May we all know liberation from the narrowness, the oppression and enslavement in our lives and in our world. This year we are slaves, next year may we be free. Happy Passover to you and yours.
And I did! And I did yesterday, too. I am lucky to have two fountain pens. One is from a dear friend that came as part a fancy desk set. The other is a Levenger (not that this means anything to me) and was a gift from a congregant who was disappointed that when I became Bat Mitzvah, no one bought one for me.
Let it be known that I am left-handed. When I was a student this meant that any pen with ink that didn’t dry quickly was a pretty bad idea. I already had that embarrassing smear of pencil and pen on the left side of my hand from wrist to tip of the pinkie. Now I do much more of my writing in electronic form so the opportunity to hold a pen is something truly unique. Do you remember the last time you got a hand written note in the mail?
I just learned while writing this post that it is very easy to clean a fountain pen and immediately had to stop the twelve other things I was doing in order to change from the blue ink to a lovely olive-green in the fancier Levenger pen. Already I can tell that people will find the color of the ink a little different when I sign letters and I will definitely be using this pen a lot more.
However, does anyone know anything more about changing the nibs of a fountain pen? This information seems much more difficult to find. I have no interest in becoming a collector of fountain pens. I just think it is fun that I have the option to use them! (And no I wouldn’t use it for signing documents like ketubot or marriage licenses because I don’t know enough about the ink and whether or not it is archival and will last for a long time. Also, remember what I wrote above about smudges?)
If you have some knowledge about fountain pens and care to enlighten me as to how to change nibs, etc., please be in touch.
Write on.
The shopping list
I started doing my shopping for Passover.
Matzah, butter, eggs.
And the new addition I never wanted, at least not yet,
the yahertzeit candle.
To ignite on the eve of the 7th day
so that I can recite the Yizkor prayers to remember you
as if I could forget.
I’ve added something new to the blog! I know. It is so exciting. I’m taking some inspiration from my friend @imabima and keeping a list of the books I’ve read. If you look at the top of the blog in addition to the ‘about’ and ‘disclaimer’ you will now also find a list of books. I love to talk about books so if you see something and want to know my thoughts you know where to find me.
I am always looking for recommendations for things to read.
On Tuesday, I posted this about the Sipping Seder. Just for the record, the creators of this seder are aware that not all of the cocktails they have created are kosher for Passover. Here is a link to some of their suggestions to alter the drinks slightly.
What are you going to be drinking at your seder?
I wrote this d’var Torah for the board meeting last night. (Unfortunately, I didn’t attend because I have a bad cold). Maybe it will be helpful for your seder?
—–
Two weeks from tonight, God willing, we will be gathered around tables in order to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. We will say, “הא לחמא עניה די אבלו אבהתנה בארעא דמצרים,” “This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.” We hold up the matzoh at this point though we are still many page turns away from eating it.
Something about this idea has always troubled me. Sure, matzoh is the bread of the poor, it is quick and inexpensive to make. However, isn’t it also the bread of freedom? It says in Exodus, “they [the Israelites] baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.”1 Why is it that the rabbis who constructed the liturgy of our seder meal call matzoh the poor person’s bread and not the bread of freedom?
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg suggests that the rabbis start the Maggid, the telling, section of the haggadah this way precisely because it is the ultimate equalizer.2 Perhaps the rabbis of old were concerned that we would forget the beginning of the story and focus only on the positive outcome–we end up free people. Another possibility is that the rabbis want each of us to be prepared to challenge the status quo like our ancestors who fled Egypt. Therefore we all sit with this hard, plain matzoh before us, the same bread of oppression our ancestors ate.When we taste that matzoh we are simultaneously taken back in time and transported to the table with the empty plates belonging to the oppressed worker, the slave laborer, of one of the 963 million people around the world who cannot exit the cycle of hunger.3
We will say again at the end of this paragraph, “השתא עבדי לשנה הבאה בני חורין, now we are slaves, next year may we all be free.” May we each come to know the end of oppression even as we work towards this end for all people.
