Kiddush cup
Challah Knife
Seder Plate
They have menorahs and a dreidel, too. Beautiful.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Nambe, I love you
When we got engaged, I picked out candlesticks that I just loved. I got 2 tall ones (14") and 4 shorter ones (9", pictured), and it kicked off an obsession with the designs put out by Nambe.
So imagine my delight when I found that they have a whole line of Judaica!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
It's been busy!
3 kids, 3 college classes. A lot to juggle.
Doing school online means that it's all reading and writing, then reading and writing some more. In a way, it's far more intensive than regular college, and it takes a lot more discipline. There's no roommate headed to class, there's no study group down the hall, there's no teacher standing there twice a week in front of you. Instead, there's a group of boisterous children and one amazing husband who is willing to shoulder dinner-, bath-, and bedtime by himself so that I can work. And that can entail a few hours of cajoling the littlest one who is teething and cranky at times.
School is going well so far. We're 2 weeks in, the teachers seem to like what I have to say, and there is a blessed end in sight. I'm enjoying the course work, and am lucky enough to have friends willing to help me edit when I can't seem to find the headspace to do it.
Dudes - it takes a village, but Dani is going to graduate : )
Doing school online means that it's all reading and writing, then reading and writing some more. In a way, it's far more intensive than regular college, and it takes a lot more discipline. There's no roommate headed to class, there's no study group down the hall, there's no teacher standing there twice a week in front of you. Instead, there's a group of boisterous children and one amazing husband who is willing to shoulder dinner-, bath-, and bedtime by himself so that I can work. And that can entail a few hours of cajoling the littlest one who is teething and cranky at times.
School is going well so far. We're 2 weeks in, the teachers seem to like what I have to say, and there is a blessed end in sight. I'm enjoying the course work, and am lucky enough to have friends willing to help me edit when I can't seem to find the headspace to do it.
Dudes - it takes a village, but Dani is going to graduate : )
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Freezing!
There was a weird noise and then a funny plastic-melting smell in the house last night. We turned down the heat and checked the CO detector as a precaution, only to find that our landlord had never installed a sensor pack. We called poison control to ask about the smell, and they said to turn off the heat and get the kids out of the house, then call 911. Avraham plugged in an electric heater in each of the bedrooms, and we took the kids out to the car, with the help of one of our very kind local policemen. Within minutes there more cop cars, individual responders from the volunteer fire department, and 2 fire trucks outside our house. They checked the levels and the furnace and deemed the house safe to return to. The chief told us to call the emergency repair line and get the furnace checked and cleaned.
We called last night, and for some reason (I don't know because I was in bed with the baby), the guy didn't come. We scheduled for this morning between 8:30 and 9, and I'm still waiting. But now it's about 58 degrees in the house, my fingers are stiffening from cold, and I'm wondering when we're going to get our furnace fixed and turn the heat back on. It's January in Long Island - not a good time to be without heat for 12+ hours...
We called last night, and for some reason (I don't know because I was in bed with the baby), the guy didn't come. We scheduled for this morning between 8:30 and 9, and I'm still waiting. But now it's about 58 degrees in the house, my fingers are stiffening from cold, and I'm wondering when we're going to get our furnace fixed and turn the heat back on. It's January in Long Island - not a good time to be without heat for 12+ hours...
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thoughts on MLK Day
I have a shita not to donate money to places that perpetuate a lifestyle and viewpoint that I don't believe in. I don't donate money to the schools I went to as a child in Scranton because I have a very hard time with the goals they have for their students as well as their outlook on life in general.
As we commemorate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend, I started to think about the education my girls are already receiving about him in preschool, and tried to figure out when I had first heard of him, and when I first became aware of that whole chapter of American history.
The only conversation I remember hearing about black people in elementary school was when a teacher instructed us that when we see a black man approaching, we should cross the street for our own safety. My eyebrows raised, I asked why. She said it was for safety reasons.
Not long thereafter, I was walking home with a good friend and I mentioned that I was really bothered by what our teacher had said. I'm not sure exactly how the conversation got there, but at one point I said "I mean, there are black Jews!"
My friend looked at me, and declared "There are NOT!"
