Yom Kippur Outdoor Synagogue-- I Finally Prayed "With" a Minyan

 I know. You are thinking that this is some strange playground draped in sheets. Yes, you can look at it that way, but it's our local outdoor synagogue. 

Add a small portable "ark," a bunch of chairs, string up lights for the night prayers, and you have yourself an outdoor synagogue. Quite a few of my neighbors had prayed together here for over a year, even last winter, but I got no closer than my front door once or twice. It's across the street and down the block. Depending on who's the chazan, I can hear or not hear the prayers.

A couple of months ago, it had been decided to close it down and have everyone return to their former synagogues, in buildings. The powers that be had decided that it was finally safe enough, at least for those vaccinated.

But then the numbers of COVID positive began to climb, and it was clear that at least for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the outdoor synagogue had to reopen. This time our neighborhood synagogue took charge declaring the synagogue building "green" and the outdoor synagogue "purple." This way children could attend with their parents outdoors, and there would be fewer people indoors. On Rosh Hashanah I attempted to hear the outdoor prayers from my front door. I was partially successful, but that was good enough. Shofar blowing both days was perfect.

On Yom Kippur I started out by my door, and my next-door neighbors, who have a better perch invited me to their lawn. That's where I prayed most of Yom Kippur. There were just two of us on a large lawn, very private and safe. It was wonderful.

I wonder when/if I'll ever really get back to praying from my seat- the best seat in the Ezrat Nashim, Women's Gallery. There were things bothering me, even making me leave in the middle and pray at home, even before corona. 

May 5782 be a wonderful, healthy, safe and joyful year for all, Gd willing.

Succot Almost Over, Soon אחרי החגים

In the Jewish Calendar, there's a period late summer when for almost a month we celebrate holidays. And when we're not celebrating, we're preparing, or cleaning up from them. This holiday season includes lots of fasting and even a twenty-five 25 hour fast.

In Israel, all these religious holidays are national holidays, when schools, government offices, banks, some stores etc are closed. Considering how soon they can fall after the two month school summer vacation, you shouldn't be surprised that for a couple of months many things get postponed until אחרי החגים, acharai hachaggim, after the Holidays.

Tonight we begin the last of these Holidays, Simchat Torah, when we joyfully dance with the Torah and move back into our homes after a week of eating and sleeping in our sukkot.

One thing for sure is that many of us will have to work really hard trying to lose the weight we've gained over the holiday season. That's one אחרי החגים things I'm not looking forward to.

Pre/Post Yom Kippur Meal

Since we have a rather empty nest, just my husband and myself, I don't need to cook as much as before when the house was full of kids and guests. And we still have lots of big pots.

Don't get me wrong; we do have guests, but not as many as in the past. Also, nowadays, my cooking experiments aim more for efficiency than impressive. That's why I decided to try a Pre/Post Yom Kippur Meal, serving (almost) exactly the same meal before and after the Yom Kippur 25 hour fast. Of course, this dish is perfect any time you want an easy hearty one-pot meal.

I don't have many real Jewish Food traditions, especially as pre/post fasts or Succot and Shavuot, which weren't at all celebrated by us. I didn't grow up with kreplach, which is what many Jewish families eat as Pre/Post Yom Kippur Meals.

For some strange reason, as I was trying to figure out what to serve Tuesday night before Yom Kippur, barley popped into my mind. The experts say we should have a complex carbohydrate as a main part of the pre-fast meal. I decided to cook up chicken with barley and vegetables, a one-pot meal, which can even be a soup.

Before the fast, I served it with a salad, and breaking the fast I heated up some ratatouille, I had in the fridge. I also served myself some of the liquid with a bit of whatever came along as a soup, while my husband had his chicken soup. It was delicious, satisfying and so easy to make and serve. I tried to calculate cooking exactly what we needed for the two meals. In the end there's some barley left over, which can be "recycled" into a new soup with added vegetables.

Ingredients:
chicken, I cut it into large serving size pieces
about a cup of barley
onion, cut
2 carrots, cut large
2 large squash, cut large
seasonings, paprika, black pepper, garlic, parsley, a pinch of salt
water, of course

Instructions:

1. add all ingredients to a large pot, leaving a good inch before top, so it won't boil over
2. bring to a strong boil and then turn down flame to simmer for an hour or so
3. Yes, that's it!

