I don’t know how the observant balabustas do it. Several J-mamas posted this photo on Facebook, and even our heretic family can totally relate. Too many holidays, too little time…and so much going in the (and my) Jewish world.

I’m having hard enough time getting a full meal on the table, so you, like my family, are going to have to settle for a series of nourishing snacks:

*All of Israel and the diaspora is celebrating that Gilad Shalit is a free man! All I can think about is his mother and her tears of joy. I wonder if she thought the same thing I did when she saw him: “Oy, so thin! The terrorists couldn’t feed you a little schmaltz in five years?”

*This week the Forward published an extensive article about the “lost” letter from George Washington to Savannah’s Congregation Mickve Israel…oops, not sure anyone actually knew it was missing! This article is a must read for those interested in Southern Jewry and the history of America’s third oldest congregation. Have you visited the museum lately?

*Paul McCartney married nice Jewish girl Nancy Shevell and attended Yom Kippur services a couple weeks back. Mazel tov to the couple; all they need is love, since I’m pretty sure they’re both rich.

*I’ve been writing my tushy off at Connect Savannah, including the weekly The Civil Society Column. Last week’s “How to Raise a Subversive Rabblerouser” has gotten lots of “likes.” New stuff goes live today at noon. It might be a little racy.

*Hope y’all have had a fabulous Sukkot. A big thank you to my friend, Eeta Travis, for inviting me to lunch in her pretty sukkah decorated by her four daughters. I even got to participate in the mitzvah of shaking the lulav and etrog, adding my own hippie-Afro dance moves, ’cause I’m DIY like that. Then I spent the weekend camping under the stars, marveling at the maroons and yellows of the changing leaves at the Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference near Black Mountain, NC, which in my personal tradition fulfills the rest of the Sukkot blessings. What better way to honor the harvest than learning about the practical and spiritual properties of medicinal plants?

*Tomorrow we conclude the outside festival with Simchat Torah, which includes a tradition of joyfully taking the congregations for a spin around the synagogue to show ’em a good time. I have my dancing shoes all picked out–get ready for some hippie-hippy shake, peeps.