This was shortly after Operation Solomon in 1991, and the Ethiopian Jews were the only black Jews I knew of. So I told her about the amazing air-lifts, which I'm realizing now means our school never breathed a word about them.
We learned about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Mrs. Augustine (than you for this!) asked us to write journal entries as if we were living at that time. I'll never forget Rachaeli Ganz's hilarious take on the life of a plantation owner's daughter. It was along the lines of: I woke up at 9 am today, and was upset to find that my breakfast was not ready yet - I was up early and hungry! After I got dressed I was so hot that I had to sit on the front porch and get fanned while I drank iced tea. What a hard day.
Sometime around 8th or 9th grade we were assigned an essay in history class and given a wide-open choice of topics, and my mother suggested I research and write about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King. She sat with me and looked through our piano music until we found the song We Shall Overcome, which I quickly learned. I learned the ugly history of what happened after the Civil War, and the inspirational change that came about. I saw that Jewish leaders were actively involved in supporting the cause, going on marches and Freedom Rides.
So it was a little hard to take when my principal in 9th grade, while talking about Tziporah (Moshe's wife) made a comment about black people innately being ugly and that you 'can't tell them apart'. I recall calling him out on it, but I was the one who was left looking weird, not him. Yes - the very same people teaching me that we curtail our Hallel-related happiness on Pesach because the Miztrim who drowned were God's creations just saw black people as Other, with no sympathy for anything *these* creatures of God experienced.
I'm lucky enough that I trusted my mother over my teachers, and that I absorbed her message instead of theirs. The fact is, the people who said those things are otherwise nice people and not what one pictures when one says 'racist'. They are people who do chesed, who live religious lifestyles, and who think of themselves as good and caring people. Yet the world outside of the yeshivish Askenazi Jewish community doesn't seem to interest them at all. They are not fervent supporters of Israel, they don't like Chabad, they don't like less frum people, they have no need for 'goyim' except as they may work together. They don't care about the struggles of any other group.
Luckily, they are a minority in the Jewish world. Luckily, I got out and went to Bruriah, where Mrs. Kahn shook my faith in the Founding Fathers and where Mr. Glaser assigned us to learn in depth about things I Never thought a Jewish school would care about. Luckily I found a group of religious Jews who do care about the rest of the world, and who understand that prejudice against *any* group affects every group. Luckily I learned that Jews, and all people, come in every color, and the measure of a person has nothing to do with skin color, religious affiliation, or lack thereof.
I know today that it is my religious and ethical duty to teach my children to respect all people. It is my duty to let my children know that Jews can look white, black, Asian, Latino - any which way. It is my duty to teach my children that there is no room for prejudice in our lives, and that when they hear words of prejudice they have to speak out.
The people who hold those views, they may not be bad people in some senses, but they allow for bad things to happen. We're lucky to live in a time and a country where we have the same rights as other people. Let's not betray our history by embracing our good fortune to the detriment of others. Yes, in today's America many Jews can pass for white, and many choose to use that luxury without thinking about it. While we should be grateful for the opportunities afforded us now that weren't, say, 50 years ago, we should also be working to bring all people to the point of simply being accepted.
Anyone who tries to justify religious Jewish racism by saying that Jews aren't supposed to mix with other people (as was once told to me by another well-meaning yet completely racist person) should take a good long look around the Jewish world and honestly reevaluate. Take a look at Jewish history and reevaluate! Do you think Avraham Avinu looked like he was from Norway? Do you think Moshe Rabbeinu looked like he was from Ireland? Learning and davening to elevate the world only goes so far if you're not actually going to step in to functionally help change the world - all it takes is changing the way you think.
As we commemorate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend, I started to think about the education my girls are already receiving about him in preschool, and tried to figure out when I had first heard of him, and when I first became aware of that whole chapter of American history.
The only conversation I remember hearing about black people in elementary school was when a teacher instructed us that when we see a black man approaching, we should cross the street for our own safety. My eyebrows raised, I asked why. She said it was for safety reasons.
Not long thereafter, I was walking home with a good friend and I mentioned that I was really bothered by what our teacher had said. I'm not sure exactly how the conversation got there, but at one point I said "I mean, there are black Jews!"