כן יהי רצון
1. Ex. 12:39.
2. http://utzedek.org/files/hcasep.pdf
3. http://ajws.org/what_we_do/education/publications/holiday_resources/passover_seder_reading_2009.pdf
Chosdesh tov (Happy first of the month of Nisan). It is just a few more weeks until we will be gathered around our family’s table to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
Several weeks ago I was talking to THE DIVA and we discussed the possibility of creating a seder of libations since she is now a mixologist. One idea to compliment the seder meal was a potato vodka martini with parsley. Then I saw this, The Sipping Seder. Someone stole our idea! (Or someone had the same idea and set it into action way before we did!)
Speaking of seders. There are a lot of ways to jazz up your seder evening. Here are some of my favorite resources.
2. The Religious Action Center
3. g-dcast with attached teacher’s guide.
4. The URJ has lots of good resources, too.
And then there are the things that make one wonder, “how could I ever have gone to a seder without these?”
6. The plague bag.
7. Juggling matzah balls
8. The plague masks which I used once at a community seder by handing them out to the kids and giving them the ‘surprise word’ that they were to wear the masks and run around the room 3 times. (This really got them to pay attention!)
9. A helpful suggestion for the youngest at the seder table from @rabbierin is to sing the ‘4 questions’ to your children as a lullaby before bed. This helps them to learn the words and when it comes time to sing them at the seder, they’re prepared!
10. I also never met a chocolate seder that I didn’t like.
I hope that you are news savvy enough to have read the recent Washington Post editorial from Friday, April 1 (and this was no April Fools joke) in which Richard Goldstone stated:
We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report. If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.
This is sort of a huge ‘ooops’. There are, of course several reasons in my view. You can guess what some of them are. However, the biggest ooops is that this story was not widely reported. I saw a few people reposting on twitter and facebook and a story in Ha’aretz. Other than that, there is nothing about it!
There are a lot of changes happening with our news media. The New York Times and many others are charging for access. (Honestly, I don’t understand how it all works nor have I decided what I am going to do about subscriptions to any of these news sources). If this is the new way, it seems all the more so there needs to be a truly balanced reporting about everything, Israel included.
Did you read this editorial by Richard Goldstone? What are your thoughts about the subscription services?
The DIVA and the RABBI with PAPA
Today was my PAPA’s birthday. I have some very clear memories of birthday celebrations with him and various family members and each of them brings a smile to my face. How could they not? My PAPA was the best.
As you can see from the photo to the left, PAPA was very loving and tolerant of his grandchildren. He basically thought that we were the bees knee’s. He liked to eat delicious food (especially Chinese), travel, and spend time with the family all together. He and MY DAD shared books all the time. He sent the “Dow Theory Letter” to each of his four sons, and he was very philanthropic.
PAPA had the opportunity, often with GRANDMA to see the world. As I recall from the map he had on the wall with all of the places he visited, no continent was untouched. He went to some really off the beaten track places: Tibet, the Galapagos, Antarctica, and so many more. He instilled a love of travel, or at least a tolerance for travel by taking us all on vacations together whenever he could. Thanks to PAPA and GRANDMA my cousins and I have seen some incredible parts of the world.
PAPA lived a very good life. Though he was plagued towards the end of it with health challenges, he knew that he was the most loved father, father-in-law, brother, uncle, and the best PAPA his six grandchildren could ever dream of.
I am a very lucky woman to have so many memories of incredible experiences together. I loved that we always learned from one another and that when we would talk on the phone at least once a week, I would say, ‘I love you.’ He would say, ‘and I love you. Now isn’t that a nice arrangement!’
We both agree it was and it always will be.
You may not be aware of this, but people have a lot of opinions about bagels. Recently at TS there has been a lot of controversy about bagels.
Every morning that we serve breakfast after minyan (Monday to Friday and not on statutory holidays), there are bagels. The bagels used to come from a particular Toronto establishment that delivered them to us. Then this establishment stopped delivering.
TS sourced the bagels from a caterer. Calling these doughy items bagels is being quite generous in this rabbi’s opinion. What followed can only be described as the bagel wars.
Congregants were phoning complaining. They wanted their bagels back and then wanted them back now.
Do not mess with Jews and their bagels.
In order to determine what bagels were most popular and could best serve the needs of TS members (and this is without going into the whole Montreal v. Toronto bagel dilemma). We’ve sampled Gryfe’s, What-a-Bagel, and starting today, Bagel World.
Where do you get your favorite bagels?
Rabbi Eleanor Steinman 