A Bissel Drama on Rosh Hashannah

Rosh Hashannah began pretty routine, fall weather, and the weather predictions were for cooler and rain.

On that first afternoon of the New Year, we could smell the rain coming. After over six parched months, it smelled like that "first rain smell." The winds were also blowing from the east, a sign of rain to come.

We went to the shul for the Mincha, afternoon prayer, and I closed the new windows up in the Ezrat Nashim, ladies gallery. The winds continued and the electricity went out. And it came back, and then it was off again. A neighbor sitting behind me asked if I had gas set up for cooking. When I answered in the negative, she invited me to cook in her house. A half hour later when we went out of the building, we could see that it had really rained.

I entered my house, and there still wasn't any electricity. Then it returned and things seemed fine. Once is got dark, I was able to light the candles for the second day of Rosh Hashannah and heat the food. When I got up the next morning, total darkness. Apparently the electricity blew after midnight. I drank some water, no coffee. I went to the synagogue for morning prayers, and a short while later, the lights were back. Then they were off again. OK, they had just gone off because of the timer. According to the timer, it was night. Everything was mixed up.

Mixed up it was, since the lights went on late afternoon, only because the timer thought it was lunch time.