My friend looked at me, and declared "There are NOT!"
This was shortly after Operation Solomon in 1991, and the Ethiopian Jews were the only black Jews I knew of. So I told her about the amazing air-lifts, which I'm realizing now means our school never breathed a word about them.
We learned about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Mrs. Augustine (than you for this!) asked us to write journal entries as if we were living at that time. I'll never forget Rachaeli Ganz's hilarious take on the life of a plantation owner's daughter. It was along the lines of: I woke up at 9 am today, and was upset to find that my breakfast was not ready yet - I was up early and hungry! After I got dressed I was so hot that I had to sit on the front porch and get fanned while I drank iced tea. What a hard day.
Sometime around 8th or 9th grade we were assigned an essay in history class and given a wide-open choice of topics, and my mother suggested I research and write about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King. She sat with me and looked through our piano music until we found the song We Shall Overcome, which I quickly learned. I learned the ugly history of what happened after the Civil War, and the inspirational change that came about. I saw that Jewish leaders were actively involved in supporting the cause, going on marches and Freedom Rides.
So it was a little hard to take when my principal in 9th grade, while talking about Tziporah (Moshe's wife) made a comment about black people innately being ugly and that you 'can't tell them apart'. I recall calling him out on it, but I was the one who was left looking weird, not him. Yes - the very same people teaching me that we curtail our Hallel-related happiness on Pesach because the Miztrim who drowned were God's creations just saw black people as Other, with no sympathy for anything *these* creatures of God experienced.
I'm lucky enough that I trusted my mother over my teachers, and that I absorbed her message instead of theirs. The fact is, the people who said those things are otherwise nice people and not what one pictures when one says 'racist'. They are people who do chesed, who live religious lifestyles, and who think of themselves as good and caring people. Yet the world outside of the yeshivish Askenazi Jewish community doesn't seem to interest them at all. They are not fervent supporters of Israel, they don't like Chabad, they don't like less frum people, they have no need for 'goyim' except as they may work together. They don't care about the struggles of any other group.
Luckily, they are a minority in the Jewish world. Luckily, I got out and went to Bruriah, where Mrs. Kahn shook my faith in the Founding Fathers and where Mr. Glaser assigned us to learn in depth about things I Never thought a Jewish school would care about. Luckily I found a group of religious Jews who do care about the rest of the world, and who understand that prejudice against *any* group affects every group. Luckily I learned that Jews, and all people, come in every color, and the measure of a person has nothing to do with skin color, religious affiliation, or lack thereof.
I know today that it is my religious and ethical duty to teach my children to respect all people. It is my duty to let my children know that Jews can look white, black, Asian, Latino - any which way. It is my duty to teach my children that there is no room for prejudice in our lives, and that when they hear words of prejudice they have to speak out.
The people who hold those views, they may not be bad people in some senses, but they allow for bad things to happen. We're lucky to live in a time and a country where we have the same rights as other people. Let's not betray our history by embracing our good fortune to the detriment of others. Yes, in today's America many Jews can pass for white, and many choose to use that luxury without thinking about it. While we should be grateful for the opportunities afforded us now that weren't, say, 50 years ago, we should also be working to bring all people to the point of simply being accepted.
Anyone who tries to justify religious Jewish racism by saying that Jews aren't supposed to mix with other people (as was once told to me by another well-meaning yet completely racist person) should take a good long look around the Jewish world and honestly reevaluate. Take a look at Jewish history and reevaluate! Do you think Avraham Avinu looked like he was from Norway? Do you think Moshe Rabbeinu looked like he was from Ireland? Learning and davening to elevate the world only goes so far if you're not actually going to step in to functionally help change the world - all it takes is changing the way you think.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Chatati
I have spoken in anger.
I have wished ill on others.
I have been angry, infuriated even, over things beyond my control, and spoken out in that rage.
I knew it was wrong, but everyone was doing it...
As if that's an excuse?
I expect more from myself. I expect more from my children. I tell my kids that speaking out or acting out in anger is even worse than doing the same thing at any other time, because you're letting your anger take you over.
