Shabbos Food + A Fall Course

It's hot as Hades outside (does anyone outside of the Midwest use that phrase? because I use it all the time), but I'm busy preparing for Shabbos anyway, baking, cooking, and attempting to stay hydrated. On the menu?

Well, this is for tomorrow. We're eating by Stephen and Tzipora, so I'm providing a dessert.

Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free Chocolate Torte

And then there's the food for tonight:

I decided to make Croatian Star Challah, which I read about on The Challah Blog.

Lovveeee it! So unique.  Too bad I can't eat it. Bummer.

Basil-Pesto Meatballs
(2 pounds ground turkey + 1 container Sabra Basil-Pesto Hummus, zehu!)

Roasted Mixed Vegetables with Lemon and Garlic

Fruity Quinoa with Raisins
(1 cup quinoa + 2 cups grape juice. Cook till liquid is gone. Add raisins. Serve hot or cold!)

And, of course, there's a Grilled Chicken with a Bourbon-Peach Butter. Check out the peaches on the stove!

The finished product isn't that tantalizing visually, but good lord the "butter" tastes amazing!

I'll add that this menu is for four people, but I had plotted this meal when I assumed we were having a full table (that's eight), and unfortunately not everyone was around this week. But I forged forth with my menu anyway! Lucky guests, eh?

And I have to mention, I just registered for another class for the fall, and I'm super stoked about it. The course is "Duties of the Heart: Intention in Jewish Law," and it's through the Law School, which means it'll be me and a bunch of Law Students (outside enrollment is capped at five!). Here's the course description:

The course will examine the role of intention in different areas of Jewish Law - prayer and performance of other commandments, shabbat, torts, criminal law, vows, idolatry, and other areas of law. We will read carefuly Talmudic discussions concerning these matters, attempting to investigate the philosophy of action implied in these discussions as well as the spiritual and dimension of the relationship between the inner life and the outer performance in Jewish thought and Jewish Law. (all materails will be supplied with English translation).

Are you as excited as I am? Because, well, you should be. Why? Because I'm going to rock some awesomeness, darn't!

Shabbat shalom!

Yes, There is Life Without Eyeliner

As I was driving in my uber-cute Yaris today, I was thinking: Geepers, I didn't put any eyeliner on! With a gasp and a giggle, I realized I hadn't put any makeup on. Not a single dash of eyeshadow or a puff of face powder. Nothing. I shocked myself. 

I remember a day when I couldn't imagine leaving home without makeup, let alone eyeliner. Dark, black, top-and-bottom eyeliner. It's always been my signature, and despite having glasses, I never really considered that maybe people never noticed my signature eyeliner.

When I started observing Shabbos, I'll admit -- eyeliner was one of the things I couldn't give up. Despite the melacha (prohibition) of tzovaya (coloring) and possibly schita (squeezing) and memarevach (smoothing or smearing), I just couldn't walk away from it. When the conversion hit, I learned to give up face powder, blush, eyeshadow, the works. Even eyeliner went bye-bye on Shabbos.

Want the halachos of eye makeup? (For the halachos of all makeup.)

There are four areas of the eye to which women apply cosmetics to highlight and enhance the appearance of the eye: the eyebrow, eyelid, eyeline, and eyelash. Applying eye makeup in the form of cosmetic creams, regular non-Shabbos powders, cake (powder that one mixes with water), pencils, and liquid eyeliners, is strictly forbidden on Shabbos. 

Besides the normal conditions of Shabbos makeup, according to some opinions, eye makeup poses additional concerns regarding blending colors (tzovaya). The following are halachic guidelines when using eye makeup.

HOWEVER!

Women typically use cosmetic pencil/liquid eyeliner on these areas. As indicated previously, these may not be used on Shabbos. However, there are Shabbos makeup powdered eyeliners available that are not long-lasting and may be used according to Rav Moshe zt"l, under the conditions listed above (section IV).

Unfortunately, those powders cost a million dollars and aren't worth it. (If you're interested, check out ShainDee Cosmetics -- they have just about everything and are certified kosher l'Shabbos.) A lot of posters in The Tzniut Project mentioned getting gussied up for Shabbos, which is great on Friday night but then you have the problem of cleaning all of that makeup off before you go to sleep. Can it be done? Within the bounds of what's good and right for Shabbos? That's a question I don't have the answer to.

Thus, I've learned to live without it. And the fact that it's spread to weekdays has me, well, marveling at my own ability to embrace the way I look and love it. 

Question: What's the one thing that you've been unable to or struggled to give up on Shabbos despite the melachos? Feel free to answer anonymously, but I'm talking anything from a cigarette (quit! it's a bad habit that's going to kill you!) to your favorite lipstick to that vintage wind-up watch you love. 

The Shabbos Menu

I haven't posted a Shabbos menu in a while, but I was particularly pleased with the outcome of this past weekend's nosh. The variety of cookbooks used, too, I think will boggle your mind. Are you ready?

We had guests over on Saturday, so most of my oomph was focused on Saturday, so we'll start there. The menu:

Challah

Mexican Salad from Quick and Kosher 

Broccoli and Raisin Salad from Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free

(Vegetarian) Kishke (that I couldn't eat)

Maple Chicken (Tuvia's favorite these days)

Polka-dot Squash Quinoa from No Whine with Dinner (recipe here)

Green Beans with Thyme and Almonds

Roasted Cauliflower

Mixed Sweet and White Potatoes (and I made my own homemade onion soup mix, sans the sugar)

Blueberry Crisp in Ramekins from the Eat Clean Diet

Chickpea Brownies (click for recipe)

If you click on each link, it will take you either to a website where I got the recipe, or to a Google Doc I've created for the recipe. If you try anything out, let me know what you think.

