? Usually they want like 8. And why no questions? I'm just supposed to make things up on the spot? But...I'll do it anyway, because I'm such a nice guy. I will make a change to the format though: just give us one fact from each year of your life, which in my case would make for 22 facts, and then make up the remaining facts with your favorite food, color, whatever. Everyone got that? Excellent. Let's begin.

1. I was born on a cold Thursday morning in beautiful Boston, MA, on the 12th of February, 1987, meaning I share birthdays with Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, and the Boston metro system, which incidentally first started running 100 years before I was whelped. BTW, that translates into 13 Shevat, 5747 for all those keeping count.

2. I don't remember much about this year. As far as I know my family moved to Mequon, WI, otherwise known as the place which used to have really incredible kiddushes.

3. My upshernish was the first one to take place at Chabad of the North Shore's Mequon location (the Rapaport's basement). They took away my orange soda when it was time for the hair cutting. I'm still traumatized. I seem to recall that Mrs. Shmotkin was the first to take a snip, but I could be wrong.

4. This was the year the Twins, my favorite baseball team, won the greatest World Series ever played. I don't remember a single thing about it, and I wouldn't be a fan for another decade... oh well. The banner looks nice.

5. Kindergarten. In Hillel Academy. I remember doing a rehearsal for our class chanuka party and chanie shechtman faked an injury to get a call...I mean a chocolate chip cookie. Sick, isn't it? These girls always get sympathy.

6. My best friend at the time was Levi Litvin, and I vividly remember the whole neighborhood searching for him when he wouldn't come out from his hiding place in a game of hide and seek. They had just brought out the police dogs when he came out, thinking he had won. Which I suppose he did. That night we ate hot dogs. You see, I remember the important things.

7. 2nd grade was miserable, because the Litvins moved to Kfar Chabad so that their father, Jay A"H, could work for Chabad's Children of Chernobyl. That year my Hebrew teacher would ask each of us in school how we were doing, but she stopped doing so for me a couple months in, because all I'd ever say was that I was depressed, because my best friend Levi had moved away.

8. For one glorious year I got a new friend, Ira, whose imagination and intelligence was only matched by my willingness to go along with whatever it was he proposed. We used to go to the ladies class every shabbos and take as much candy as possible before we were kicked out. The Spalters, I recall, had the best spread.

9. We moved to Minnesota the day before I started 4th grade at a new school, the Lubavitch Cheder Day School, with all new classmates and whatnot. For a long time I hated Minnesota, but after a while I got used to it, and now I think I can honestly say that the word love might come into the conversation.

10. My third school in three years, Torah Academy, in S. Louis Park. I didn't particularly like my time there, though it is where I became a Packers fan. So I suppose it was helpful.

11. I started my bar mitzvah lessons a year and a week before the big day; that first week I mentioned that the next would be my birthday, and Rabbi Goldstein nearly fell off his chair. "What? You want to learn the whole leining in a week!?" He was only slightly mollified when informed of the actual timeline.

12. I went away to sleep away camp for the first time, Gan Israel Montreal, with my best friend Ira and the most awesomest counselor in the whole wide world, Yossi Bryski (he's the only guy I ever met who lived up to "Normal is Boring") Since I had requested to be in Ira's bunk, and he was in the BT/frie kids bunk, I ended up there too. It was great. We did whatever we wanted, because who's going to tell a frie kid not to so something?
In addition, a big shout to Yossi Bendet, the only person I knew when I got off the bus (Ira only came that night), who took me to canteen and bought me a coke. I still appreciate the gesture.

13. I became Bar Mitzvah. Let's see: read parshas beshalach (which includes the shirah), did the longest haftora of the year, davened shacharis and mussaf, and said the bar mitzvah maamar, in Hebrew, by the kiddush luncheon. Exactly one year later, to the day, my father's father passed away. I still miss him.

14. Graduation from Torah Academy. Woohoo! I gave by far the best (funniest) speech by it, but it was stuck way in the end of the program for some obscure reason. Miss Hollerich, I'm not sure if I've forgiven you for this one yet.

15. First year in mesifta, the Lubavitch Yeshiva of Minnesota-Wexler Learning Institute. I think I learned more about life and less about Judaism in that one year than any other so far. Yeah, it was an education. One thing I learned was not to predict to boastfully that the Packers would trounce the Vikings, because those guys in Yeshiva can be vicious...

16. The year I started keeping my diary, 03/03/03. If anyone wants to read all the embarrassing things it contains (believe you me, it won't
disappoint in that department) then be my guest, because even I can't read my own handwriting. How my biographers will manage is anyone's guess.

17. My first year at Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad. Possibly the best school year I ever had. Rabbi Mendy Schapiro for chassidus, Yankee Majesky my nigleh chavrusa, Shmuelie Gourarie for chassidus at night, Nissy Gansbourg chassidus on shabbos mornings, Shua Lustig teaching rambam...suffice it to say that my brain was stuffed full of all sorts of good Jewish shtuff.

18. The Rosh used to give his shiur a test on motzei shabbos. Once I said an answer from two pages back, and he screamed at me, in front of the whole zal, "I'm going to kill you!" He then turned around to look for a suitable weapon in his shtender, and Schneur Wilhelm whispered the correct answer to me, which I immediately relayed to the Rosh. Lucky for you people, otherwise TRS would never have been born.

19. My first year in Morristown. I used to stay up until two every morning talking about Brazilian politics with one of the smicha bochurim (Yasha Dayan) in the library.

20. Started this here blog when I was in Kansas on Merkos Shlichus. Hey, better than my chavrusa there, who started a facebook account.

21. Shlichus in Minnesota. I did a lot of dumb things, and yet at the end of the year everyone still thought I was the holy holy holy shliach who sat in zal all day and learned. Heck, the guys still think that. I love first month's impressions.

22. Smicha in Morristown...who knows what the current year will bring?

23. So how am I a Twins fan and yet I hate the Vikings? Simple. I only became a Packers fan l'hachis all the Vikings fans in Torah Academy, and in that respect 1998 was probably the best year ever. I became a Twins fan in 2001 when they started winning for the first time in nearly a decade. Until then I never knew the joy of listening to a west coast game extra-innings game at 1:30 when bedtime is at 9:30...sometimes I wish bedtime was still at 9:30.

24. I haven't missed a day of Chitas or Rambam since a week before Purim when I was in Shiur Aleph mesista.

25. I still don't get that guy for Second Hand Fitness' slogan, "Why buy new when second hand will do-except when the prices are this good!"

Ok, Real and Wright, it's your turn to shine.