I will curb my language, my imagery, and even my thoughts. I will not waste time listening to anyone who speaks in anger, I will not catch myself nodding my head in agreement to a hate-filled rant against the other side - no matter who that other side is.
Life is not a game, and we need to stop treating it that way.
If a kid in public school had said the things our politicians and talking heads have been saying... if they had made images like the images that have been circulating, but with their fellow students' faces, homes, or names on them, there would have been an intervention. There would have been a suspension, a thorough evaluation of that student's motivations and psychological soundness. There would have been a concerned group of adults interceding to make sure that no one be harmed, that the student calm down.
If we know enough to not allow this behavior in our public schools, how can we allow it in our public offices?
I have wished ill on others.
I have been angry, infuriated even, over things beyond my control, and spoken out in that rage.
I knew it was wrong, but everyone was doing it...
As if that's an excuse?
I expect more from myself. I expect more from my children. I tell my kids that speaking out or acting out in anger is even worse than doing the same thing at any other time, because you're letting your anger take you over.
I will curb my language, my imagery, and even my thoughts. I will not waste time listening to anyone who speaks in anger, I will not catch myself nodding my head in agreement to a hate-filled rant against the other side - no matter who that other side is.
Life is not a game, and we need to stop treating it that way.
If a kid in public school had said the things our politicians and talking heads have been saying... if they had made images like the images that have been circulating, but with their fellow students' faces, homes, or names on them, there would have been an intervention. There would have been a suspension, a thorough evaluation of that student's motivations and psychological soundness. There would have been a concerned group of adults interceding to make sure that no one be harmed, that the student calm down.
If we know enough to not allow this behavior in our public schools, how can we allow it in our public offices?
"Chinese" Mother responds
The mom who wrote the article that kicked off that bit of nastiness has clarified her position, and DUH, it's basically what I said: it has to come from a place of love.
Here, listen to her
I will say quickly that I definitely believe in having high expectations, along with letting my kids know that I have complete faith that they can meet those expectations.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Things that make me happy
1. Batya is finally going home. This may be the best news I've ever heard.
2. That my kids looks like me. It must be a little selfish to want to see myself in my kids, but there youhave it - I love that when I look at my munchkins, especially when they're being cute or brilliant, I see a bit of myself in there. And when they're misbehaving and I see myself, it's also kind of amazing - I see the things they learned from me that I need to curtail, I see the faces they make that are just like my nieces and nephews, and often I'm highly entertained by the stories they tell and the shenanigans they pull in trying to get out of trouble. In short, looking at my children makes me happy.
3. This color
4. And this color
5. Cooking artichokes - boiling, steaming, or roasting, doens't matter. Smells great and reminds me of Abba.
6. Singing with my kids on Shabbat while Avraham is at shul - there is a sweetness to the time that we *have* to spend plugged into each other. While we choose it during the week, making it fun on Shabbat is more challenging, and therefore more rewarding.
7. Listening to my kids laugh together. It's completely infectious and makes me think how fun life will be with them and for them. It's good to know that they will always have each other to rely on, and will want to be there for one another.
8. Driving to Pennsylvania. I just get happy when I cross into my home state.
2. That my kids looks like me. It must be a little selfish to want to see myself in my kids, but there youhave it - I love that when I look at my munchkins, especially when they're being cute or brilliant, I see a bit of myself in there. And when they're misbehaving and I see myself, it's also kind of amazing - I see the things they learned from me that I need to curtail, I see the faces they make that are just like my nieces and nephews, and often I'm highly entertained by the stories they tell and the shenanigans they pull in trying to get out of trouble. In short, looking at my children makes me happy.
3. This color
4. And this color
5. Cooking artichokes - boiling, steaming, or roasting, doens't matter. Smells great and reminds me of Abba.
6. Singing with my kids on Shabbat while Avraham is at shul - there is a sweetness to the time that we *have* to spend plugged into each other. While we choose it during the week, making it fun on Shabbat is more challenging, and therefore more rewarding.
7. Listening to my kids laugh together. It's completely infectious and makes me think how fun life will be with them and for them. It's good to know that they will always have each other to rely on, and will want to be there for one another.
8. Driving to Pennsylvania. I just get happy when I cross into my home state.
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