Rabbi Eleanor Steinman

Don’t you want to have this one?

Happy mother’s day to my amazing mom!  My sister and I are incredibly blessed with a mother.  She’s funny, creative, a great cook, compassionate, kind, a survivor, and super cute!  See…I happen to know that it is never a good idea to forget about mother’s day in my household.  Sure there have been years that my mom claims, “Don’t get me anything.”  My dad, sister and I know better.  Even in those years cards are expected and the gift she didn’t want or need bring a smile to her face.

I will admit, I have mixed feelings about mother’s day.  It seems that it is a great idea to honor people who are so important in our lives, but what about all of those women who are not mothers for whatever reason?  Are these women not worthy of acknowledging?

Then I read this piece by Anne Lamott.  For those who don’t want to link through, she says that she hates mothers day because it is a celebration of the lie that women with children are more important than those without.  I am still ruminating about this one, I have to say.

And of course, because social inequalities in our cities and across the world is never too far from my mind, there’s the Nick Kristof column from this morning’s New York Times.  It is pretty obvious the problems of the commercialization or the Hallmark-ization of this “holiday.”

So much to think about on a Sunday morning.  What do you think about this whole mother’s day thing blogosphere?

This is entirely shameless.  I need to sell these tables and chairs to someone who wants to make an offer and come and pick them up in Toronto.  Please forward this link along to anyone you know who might be interested.

This is the bar height table and the two stools closed to seat two.

This is the table expanded. The weird yellow tinge is from a lamp.

The dimensions of the table are (closed) 16″ wide x 48″ long x 36″ high.  (open) 32″ wide x 48″ long x 36″ high.

These are the other two stools with backs.

Daniel Hoffman of The Cutting Veg, the farm that is providing the produce for Temple Sinai‘s CSA, Pri Adamah sent the following report from the farm:

During April of the 2008 Farming season, the soil was too wet, and not a single crop was planted.  In April of 2009, the soil was again saturated; however, we were able to get a couple beds planted in drier spots: one salad-mix bed, one onion bed, one potato bed.  April of 2010 has been completely different!  Due to the lack of rain, the soil was super dry and thus we’ve been planting up a storm over the last several weeks.  It’s now May 6th, and so far we’ve planted: 18 beds of red and white onions (our beds are approximately 120 ft long x 3.5 ft wide), 17 beds of red potatoes, 3 beds of Snap Peas, 3 beds of Snow Peas, 4 beds of Salad Mix, 4 beds of Swiss Chard, 3 beds of Kale, 4 beds of Spinach, 5 beds of Beets, 2 beds of Turnips, 1 Bok Choi, and 1 Radish!  Not to mention the 16 beds of Garlic that were planted in the fall, and which are all now exploding with garlic plants!  Anyway, with the lack of rain, there was concern — “Will our seeds germinate without the rain to water them?”  Well, these fears have been put to rest.   Our soil is a very clay soil, which is excellent at holding moisture.  Plus, we add loads of organic matter (compost, straw, etc) to our soil, which helps with moisture retention, and we also use tons of row cover (white garden fabric), which helps to hold in moisture.  And so, all of our beds seem to be germinating happily, and we’re now starting to see salad greens emerge, small radish plants in abundance, pea sprouts bursting forth, etc.   So, it’s been a very different April indeed!  Dry enough to plant up a storm, and moist enough for our seeds to turn into thriving plants!  What a start!

Also, I just received word that we have 25 CSA MEMBERS!  Let’s keep the memberships rolling in!  Remember that you do not have to be a member of Temple Sinai to join the CSA and that it is an amazing opportunity!

Shabbat Shalom!

How are you going to mark this significant day?  Today is the birthday of the birth control pill.  In an article describing the pill’s history, I learned a lot of useful things.  It seems like an appropriate way to mark the pill’s birthday.

You might remember this post.  It is interesting to think about the role of birth control on women in the third world or the potential for birth control in the third world (and I’m not referring to HIV prevention though that has a place, too).

There are problems with the birth control pill, of course.  It is not 100% effective.  There are potential health risks about the hormones in the pill for a women’s health later in life.  The pill should only be taken when prescribed by a physician.

Happy birthday to the pill!

A few of you lurking readers, the ones that read and don’t post comments have asked and heard already the results of my sleep study.  The good news is, I am fine!  I spent most of the night on my right side and a bit on my back.  I did not snore at all.  My dentist still won’t be happy that I am a mouth breather and my one issue is very fixable.  It seems when I sleep on my back I have very mild sleep apnea.  The sleep specialist was not concerned in any way and offered the following solutions.

1.  Get a CPAP machine

2.  Get an expensive oral appliance to force my jaw forward when I sleep.  This is not covered by OHIP and it could also really hurt my jaw and cause other problems.

3.  Sleep with tennis balls safety-pinned to the back of my pajamas on the left side so that when I move onto my back I am uncomfortable and I change positions.

Can you guess what I am doing?

That’s right.  I took some flat tennis balls that were on my desk.  I put them in a sock.  And every night I safety-pin the sock to my shirt.  I look a little silly, I’m sure and I don’t care since I’m doing what I can to maximize my sleep.

Look at this new awesome sign that one of the social action committee members made for Pri Adamah!  Thank you JY!  In case you were curious, we now have 19 CSA members and we are well on our way.  Have you signed up yet?  Remember you can get the forms here!

Shabbat Shalom!

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) is a major piece of legislation that is now coming before Congress in a few ways.  You may recall this post I wrote about my uncle and about the discriminatory practice of DADT.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go HERE to sign a petition that will go to senators and representatives in Washington, DC (you can also fill this out if you are a Canadian).  Remember you can amend the statement however you wish.

Your voice will be joined by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Human Rights Campaign, and many more.

Please let me know via a comment or a private email that you’ve done your part!

Last night I didn’t really sleep and so I came into the office early.  (I know!)  As I was reading through my tweets, I saw that the world has a new citizen!  Two of my closest friends @VeggieBerger and KosherBerger welcomed their little girl to the world at 2:47 this morning.  Though she was about three weeks early, everyone is healthy and happy.

And well done to Dr.Poopiehead for being in the delivery room and almost delivering the baby!

See, doesn’t that just make your day brighter?

Welcome to the world SliderBerger!

I saw this recent article in the New York Times and I must confess the idea intrigues me!  My desk and chair aren’t particularly suited to this idea, though I do often switch between my desktop computer and my personal laptop so theoretically I could determine some sort of standing desk when I’m working on my laptop.

Has anyone tried to a standing desk?  How have you found the experience?

I wonder what it would be like to be standing most of the day in high heels?  Would standing cause more or less back pain?

The notion I find most intriguing is that standing increases productivity.  What does a productive rabbinic day look like?

So many questions.  So little time.