Happy first day of the Obama Administration! It was quite special to watch the inaugural festivities yesterday (via web-streaming) with my co-workers at the Jewish Women's Archive. As cherishers and preservers of history, it was very gratifying to experience the making of history and hear an inaugural address which shared the power that history has -- indeed, "our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness."

While so much has already been written about yesterday's historic moment, and while I was saddened to learn that the Jewish clergy invited to the inaugural prayer service were all men (thanks for posting about this, Rebecca), it felt good to see a Jewish woman -- Dianne Feinstein -- give the inaugural "call to order" and offer some inspiring welcoming remarks. I've seen quite a bit of Dianne Feinstein lately -- she appears in the film Milk (which I saw a few weeks ago, twice) bearing the heavy role of announcing the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk.

I wonder how it feels for Senator Feinstein, whose career was so profoundly changed by both violence and courage, to witness the first openly gay official elected to public office and now the first African American president. She will bear witness to more firsts, I hope, and no doubt continue taking part in the risk-taking, the doing, and the 'making of things' that makes the stuff of our history.