I AM SORRY

It's the Eve of Yom Kippur, and I AM SORRY.

I am sorry for sins done against Gd and man, whether aware or not.

I AM SORRY for everything I have done wrong, hurt people, intentionally or not.

I AM SORRY

I AM SORRY and hope to be better in the future, if I have a future.

I AM SORRY

Those "24 Hour" Candles, Warning

In pretty much all traditional and fully Torah observant Jewish homes, you're bound to find "24 Hour" Candles, which are needed on certain holidays and when observing Yartzeits, anniversaries of deaths. When I was growing up these 24 hour candles were in glasses, which were always washed out well after the candle burnt out. And those became our drinking glasses. Nowadays, at least in Israel, the 24 hour candles are in metal cups.

For a number of years already, many people I know have been noticing that instead of the 25 hours or more they used to stay lit and be needed, nowadays, they don't last even twenty-four 24 hours.

To be honest, twenty-four 24 hours are not enough for some purposes. They really need to stay lit for twenty-five 25 hours. That's because if you have it lit on Rosh Hashanah in order to light the second night, that's twenty-five 25 hours after being lit. If there's no light/fire, one can't light the Holy Day candles. In my neighborhood, we've all come to each other's house in a panic looking for a light/fire to light from. And then we have to very carefully go from house to house with the lit candle to be used to light another. Sometimes, because we were too young to think of having Yartzeit candles in our homes, and the logistics of getting everything ready we'd forget, but more often, we lit, but the candle didn't stay lit long enough.

The candle needs to be still going strong after twenty-five hours for Yom Kippur, too, since it's traditional to light the Havdalah candle from a burning flame, lit before the fast/holiday.

For years already, I've been using candles that say 48 or 72 hours because of this problem. Before the Yom Kippur fast began, just seconds before lighting the holiday candles, like for Shabbat, I lit two different  Yartzeit candles. One was one of those 24 hour ones, and the other a 48 (actually 50 according to the label) hour one. I'm sure you're not surprised that only one of them was still lit when we came home from shul. And in case you don't know, our shul is just behind the house, so we didn't need to travel or take a long walk.

A neighbor had asked to come for  Havdala, since her candle had gone out pretty early. She said that many others had complained to the company and never received replies. So after we ate, I decided to blog about the issue and the suggesting that people do what I do and get longer-lasting candles. To do this I took some photos of the candles. And what do you think I discovered?

Not only don't the candle manufacturers attempt to give you enough wax for the needed 25 hours, which was once the norm, they now protect themselves by writing on the can in Hebrew and English:

"Burns About 24 Hours"

Next time you're buying, check to see what it is. They sure don't make 'em like they used to...

Yom Kippur: Pre and Post-Fast Meals

We're only human, so when it comes to fasting, being without food, it seems like all we do is think of food, what to eat. Even before and after the holiest day on the Jewish Calendar, Yom Kippur, which is not only a fast, but it has the restrictions of Shabbat, meaning on cooking along with others, what we eat (and drink) before and after can be crucial to a healthy and comfortable fast.

There are those who cut out caffeine for days before fasting, but to be honest, here I am less than ten hours before the fast will begin, sipping my usual second giant mug of coffee. But, like most days, all my coffee is drunk in the morning, after my two giant mugs of water. I don't continue drinking coffee throughout the day.

That's the toughest thing on all fast days, starting the day dry. The liquids clear my systems for action and alertness. Yom Kippur and Tisha b'Av are really hard, because not only can't I drink first thing in the morning, but I forbidden from having my two giant mugs of water before going to sleep. That means that during the day of the night the fast begins I must make sure I've had enough water to drink. Yes, water, and not tea, coffee or juice. Juices can be almost as bad as tea and coffee because the truth is that juice is no more than sugar and food coloring. Coffee and most teas have caffeine which push out the liquids; that's the meaning of diuretics. And I disagree with those who say cut out all salt. Cut down if you use a lot, but everyone needs some to keep the liquid in.

Last night at work in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, even total strangers asked me what I'm serving to break the fast. I guess they figured that if I know how to fit shoes, I should know what to serve after fasting twenty-five 25 hours.