Now, as for the challah -- it wasn't my own, personal recipe. In fact, it was something I picked up in Dallas when I was visiting my good friends @susqhb and @ravtex for Shabbos before SXSW Interactive. We went out to dinner that motzei Shabbos and the restaurant Cafe Finos happened to be selling this interesting product called Simply Add Water. Essentially, it's a bread mix to which you just add water, you mix, you let rise, you go. BAM! You have challah. Now, I love making challah, but I hate the mess I always make, and although this product turned out dense (from the feel of it), my guests and Tuvia loved the taste. They said it was "dense in that good way." So, for what it's worth, it might be worth buying a few and keeping them as standbys when you want homemade, fresh challah but you don't have or want to make it yourself. And really, the fun of challah is the braiding anyway, so it's like you get to do that, without the mess. I just wish I had taken some photos ...

Stay tuned for a full review of The Meal Makeover Moms' "No Whine with Dinner" cookbook (I made their other quinoa recipe for dinner Friday), as well as a post on my trip to the Sabra factory in Richmond, VA, as part of the Sabra Tastemakers Panel!

A Dry Spell

I'm already ready for next Shabbat. I don't know why, but this Shabbat I just didn't feel rested; my attempts at an afternoon nap just didn't pan out. I spent my afternoon rereading texts for my final graduate exam, mulling over Hebrew flashcards, and being anxious about the upcoming weeks of sitting, doing nothing, and then moving like mad into our apartment in Teaneck.

Next Shabbat, we're taking part in this awesome Mystery Shabbat thing in Teaneck (the aim being to pair people up at a mystery house, so the hosts don't know who is coming and the guests don't know whose house at which they're eating), and I'm eager to get situated in the new 'hood with new people, a new shul, and, essentially, to officially start our married life. I never thought New Jersey would hold the fruits of my future, but here we are.

Because of my current limbo, I really don't have much to post on. I guarantee that when I start working on my grad exam I'll have an abundance of interesting quips to share, and I also just downloaded The Invisible Bridge onto my nook, so that should provide me with some material about which to blog about. It's new, it was featured in The New York Times Book Review, so I'm sold. It will be the first official book I've read on my nook, so I'm stoked.

Until I come up with something interesting to blog about, enjoy some of the other blogs out that update religiously with interesting and fascinating goodies. Like who? Check out the following.

• In the Pink
• Dov Bear
• Savvima
• Life in Israel

Peace out!

Shabbos + Flotilla + Sigh ...

The sun in the sky in Caesaria, November 2009

I don't have much to say ... as I'm still exhausted from the pre-wedding weekend, the wedding, and three "official" sheva brachot celebrations. What I do have to say, is that I'm thoroughly disgusted at how the Flotilla incident has been going down in the news. There's a viral video that's pretty amusing (a nice play on "we are the world," but that also has some of the horrifying video of IDF soldiers being beaten and stabbed), but other than that all I can offer is the following. Good Shabbos, and may the world figure out its messes before history repeats and we're writing more history books about our mistakes.

Pray for Injured IDF Navy Commando Soldiers this Sabbath

The names of the rest of those injured in the recent “flotilla” incident , June 2010, are listed below. It is customary, in Jewish practice, to pray for an individual using his given name and the name of his mother. IDF commandos are not identified by first and last names for security reasons.

Dean Ben Svetlana

Roee Ben Shulamit

Yotam Ben Dorit

Ido Ben Ilana

Boris Ben Eelaina

Below is the prayer for the welfare of IDF soldiers, as brought in translation by the Council of Young Israel who also publicized the list of wounded.

He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – may He
bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Force, who stand guard over
our land and the cities of our G-d from the border of the Lebanon to
the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the
Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.


May the Almight cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down
before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our
fighting men from every trouble and distress and from every plague
and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every
endeavor.


May He lead our enemies under their sway and may He grant them
salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for
them the verse: For it is the Lord, your G-d, Who goes with you to
battle your enemies for you in order to save you.


Now let us respond: Amen.

A Pasta-licious Shabbos Menu

My gratin didn't looks this scrumptious, but it came really close!

Another cooked-up Shabbat, and another menu to present to my readers. I like to venture outside the traditional box and mix up some milchig (dairy) treats, so this week I went the route of the cow! Its byproduct, that is.

Friday Dinner

Challah (store-bought, come on people, Pesach is coming!)

Boxed Butternut Squash Soup (I do have a life, after all)

Brown-Sugar Roasted Salmon with Maple-Mustard-Dill Sauce

Cajun Steak Frites

Cinnamon Streusel Cake n' Cup kit (an impulse by at Burlington Coat Factory, of all places)

Saturday Lunch

Challah (store-bought, FTW!)

Vegetable Pasta with OurBestBites.com's Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Vegetable Pasta with Trader Joe's Pasta Sauce

Sweet Potato and Butternut Gratin (Note: I obviously didn't include the pancetta!)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

The sauce with the fish was to die for. I could seriously eat that sauce ... I mean wow. It really blended well with the sweetness of the fish, too. I used Cary's Sugar-Free Syrup to help keep the badness down, too.

