Last Shabbat and this one

I went away with my work last Shabbat, which was hard. I found two more prayers that were very difficult. The first was Tefillat HaDerech - the prayer for a journey. The rabbis on the bus were talking about exactly where the right place to say it was - you can't say it until you have traveled a certain distance. I was totally alienated from this - like if we say it here, not there, if we say every word exactly correctly, it will prevent our bus from having an accident??? And all those people in accidents, maybe they just didn't say it right??? Give me a break.

The second prayer is the one we say when the ark is opened: "Yehe raba kadamach, detiftach libi beoraita, ve tashlim meshalim delibi, ve liba dechol amach yisrael..." It means loosely - "may it be Your will to open my heart to Your Torah and fulfill my hearts desires and those of all your people Israel for good, for life and for peace." This prayer has been very important to me because before I had kids I prayed very hard during this prayer that I should have them, and since I've had kids, I've always been very grateful when I heard this prayer. Last week I found I just walked out in tears. One of the students very kindly came over to me outside.

I have found something I think is appropriate to say to people who ask "Are you feeling better," which is, "I really appreciate that you would like me to feel better."

Please pray for my mom, Bracha bat Nechama. She fell and bruised her ribs and broke a bone in her foot.

Thanks and much love to all who are reading this.