Before the fast I've always served a typical Jewish chicken plus soup and vegetable meal, with a salad and starch. When the kids were little and lived at home, I'd prepare easy to heat kugels and vegetables with cheese for the breaking the fast meal. I remember one year about twenty-five 25 years ago when the electricity went out on Yom Kippur and I couldn't easily heat up the post-fast meal, since my ovens have always been electric. Luckily I was able to send the food to a neighbor who had a gas oven.

Now that it's just me and my husband home, I'm just going to serve the same basic meal for both.

I'll cook up the chicken in the soup and then remove it for the meal. I should do that soon, because I like to give the soup a chance to let the fats move to the top, so I can skim it and then cook in the vegetables.

Easy to make and impressive looking vegetables

For the starch, I plan on making kasha, and as you may know I make lots of vegetables. And there will be a fresh salad, too. I'll have everything before the fast, but after the fast I'll pass on the kasha and salad.

The reason I won't eat the kasha is because I've been keeping my carbohydrates minimal for the past years. That diet change helped me lose a lot of weight and keep it off.

For some reason I find raw food painful in my mouth after fasting. That started many years ago during a trip to New York when I broke the fast on American orange juice. Suddenly I felt like my mouth was painfully burning. And that pain returns if I have raw food too soon after a fast.

That's one of the reasons I prefer a good vegetable soup. On all the other fast days, I spend the last couple of fasting hours making a soup. But we can't do that on Yom Kippur.

What are your favorite pre and post-fast menus and foods?

May you all have a wonderful year.

Gmar Chatima Tova!

Gmar Chatima Tova, Next Week is...

I feel so relieved that this Rosh Hashannah is over. Getting ready for it was pretty stressful for me, but once it began, it was truly wonderful. I enjoyed the dovening in our shul, and also the main Shiloh Synagogue modeled after the Biblical Tabernacle. And I enjoyed the neighbors we ate with, in their homes and ours. It really was a pleasure spiritually and socially and everything.

my homemade challah
bli neder, I'll post about the special foods I made

Of course, I ate too much. But tomorrow is Tzom Gedalya, which is a fast day, dawn to darkness. And next week is already Yom Kippur. That's a bit hard to get used to. We had Rosh Hashannah right after Shabbat, less than 24 hours after Shabbat ended we were already lighting the Holy Day candles. And by the time we break the Tzom Gedaliah fast, we have to start preparing for Shabbat. So, yes, the fall Jewish Holiday Marathon has begun!

Yes, I know that it's more complicated out of Israel. In Israel, the Jewish Holidays are National Holidays, so we aren't missing work and school. Jews out of Israel are supposed to observe an extra day of "yomtov," which means that they have even more Jewish Holidays than we do. And they are in countries that do not celebrate Jewish Holidays. They frequently find that pretty much all or most of their paid vacation days go to celebrate Jewish Holidays.

In Israel Friday has become a day off or a half day for many. I work in a store and we close it early enough for everyone not only to get home, but to do a lot of the pre-Shabbat or pre-holiday preparations.  To me that's more important than a "sunday." I want my Shabbat to be a Shabbat and cannot imagine how to get everything done if you're rushing home barely in time to light candles.

Enjoy the Holy Days!! And have an easy fast, if you're fasting.

Getting Ready for Succot, Thank You, G-d for Making Me a Woman!

OK, this can be considered sexist in the "other direction." I'm very happy that succah building isn't my project at home. And I'm glad that I don't have to deal with getting the "Arba Minim," "Four Species" etc.

Yesterday in shul on Yom Kippur, as I was happily ensconced in front-row center seat in the Ezrat Nashim, Women's Gallery in our neighborhood synagogue, I was very happy to watch the men having to deal with the nitty-gritty of conducting the prayers. I know that the wonderful dovening they led took a lot of preparation. The very talented second-generation Shiloh resident who led us in the final Ne'ila Prayer had it timed absolutely perfectly, which is amazing. This prayer must end exactly on time, not before and not after. On time means that Yom Kippur is over, and the shofar may be blown to herald the end of the holiest day of the year. And considering that everybody (except for those forbidden due to medical issues) has been fasting for 25 hours, nobody wants this prayer to go past that predetermined time. I wouldn't want that responsibility on me.

The pre and post Yom Kippur meals were easy. I just made double and served us the same menu for both meals. And I'll manage the Succot cooking, too. I've been married forty-four 44 years and have dealt with the logistics of food-planning without too many disasters, thank G-d.