I was a little disappointed in the gratin, but it was my first time making something as such. I think next time I'd probably leave out one of the three main ingredients and settle for just plain potato + squash or plain potato + sweet potato. There's just too much going on in this dish!

The Guiltless Alfredo sauce, however, was a huge hit. Such a huge hit that even I, who absolutely loathes white sauces, loved it. There's some kind of special kick to it, and the fact that it's so easy and not horrible for you helped, I think. As a note, I did substitute the milk by using SKIM milk, and it turned out fine.

For both pasta dishes, I made the noodles, poured the sauce over it, put some mozzarella on top, and baked it for probably 10 minutes to get the sauces to thicken up for reheating on Shabbat purposes. They both came out amazing! The nice thing about using "vegetable" pasta is it gets Tuvia to eat his vegetables without shoving them down his throat!

Until next time ...

The Sabbath Manifesto

I'm a sucker for viral web projects, and I just happened upon one (okay, they started following me on Twitter) today. The project? It's called the Sabbath Manifesto. The tagline? "Slowing down lives since 2010."

Listen, when I started going shomer Shabbos, the first thing I tried (keyword: tried) to do was unplug entirely. I did it cold turkey. No internet, no phone, no tv, no iPod. And believe me, it was hell on wheels. But now? I honestly -- and I'm not trying to lift you up and drop you in the dark side of "strict observance" here -- can't survive without Shabbat. My week used to turn into another week and another and months flowed together into years and there was no break; it was a continuous flow of noise and mess and chaos. But when I figured out how to make a day of rest from technology work, it turned into a day of rest from a ton of other things, which turned into a big day of rest from all of the stuff I do every other day of the week. It allowed me to read books for pleasure, talk with people, rest, just sit, to watch life go by around me while I rested, sound and relaxed in mind and thought.

And, you know what, a sabbath -- while it has a loaded "religious" tone -- really is for everyone. I think now about people who function on a 24/7 schedule of Twitter and blogging and Facebook and their phone and text messaging and fidgeting with worthless apps and my face hurts. In a world burdened with noise, I think everyone could take a day to step back and just say "wow, there's more to life than all of this other stuff." I hear from people all the time how mystified they are at the idea of a day without technology, and then later from the same people how they sincerely wish they had the will power to do so.

Of course, the question people always ask: What if there's an emergency? What if someone needs to get ahold of you?

The answer? Nothing is so important that it can't wait a few hours. Someone calls me from Nebraska to say there's an emergency, it's not like I can hop a flight instantly and help it get better. Someone has a pressing question? It can wait. Imagine how things were a hundred years ago -- you had to wait, you didn't have a choice. Did people survive? Heck yeah!

So listen, go to the website, give it a gander, and make it happen. We all need a break; we're on overload; we're liable to implode. Give yourself new life, and wrap yourself around the Sabbath Manifesto.

Shabbos Menu a la Chaviva, Part Deux

I was tasked with making Shabbos lunch this weekend. Me being a perfectionist/worry wart, I have no idea what the friends we're eating with will think. I can only hope that it'll be delicious. It quickly turned into a big, fat Asian Shabbos meal, but I'm okay with that. Who doesn't dig some yummy Asian goods!? Here's the menu:

Pull-apart Challah

Carrot Muffins

Asian Noodles

General Tso Meatballs

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the Asian Noodles, I did this: Cooked spaghetti, threw in some soy, some honey, some sesame seeds, and some garlic. BAM! Asian Noodles. For the meatballs, I used a basic baked meatball recipe with some Asian glazes/sauces to kick them up. I think I've posted the Carrot Muffins recipe before, but it's pretty simple (baby food carrots, honey, flour, vanilla, oil, and a few dashes of salt). And, of course, in the desire to clean out the cupboard pre-Pesach, the Chocolate Cake is Duncan Hines (parve) and the Cream Cheese Frosting is the yummy parve in-a-can stuff!

I find making lunch more difficult because you really have to be careful about liquids in your dishes. On Friday night, you can bake up to the point that you're food is hot right before Shabbos and you're set. But when you're reheating foods, the liquid thing can be a serious issue. So I'm a little distressed and worried I'm going to screw up, but thank G-d for wonderful friends who will tell me if I did something wrong. I just like being able to finally cook for friends -- I LOVE TO COOK. I used to hate it, and now I love it.

I'm such a Yiddishe Mama! Shabbat Shalom!

Note: If you're looking for posts with more substance, stay tuned. I'm probably going to blog about some of the research I'm doing, and as of Sunday I'll be in Austin for SXSW, so there will be oodles of good on-location posts!

Shabbos or a $20 bill?

Back in early 2008, when I started going to the Orthodox shul in Chicago, I was attending Shabbos dinners regularly, and I was having the time of my life. I was still trying to figure out this whole “shomer Shabbos” thing, and it was really hard – as those of you who have read my blog for the past few years know – for me to embrace and practice electronic abstinence for those 25 sacred hours each week. I’m a technophile, and my blog and e-activities were and are my life to some extent. I remember one Shabbat, that I might have even blogged about, where, after a hearty Shabbos dinner, a bunch of us were walking up Broadway together toward our respective residences when we came to an intersection wherein we found a $20 bill laying on the ground. It wasn’t windy, it wasn’t rainy, and the bill was just laying there on that busy street, staring at our group in the face. Now, because I was still in my acclimation period to being shomer Shabbos, my first (and probably inappropriate anyway) inkling was to reach down and grab up that shiny folded bill. After all, what were the chances someone was going to think “Oh crud, I dropped a $20 bill on a very busy Chicago street, I should go back and find it!” But I had to stop myself. Here I was, surrounded by a group of shomer Shabbos Jews, who were laughing and lamenting that we couldn’t touch the bill, let alone take it with us. As we stood there, a group came toward us, quizzically staring at the group of us surrounding this bill on the ground. One of the guys in our group stopped them, saying, “Hey, you guys want this $20 bill?” Of course they thought it was a ploy, some kind of trick or Candid Camera moment. We assured them it wasn’t – we’re Jews, it’s our Sabbath, we can’t touch or carry money. So they took the bill, went on their way, and we continued up the road.

