A guy's weekend

As I was off in Charleston for the majority of the weekend Philip was home and busy holding down the fort....or something like that.

Philip had a blast. It was more or less his babymoon with the guys.

Friday night he went bowling with Josh and Josh's buddy Ryan. This was the second time this month he went bowling and even texted a photo of the score board to prove he had bowled 4 strikes in a row... According to Philip he whooped them in 2 of the games and had a blast with the guys!

Saturday was a big day for Philip. He was asked to give the D'var Torah at Temple for Saturday Morning services (sermon). He had been working on it for the past 2 months with the Rabbi and if you know about Philip and his writing this was something he put his whole heart into. The morning started off with a 9 AM Debate and Discussion on " Is there such a thing as Half Jewish?" which was sponsored by our Young Adult group: NextDOR (that I chair). Rabbi Micah challenged the common perception and written law that Jewish heritage is passed through the mothers bloodline. The newer Reform 'claim to Jewish fame' supposes that your are a Jew if you act like one. Just like actions speak louder than words, so do your Jewish acts speak for themselves. Brunch followed at 10:15 and the service began at 11 AM. A special thank you to all of our friends who came out to support him since the rest of his family couldnt be there. Supposedly his D'var Torah was amazing... he even got choked up because he was so passionate about the words of this weeks portion. He was very excited to share his thoughts with anyone who was willing to listen.

Notes from Philip: The purpose of his D'var Torah was to examine and challenge the congregation to read in between the lines of the portion V'ayakel Pkudei. What he didn't anticipate was that those words which he edited while also pouring his heart into it hit pretty near and dear. His portion questioned 'Why does G-d need a house?' consisting of the building of the Tabernacle, G-d's mobile home with the wandering Jews in the desert. He concluded that G-d needed a house not for G-d, but for people (and specifically in the text the Israelites) to be given the opportunity to actualize G-d through their actions. Particularly by giving their wealth and talents to the building of the Tabernacle. Translation: G-d commanded the Israelites to give to the building effort. Similar to that of our 10 million dollar capital campaign to expand our existing Temple (which will take place starting in May!)

After temple he met up with his dad for an afternoon of golf. It was a little chilly but they really enjoyed spending time together and doing something active. Philip played a great game as well!

On Sunday morning he got up bright and early and hit the golf course at Ballantyne Resort with Jason, Zach and their cousin for a round of golf. They were playing in front of Bob Johnson the owner of the Bobcats! After his man weekend we met up at my baby shower so he could help us pack up the car from the baby shower and of coures to snack on the good food.

Talk about a MAN weekend...bowling and golf x2...