Come Sail Away

Check out our new Bar and Bat Mitzvah gift suggestions at bestjewishkidsbooks.com.

31-year-old Matt Rutherford just returned to Baltimore.

He sailed away 314 days earlier, towards New York. He returned with his bow still pointing north. How is that possible?

A: He circumnavigated the Americas, first person ever to do it solo.

23,000 miles. That's nearly the circumference of the Earth.

WYPR interviewed him the day before his dramatic arrival. He told of some pretty harrowing moments, like when an ocean liner missed him by a couple feet in the middle of the night.

But that kind of danger and treacherousness wasn't the worst part, Matt says. At some point during the trip, he told the Washington Post that he was experiencing a profound lonliness.

“Lonely to the point where anything living is comforting. A bird, a fish, even a barnacle. I think I’m beyond lonely.”

But that's not the Table-Talk reason for telling the story.

When he began, other world-class sailors described his attempt as practically suicidal.

“What Matt is trying to do, I’m absolutely blown away by it,” Herb McCormick said. “He’s doing this in a boat that, frankly, I’d be scared to sail from Newport to Bermuda. I’m in awe of the guy. This is such a mammoth undertaking, and to do it without stopping — alone — is mind-boggling.

Here's what he looked like at the homecoming.

Question for your table: What would motivate a person to do this?

Hint: He wasn't looking for a thrill, nor to make the record books, nor to prove himself.

Another hint: What would possibly motivate YOU to spend 314 days alone (never mind the danger)?

Shabbat Shalom.

You, Alone

Rosh Hashana is 3 weeks away and counting. Getting ready? Didn't think so. Read on.

Interesting pair of sailing stories in the news today. Over in England, 17-year-old Mike Perham is back in Portsmouth, England tomorrow after sailing for nine months and 30,000 miles around the world.

Alone.

He told the BBC last night that despite the massive storms, equipment failures and the purely grueling physical challenge, the hardest part was….being alone.

The other sailing story is from over in Holland. 13-year-old Laura Dekker wants to challenge Mike's record, with the full support of her parents, but Child Protective Services achieved a court order to remove her from her parent's custody. The judge agreed that an 11-year-old is not up for such a challenge.

My first reaction was relief that Laura is being saved from herself. What could her parents be thinking?

Well, it turns out she was literally born and raised on boats and has been sailing solo for two years already. Maybe she could handle it?

Here’s the simple question for your table:

If there were no physical or material problems, could you mentally handle 9 months in a small yacht alone? Do you know anyone who could? Do you know anyone who couldn’t? Next to food, water and shelter, is there anything so vital as companionship?

(Bonus Q - If you had to make the trip - what book(s) would you take?)

There is a Yiddish saying that seems to fit here:

A werm geit a rein in chrein maint er a das iz ziss - A worm enjoying horseradish thinks this is sweet.

In other words, you can probably get used to almost anything, but then you don't know what you're missing.

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For Rosh Hashana last year, if you were reading this blog, you may recall the series of “Joo-Toob” videos I made to help people start thinking beyond the apples and honey.

The first one turned out to be controversial – the part where I suggested you might be better off staying at home on Rosh Hashana:



This year, a new technology will allow me to offer a live web-based interactive class that only requires you to have a browser. The class will be called:

“How to Use the Holidays to Figure Out What’s Broken, and then Fix It”

When: Monday September 7 (Labor Day), 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern

We’re limiting participation to 25. Sign up by sending an email.

Shabbat Shalom


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The goal of Table Talk is to give you a conversation-starter for the Friday night dinner table. Please print and share.