I remember thinking how weird the entire episode was. There I was, two years after my Reform conversion, so far away from that lifestyle that allowed me the freedom to do what I saw fit on Shabbos that made me relaxed and rested to honor Shabbos. I was exploring and slowly adapting my life in a different way, an Orthodox way, which understood Shabbos as being less about me and more about the community, the holy day of rest, the Sabbath. There were “rules and regulations” that were above and beyond me. Picking up that money and using it toward much needed things (after all, I was a city liver making a crappy salary) wasn’t above the Sabbath – I couldn’t bend its will for my needs, I had to bend myself to its needs.

Every week, I sit on the edge of my chair through Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and by the time Thursday roles around I air a sigh of relief knowing that the next day, Friday, will bring in Shabbos. I need that day more than I ever thought I’d need something in my life. This past weekend I spent probably two-thirds of the Sabbath sleeping, because as usual, I’m a bit under the weather. I went to shul Friday night and I davened, and I ate a hearty meal with friends and future in-laws, and I slept. And throughout that, I knew I wasn’t doing justice to the Sabbath, because I was making it about me. And sometimes, we need that. But I got to thinking about the day and how I can’t fathom life without a full and complete day of rest without all of the trappings of every other day of the week. I then was wondering how the rest of the world functions without a day of complete rest. A day where you don’t get in your car, buy something, flip on the television, answer your phone, text a friend, flip switches of lights on and off, and so on. Without that separation, life seems so monotonous and unspecial, each day like the last, each day a repetition of movements and actions that come to define our every being – we live for those things which make the world tick, forgetting that moment when the world stops ticking and needs a rest. Noise, I think, is our greatest enemy, why not shut it all down for a day and see how the world continues to function without our own contributions to that bustle of mania.

I know how hard it is to shut down for a day – it took me a very, very long time to do so. It started small. I’d stop watching television, then only pop on my computer after noon on Shabbos day, or try to only eat cold food, or not shower, and so on. Eventually, it became fluid; my life became, one day a week, about Shabbos. And now? I can’t imagine anything else. I don’t know how I functioned without such a day. Of course, like everyone else, in those last minutes I’m counting down until when I can turn on my phone and check my email and plug back in. But until then? I’m free. I’m absolutely free. I’m as my ancestors were 100, 200, 500, 700, 1000 years ago. I’m living simply, appreciating what I have, without adding noise and frustration to a tumultuous world.

So give it a go. Try some silence. Start small, and watch it grow big and beautiful. I promise you won’t regret it, even when you see that $20 bill and proudly walk on by.

Shabbos Menu a la Chaviva.

Once again, my good friends are allowing me to host people at their place while they're away, which means I'm cooking. Again. I honestly don't know how mommies of kids or working mommies or just normal people get used to this cooking for Shabbos thing. Then again, I'm guessing most people don't accidentally invite over 12 people to feed. I hate delegating, and I like there to be a fluid sense of food on the table. However, this time, people offered, so there will be extras brought in. I'm also considering making more dessert. (Wow, can I stop cooking already? There's enough food, Chavi!) This is the menu for Shabbos dinner tonight.

Challah + Hummus

Creamy Vegan Potato-Leek Soup

Salad

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Barbecue Meatballs

Some kind of chicken dish (from guests)

Rice (from guests)

Corn Kugel

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole (parve)

Green Beans (with a bit of garlic/salt/pepper)

Oatmeal Cookie-Peach Cobbler

Store-bought cinnamon buns (parve)
Green Grapes

What a spread, eh? Who is coming over for dinner!? Pictures forthcoming!

As a brief aside: It felt so good to cook all of this food for my friends, knowing that I didn't have to observe bishul akum!

I'm a cooking MACHINE.

On Thursday and Friday, I buckled down and baked and cooked my heart out. Tuvia and I were heading down to the Poconos for my last weekend before heading off to Middlebury, so I wanted to make Shabbos meals fit for celebration of not only Shabbos, but also my last weekend around. So what did I make?

For Shabbos dinner, I made Garlic Chicken with Orzo (sans Parm cheese as a topping, of course); some Parve Kishkah; a Strawberry, Sunflower Seed, Cucumber and Lettuce salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette; and of course the Challah.

For Shabbos day, I put together my first Cholent. It was a somewhat scary endeavor, especially since it seems like the ability to make a Cholent is like a ticket to Jewish success (I'm only half-joking, of course). I used this recipe as a base, but didn't make it exactly like this. There were some beans, onions, potatoes, barley and beef, and the base was the same, but as Cholent goes, it was mostly "a little of this, a little of that." We also had Challah, and I consumed some of my delicious salad.

For Seudat Slishit, I brought out the Kugel I'd made (not precisely like this recipe, but close), some challah, lettuce leftovers and whatever else was laying around.