It's enough that the decorations are in my hands. I have a very easy way to get simple, free and attractive decorations for the succah. I use the pictures in Jewish Calendars which are sent to us for free from various institutions and charities.

All I need to buy are the thumbtacks to stick them on our wooden walls. If your walls are cloth then use a simple straight pin.

I thought that this would be a short post, but it isn't. Enjoy the Holidays. I have other things to do.

Chag Succot Sameach, 

Have a Wonderfully Joyous Succot!

ושמחת בחגך

Preparing for Yom Kippur, Surprise

Yesterday while I  was at work I suddenly heard the sound of the shofar. There were no customers at the shoe store, part of Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, so I stepped out to take a look.

Soon it evolved into quite a show:

Gmar Chatimah Tovah, Tzom Kal and Shabbat Shalom to All!!

Post-Yom Kippur, Report

The weathermen, though in Israel, we only see women giving us weather reports on TV, predicted a horrendous heat wave for Yom Kippur. That had everyone nervous, because Yom Kippur is a twenty-five hour fast.  No food, no drinks unless one has certain medical problems.  The air-conditioners were on super-high in the local shul, and the women who usually insist on opening the windows for a breeze, realized that the breeze coming in was more like a clothes dryer on its hottest temperature.  So they let the machines work, and it was comfortable where I sat.  It was a corner seat far in the back, so I was protected from the cold.

Dovening was wonderful.  I love the enthusiasm and participation.  We all sing along.  This year's Ne'ila, the closing prayer was very different from last year.  I can't say that one was better than the other; they were different styles.  Last year was a youngish neighbor with a beautiful voice.  His style wasn't operatic, professional chazzan, cantor style.  It was warm and welcoming; we all joined in.  This year was an older man, who included his extremely talented grandson for a few sections.  The singing style was more "old world" emotional, and he has a "rougher" voice than last year's Shaliach Tzibur.  The emotion works with the words of the prayers.

I managed to stand for the entire Neila, something I haven't done for years.  That's a good sign; it means I felt fine.  And yes, I did.

Another wonderful thing this year was that we weren't disturbed by young kids much.  Most of the time if children came in they were quiet.  I have problems concentrating when it gets noisy.

We broke the fast on vegetable soup.  My husband also had a roll.  And of course I drank lots of water.  I still feel dried out, but fine, B"H, thank G-d.

Update--No News

Yom Kippur is over here in Israel.
I called my daughter, and she's still pregnant. She relaxed all day and did fine.

Yes, when there's news, G-d willing good news, I'll post it.

It was very pleasant in our local synagogue. Of course, I have a nice seat, even considering the arctic blast on my shoulders from the air conditioner, but just think... In the winter, the heater will warm it up, really well, like the physical therapy I probably need.

As in most Israeli synagogues, the prayers are led by volunteers, amateurs, even if they've had some training. Yom Kippur isn't easy. The men who act as chazanim, cantors, are fasting just like everyone else. We had a nice variety for this chag, Holiday.

Just the highlights:

Kol Nidre was with a French Ashkenaz accent, soft, gentle voice.

Musaf was a show stopper! First of all, it is long and dramatic, definitely not easy even when not fasting. A young man, from a different neighborhood, came up to lead that prayer. He has a good voice, not the operatic professional cantor type, just good, enthusiastic and strong. Normally I don't like hand-clapping, but he was doing the clapping and sang much louder than the clapping. He was in control. Frequently people start clapping, but to a very different pace from the person leading the prayers, or a schizophrenic-syncopation matching nothing at all, which just makes me totally nuts. But in this case, it worked.

As usual we had to waste time, finishing Neila early. That prayer was led by one of the "younger" members of our shul. He did a good job, too.

From my vantage point, I really don't have any complaints.

Baruch Hashem, we're healthy, and G-d should just forgive us for our sins.

Getting Ready for Rosh HaShannah

Last night we had a Pre-Holiday Women's Learning Session. Two of the local women taught us.

And in between the classes, we socialized.

Shiloh women came to our Ramat Shmuel Synagogue, conveniently for me in the back of my house, from all the neighborhoods. We are of many generations. Quite a few of the women there are younger than my children!

But we were united in our desire to study and prepare our souls for Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur.

Shannah Tovah