Thank you!

Dear Colleagues:

As we begin to anticipate plans for the holiday season, I am pleased to let you know that Friday, January 2, 2009 will be a paid day off for staff. While most offices will be closed, certain people will need to work on January 2 to provide for the University's operational and security needs. Those whose service is required will be notified, as is practice, by their local management. Other arrangements will be made to provide time off or appropriate compensation for these staff members.

On behalf of the entire Harvard community, I thank all of you for your contributions to the University.

Sincerely,
Drew Faust

"You don't fix faith, River. It fixes you."

I've been reading the blog Velveteen Rabbi, and she's been posting amazing poetry recently. I love her thoughtful engagement with Jewish texts more broadly, though. I tend toward a much more academic engagement with texts, but her posts feel so... deep, and rich, and there's just something about her writing that feels almost warm... and as she tells the stories I feel almost like I'm living them.

And speaking of Jewish stories... via friendsfriends:

Can you please go to Someday Stories and vote for Evelyn from MA?

Evelyn from MA is the mother of Leah Larson, a seventeen-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl, who decided that there wasn't enough quality reading material out there for Jewish girls--so she decided to create some.

When she was thirteen, she started Yaldah Magazine, a publication for Jewish girls by Jewish girls. It's the American Girl magazine for Jewish teens, and it's actually good. If you look on the staff page, you'll see that aside from a couple of moms, it's all done by teenagers.

That's impressive. And more importantly, this is an issue that's close to my heart. There really is not enough good reading material out there for Jewish teens. When I was growing up, most of the books were poorly edited and had lame plots. And I complained about them. I still do.

Instead of complaining, Leah's making a difference. And she really is--this is a magazine that I've seen my (very sheltered, censored) nieces read. It's solid and impressive. And it's amazing that Barnes and Noble is interested in distributing it.