I wish I had photos, but alas, Shabbos doesn't allow for photography. It was nice to spend my last pre-Shabbos cooking, doing something I won't get to do for seven weeks and probably for the next year when I head back to campus in August.

T-minus four days and counting.

Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbos approaches, are you ready to kindle the lights and rest? Shabbat Shalom!

Paintings by Elena Flerova.

Parshah B'halotecha on Chabad.

Dial, Shabbos Style! With Your Teeth!

I have to thank my friend Ryan for bringing this article to my attention. He sent the email to me with a query about why Jews can't use their phones on the Sabbath when it comes to life-saving purposes. Now, I'll admit this article is a little misleading. Here's the article, it's pretty brief, so read on!

JERUSALEM, June 10 (UPI) -- A religious ruling permits ultra-orthodox Jews to operate their mobilephones on the Sabbath and religious holidays with their teeth.

Many of the ultra orthodox volunteers and workers at Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services work on the Sabbath and were confronted with the dilemma of how to active their mobile phones without violating religious rules, Ynetnews.com reported.

Recently, the agency began replacing workers' paging systems with modern mobile phones equipped with GPS technology that locates workers and volunteers closest to the scene of an accident, shortening the response time, the report said.

MDA asked the Scientitific Technology Halacha Institute to come u with a solution. Rabbi Levy Yitzhak Halperin issued a new set of rules involving the use of a specially designed case that prevents phones from being sut down accidentally. To confirm response to dispatch, workers are permitted to hold a small metal pin between their teeth and press the necessary buttons on the phones, the Web site said.

And the sort of misleading part:

According to Judaism, the Sabbath, which is observed from sunset Friday to Saturday night, is considered a day of rest. Religious Jews do not travel, cook, work or use telephones. They also are prohibited from turning on electricity or driving but allowed to violate the Sabbath to save lives.

Now, in a worse-comes-to-worse situation, the telephone is used on Shabbos to save lives. In Israel, and even in the US in Chicago, New York, and other walking cities, not every frum Jew owns a car. If a woman goes into labor on the Sabbath or there is a life-threatening need for medical attention, even a frum Jew will pick up the phone and call a cab or an ambulance. In the case of someone who is frum and he/she has a car, they will drive to the hospital if needbe, and there are many hospitals (including one in Waterbury, CT) where the staff are trained in how to welcome the frum Jew, how to turn off their car, park it, etc. So even when it comes to the cellular phone, in the right instance, there is no problem with dialing.

So why the teeth? Well, if you do have to break Shabbos in some way (let's say you accidentally turn on the garbage disposal -- can't leave that running all Shabbos!), you should fix the situation in a way that is not normal -- use an elbow, a shoulder, etc.

But man, what a wacky ruling, no?

Shavuot, Here I Come!

Every year, since I began studying Judaism, for one reason or another, I have been unable to participate in the all-night marathon that is Shavuot. This year? I'm finally doing it. I'm starting my evening with Tuvia at a friend's house after mincha/maariv for a festive meal. From there, we're walking with the group over to our host's house for some early evening studying until about 1 something in the morning. From there, there will be much studying and whatever else occurs at all-night study, at the shul until about 6 in the morning (services start at 4:30 in the a.m.). At that point, I'll be schlepping home for some much-needed shut-eye in preparation of Shabbos tomorrow night.

Now, I am fully aware that the origins of this holiday were largely connected to the harvest -- the Festival of Weeks (since Shavuot means weeks in Hebrew), which began with the harvesting of barley during Pesach and ended with the harvesting of wheat during Shavuot, is the conclusion of the festival of the grain harvest. Perhaps the more commonly and widely observed aspect of the holiday, however, is that Shavuot is the commemoration of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Furthermore, it's become a big holiday for consuming oodles of delicious dairy delicacies, which is something I can really wrap my fingers around. Now, there are no Torah prescriptions for this holiday outside of abstention from work, special prayer, and holiday meals, but that hasn't stopped us from really taking on the many traditions of the day (or two in the Diaspora). There is a great mnuemonic device that is used to remember these customs: acharit (אחרית, "last")

• אקדמות – Akdamot, the reading of a liturgical poem during Shavuot morning synagogue services
• חלב – Chalav (milk), the consumption of dairy products like milk and cheese
• רות – Ruth, the reading of the Book of Ruth at morning services
• ירק – Yerek, the decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery
• תורה – Torah, engaging in all-night Torah study.

Of course, perhaps the biggest treat for me during Shavot is the reading of Ruth, if for no other reason than that Ruth is the tour de force name issued when it comes to converts -- she's sort of the mother of converts everywhere. Her name is issued often, as even after her husband died and she was asked by her mother-in-law Naomi to turn back to her family, Ruth followed Naomi all the way back to the land, stating fervently, "Your people shall be my people, your G-d shall be my G-d." Those, folks, are the magic words! I could write a lot more about Ruth, Naomi, and their fabled relationship, but we'll save that for another time and place. 

As for where the dairy consumption comes from, there are a few different ideas behind the tradition. One of the  most interesting, I think, is that since we didn't have the laws of how to properly butcher animals, the Israelites opted instead to eat dairy until Moses returned from receiving the laws. Makes sense, no? Another idea is that the tradition comes from the fact that Israel is referred to many times over as the land flowing with "milk and honey." Even further, the gematria (numerical value) of milk -- chalav -- is 40, which commemorates the 40 days and nights that Moses spent atop Sinai. Fascinating!

