As I only have another 3 months here in Israel to complete as much as I can, I have decided to pursue a more intense study schedule. I will be having 4 lessons per week until I leave. While this will leave even less time than before for "leisure activities" (whatever those are), I feel it is in my best interest to learn as much as I can before this journey comes to its conclusion.

I am continuing to learn the remainder of the High Holy Day services. I am also going to be learning both Torah and Haftorah trope. I am also expecting to learn the Sheva Brachot in time to perform them at a friend’s wedding at the end of August.

I will be in town for Shabbat and have decided to try yet another shul, just for the experience. I will be having Shabbat dinner at a friend’s apartment tonight.

I finished all of my audition recordings for the High Holy Days on Friday. What a relief!!!!! This is the culmination of several weeks of intense practice and daily lessons to get the pieces up to performance level. I am now in the process of sending out these recordings to various synagogues in an effort to find a position for this year.

I am back to learning the rest of the service, and lessons are going back to 2 per week instead of 6. Hopefully I will learn at a quicker pace than in the past and not have to repeat the daily lesson routine!

I have had time for no other activities due to the extreme schedule I have been keeping. I have been so exhausted that I actually slept right through Saturday morning the last two weeks and did not make it to services. I am looking forward to being well rested so that I can resume a more normal schedule.