Right now, the internet is flowing with lots of blog posts on Shavuot, and as the holiday approaches this evening, Jews everywhere prepare to shut down their computers and cell phones to take on the two day chag -- after all, Shavuot is two days, but since it falls during Shabbos, it's really two days Shavuot mixed in with some Shabbos. Talk about an exciting few days. 

Hopefully, I'll come out on the other side of the chag with some interesting tidbits and reflections on schlepping across the neighborhood, downing lots of dairy, and hearing the book of Ruth read as so many Jews all over the world also will. It's a powerful thing, I think, and I'm so excited that for the first time this year I'll be there, experiencing it. 

Until then? I'll continue to watch the Spelling Bee on ESPN, dream of cheesecake, and nosh kosher berry muffins. 

Chag sameach! May your chag be filled with study, prayer, dairy delicacies, friends, family, and peace.

Shabbos Roundup.

Since I had direct orders from my Shabbos lunch host (mind you it was him, and not her) to not, I repeat NOT blog about my experiences (though, to be honest they were completely tame) at their home, I'll just present my Shabbos in a series of bullet points.

+ Once again at the Rabbi's for dinner, we once again talked about Twitter. Twitting. Tweeting. Blogging. Etc.

+ I didn't convince a doctor to switch to the ways of the Google.

+ I had the most delicious hamantaschen, again.

+ Ordered to leave the rabbi's at 10 p.m., we failed, arriving back at our host's around 11ish.

+ We then stayed up till well after 1 discussing kashruth (which I feel a lot better about now), conversion, community politics, and family life.

+ I think I'm allergic to the laundry detergent.

+ Aufrufs are fun, especially since you get to peg the chatan with lots of tiny little pieces of chocolate.

+ The many, many hats women wear at my shul are beautiful, large, and I think I'll stick to scarves someday.

+ Evidently it's possible to be "drunk with kidney stones" when you're super preggo.

+ Houses in West Hartford are really, really, really expensive.

+ The rabbi, our hosts, and everyone else really, really, really wants us to move to West Hartford.

+ Buying a house built in the 1700s would be fun, and exciting, but impossible.

+ Hearts of Palm are actually really good in salad.

And lastly? I can't live without my weekly in-take of Everything Challah. How will I last over Pesach!?

A Ditty of a D'Var.

 

In this week's parshah, Vayak'hel-Pekudei, after all the turmoil and frustration of the Golden Calf incident, Moses' first word to the people is on keeping the Sabbath. This seems odd, almost outlandish. The people commit this great misstep, and they're looking for some reassurance and comfort from Moses on G-d's love for the people and what does Moses say? "These are the things that he Lord commanded to make. Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have sanctity, a day of complete rest to the Lord" (Exodus 35:1-2).

I'm reminded of something I wrote after the interesting Shabbaton I attended back in November in Crown Heights, about the prescription "a leap of faith." In that blog post, I wrote that unlike in some other religions, because Judaism is very action-based, to be Jewish requires a "leap of action" more than a leap of faith. Zalman Posner, on Chabad.org, iterates a similar idea, I think.

Judaism's shield against assimilation, the guarantor of Israel's integrity, is not its theology but its devotion to observance of mitzvot, carrying out G-d's will in daily living. Israel's ability to withstand the golden calves of all sorts is embodied in the tefillin and Shabbat and dietary laws that make Torah as much a part of life as eating and making a living. Devotion to Judaism can be developed only through using Judaism, living it. Throughout history we have seen that Jews who lived Judaism, lived; those who neglected its observance, despite earnestly professed warm feelings and love for its ideals, were ultimately lost to our people.

Posner also suggests that the constant refrain of Torah, threaded throughout the five books is that "not expounding is important, but deed."

I'd never thought about this before (though I can't seem to find any prior d'varim on it that I've written, though I know I have), and it's only in the first few lines of the parshah, but it's significant. It's a reminder that one cannot just "be" Jewish, one must "live" Jewish. There's more to being Jewish than just saying you are, right?

As we approach another Shabbat (though not for many, many more hours thanks to this crazy time change), keep the idea of living Jewish in your mind. How do you live Jewish? Belief is a part of being Jewish, but as with many things, it takes action to develop passion.

Shabbat Shalom! And don't forget that today is Shabbat Across America! Head to shul, meet some folks, get your Jew on!

"So is it Twitting, then?"

"Tell me about Twitter."

When these words came forth from the rabbi's mouth over Shabbat dinner, I was a little, well, shocked. I'm always blown away at how quickly I'm emailed back (considering my rabbi back in Nebraska never emailed me -- I'd have to call to get an answer to my emails days and days later), but I never expected for the rabbi to ask about Twitter. He knows well about Facebook and all those other web 2.0 giants, and I was even more surprised when another one of the Shabbat dinner guests posed the question, "Well, then, what is Tumblr?" (Just so everyone knows, not even I knew what Tumblr was.) I mean, I'm not saying I expect all people around my parents' ages to be completely inept, after all, my mom is on Facebook and MySpace. But I didn't expect the rabbi to ask for an explanation. I found myself stumped, I didn't know how to answer the question, "It's ... microblogging!" I blurted out. Another one of the guests asked in an intense Israeli accent, "What's microblogging?" And I just looked at Tuvia, in a mixture of awe and shock, while the man's wife (the one who asked about Tumblr) explained it to him. The conversation went on for some time, comparing Facebook to Twitter and explaining that it's "Tweeting" and not "Twitting" and that yes, the whole world can read your tweets if you're not set to a private account, but that yes, some people do have private accounts and that, well, yes, maybe that does defeat the purpose ...

And this was only half of the Shabbat dinner conversation.

The other half? Money. I'm always blown away when Shabbat dinners and lunches end up covering every aspect of finance and investment known to man. It seems to me that such conversations would be considered, well, as muktza as handling money on Shabbat (consult your local rabbi!). I'm only half kidding, and I'm sure some rebbe somewhere decided that such conversation was forbidden! So we heathens talked about investing now that stocks with big giants like ING are so low, learning about the market, buying and selling houses, returns on investments, interest rates! You name it. After all, Tuvia is an accountant and when people find out they're in awe, so they seek his depth of wisdom.

But this is only partially accurate. We did take a break -- between Twitter and the drowning market -- to discuss last week's parshah. The rabbi posed a question, Tuvia mentioned that Exodus 32 is my baby, and the rabbi gave his thoughts on the incident and then asked for mine. The rabbi was mostly in line with my thinking, but another fellow at the table took problem with some of my thinking. I mentioned having my two papers accepted to a conference, and at some point the dessert came out and the conversation about Torah and Talmud and all things parshah disappeared with the chomping of the rebbetzin's delicious hamantaschen (brown sugar, nuts AND honey? oh my!).

The other guests left and for the next hour plus Tuvia and I stood around with the rabbi and his wife talking about our plans -- houses, conversions, school, cars, life, our future ... by the time we got back to our host's house, the clock was striking midnight and I, completely alive and invigorated by a truly unique and warm Shabbat dinner, was turning into the obligatory pumpkin. Amid snoring and coughing, I managed to get a bit of sleep before waking up and schlepping off to morning services, where I quickied Shacharit to catch up to the Torah service. It was weird seeing the rabbi and his wife the next day, after such a personal Shabbat evening before at their home. I bid each a hearty "Shabbat Shalom!" and that was that.

I have this problem about being too personal with people sometimes, I think. I worry about comfort levels and how to act with people in different settings -- public versus private. A conversation and relationship in someone's home is not necessarily the same as it is outside that snug and comfy little box with rooms and Judaica and delicious food. You know what I mean?

But in all honesty, it was one of the best Shabbats I've had. Our host family was quite ill, the lot of them, but they were -- as always -- friendlier than anyone I've ever known. The youngest one continued to call Tuvia (whose name is really Evan) "Kevin," which gave me giggles, and cookies were the food of choice for just about all of us. And, of course, Friday night's dinner was definitely memorable and remarkably special, though I can't exactly explain why.

I suppose, in a way, eating dinner by the rabbi sort of sealed some kind of special deal. It was an official in, to the community, that is. Like a knowing glance or a firm handshake. An experience that lets you know that you're safe, you're welcomed, you're liked, and most importantly? You're home.

How Do You Say Shabbat Shalom?

Thanks to the folks @JewishTweets for putting this snazzy video together. It's got greats such as @YLove and @Gruven_Reuven in it!

A Shabbos to Remember, a Lifetime to Go.

If you could paint a picture of your best or most ideal Shabbos, would it look anything like this?

I picked up Tuvia in Ye Olde Jeep on Friday around 4:30, and having an hour until we really needed to be at shul, he took me on a mini-tour of his old stomping ground in West Hartford. We headed to our host's house around 5 p.m. and, with open and warm arms, we were welcomed into their home. We said hi to the little ones who were pre-Shabbos bathing and we ran upstairs to put our things down and make sure all the lights we needed were on. Tuvia was in the library -- a room full of Judaica books, nifty artificats and a gigantic air mattress -- and I was in a room down the hall with possibly the most comfortable guest bed I've ever slept on. We thanked the host again and again, said we'd see her in a few after the service, and headed off to shul in the car. At the shul, we parked the car -- making sure we didn't leave anything in it that we might need, and (armed with umbrellas thanks to the impending storm) headed in for the service.

I don't need to go into the service because, well, as usual it was awesome. The rabbi is doing a series on how to go about asking/getting a non-Jew to do things for you on Shabbos that are necessary (the heat in the sanctuary is too hot, too cold, etc.). It's a pretty fascinating series, which we just started last week after a series of weeks on muktza.

After services, Tuvia and I put up the umbrellas (I know, assur to some, but I refuse to be soaked walking home from shul), and set off for our host's place. The house smelled absolutely divine when we arrived. It was the hosts, a few others, and us for dinner and we dug right in to the meal over casual conversation and stories. It was a pretty tame dinner, and shortly afterward we helped clean up the table, chatted with our host in the kitchen, and then set off to sleep on the third floor. I'd hoped to do some reading first, but man alive I conked out. (Probably because the night before Tuvia and I schlepped 4+ hours round-trip to see FrumSatire get his comedy on in Crown Heights!)

I can't say that I slept super well -- I was up every few minutes thanks to a heater that was touchy and the fact that I was worried about oversleeping. We were set to get up at 8 a.m., get ready, eat some breakfast (challah + jelly and butter? yes! coffee with hazelnut creamer? YES!), and head off to shul -- children and stroller in tow. It was incredibly windy and cold, but the walk was outstanding. There's something nice about schlepping to and fro from shul -- you work off all that food you haven't eaten, and all the food you will eat. The morning service is still a lot for me to pick up on. The rabbi's wife helped me out in what I should daven while the Torah service was going on, and by the time I was done it was time for the service to move on. I followed the rest of the service with ease, and the kiddush was pretty interesting (we ate on a food stamp budget), especially since the crowd, well, pretty much heckled the speakers. Tuvia and I left with a few other guests for the lunch at our host's place and on the way we talked about a lot of things, including the community, observance, and how I converted (a popular topic these days!).

The lunch and rest of Shabbos was just mind-blowing. The meal lasted several hours, there were l'chaims and discussions about Israel, faux meat, veggies, delicious wine and the most amazing everything challah I have and will ever eat, and plenty of time spent playing with the kids (there were FIVE children there, and I am in love with each one of their cute little faces). The crowd dwindled bit by bit, and those of us that were left discussed blogging and Hebrew. I was lucky that the guests at the lunch were so diverse -- lawyers, mothers, Israelis, super Orthodox, sort of Orthodox, you name it. Shabbos slowly dwindled and Tuvia and I packed up our things while the family got ready for their post-Shabbos plans. Havdalah rolled around and we smelled the spices, blessed the wine and the light, and said goodbye to probably the most restful, fulfilling Shabbos I've ever had. To be sure, it was my first real, complete Shabbos (umbrella-use aside).

I can't really describe how thankful I am for the community in West Hartford that has so welcomed us with the most open of arms. I have yet to run into a single person who isn't as eager as ever to have us over for a meal or to offer a bed or an ear or shoulder. People have stories, want to hear stories, and love to tell stories. It's a beautiful community willing to go to any length to fulfill the mitzvot while also acknowledging the great, big world that is out there and in their community. These people? They're my kind of people.

On Thursday, Tuvia and I will be in Chicago at my old shul (SO STOKED), and then after that, we'll be spending most weeks at our host's home, dining at the homes of friends, and meeting with the rabbi every Wednesday together to discuss the steps in our future -- and more specifically, in my future. There are a series of difficult aspects of the timeline for Tuvia and I, and they're making a lot of things really come into focus. Between our relationship, my conversion, graduate school, the geographic constraints of where we both live, and everything else, we're having to think about a lot of things. In reality, our lives are being put into perspective, and the most oft thing heard between us is, "I can't wait until we're married, living in West Hartford, with a kosher home."

I've come a long way from three years ago, don't you think?

Talent Scouts and Rabbis

I had my second meeting with the rabbi yesterday morning, bright and early, and I'm finally completely at ease in his presence and in the realm of our topic at hand -- an Orthodox conversion to follow-up the Reform conversion I had nearly three years ago. We discussed my family background, my parents, how I was raised and the friends who I lost -- either spoken or unspoken -- over the conversion back in 2006. He explained to me that I'm not a novice, and that he wants to start studying with not just me, as a result of this, but with me AND Tuvia. Why? Well, let's just say that Tuvia and I are pretty serious folks, if you hadn't gathered. The rabbi wants to make sure he and I are on a parallel course so a collision or crisis situation doesn't arise. Thus, we'll be learning how to be observant together. To be honest, it kind of excites me. It's like couples counseling for the soul, hah. The one thing I've come to love about this rabbi, though, is his intense use of analogies that make absolute sense but that can be a little, well, zany. Analogies, for me, help me learn. I come up with analogies to explain just about everything.

A recent example? In Talmud class we were discussing Honi the Circle Maker, Hanina bar Hama, and other wonderworkers and how the rabbis sort of "adopted" or rabbanized them in the Talmudic stories. For me, it doesn't make sense that the rabbis would adopt these miracle workers -- after all, it makes the rabbis look incapable. If the rabbis can't make it rain, but this magical figure can, then doesn't it undermine the abilities and the authority of the rabbis? The argument is that because the rabbis found or know who these people are, and can as a result make requests of them, makes rabbis the ultimate talent scouts. And this was my analogy. You have these wonder workers (the stars, the talent) and you have these rabbis who rabbanize the stories and make them glorified stars (thus the rabbis are the ultimate talent scouts). The talent scouts are then looked to as the amazing ones, the big wigs, for discovering this amazing talent walking around a village somewhere or pulling water from a river (or, you know, walking around a mall or at a McDonalds stuffing their face or singing in a bathroom stall). No matter what way I paint it, I still don't see the positives to the rabbis including these stories, but ... well, that's for another post. This was just to prove my analogy point!

On another note, Tuvia and I will be in West Hartford tonight staying at a host house for a first real dive into the Orthodox Shomer Shabbos lifestyle. I'm excited to see how a house functions for the full 25 or 26 hours, and even though I know it's probably not as grandiose as I might think it is, I'm still quite excited. I'll be bunking with a permanent house guest of their's and Tuvia will be joining the books in the library. We'll be schlepping back and forth to shul (it appears to be QUITE windy outside today, ugh) and wining and dining with family and friends of our hosts. I'm still struggling with this hair thing -- I wish I could just get married already so I didn't feel so weird about covering my hair on Saturday mornings to hide the absolute mop that it becomes between point A and point B when I'm sleeping on Shabbos. But this? This I will have to get over.

And on a second, yet more unrelated note, don't forget to sign up for the Purim Basket Giveaway , though -- the contest ENDS at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday night. If I can get up to 50 comments (not including my own, I believe), then we will be giving away TWO gift certificates. So, you know, pump up the press!

Until then, have a good and restful Shabbos!