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Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees
The celebration at this festival has come to be referred to as the Tu B’Shevat Seder. In the Babylonian tradition, the dining room table is formally set like any other Jewish holiday. It is then laden with many plates/bowls, each containing different nuts or fruits (usually dried fruit, since it is really still winter). Ideally, there should be at least thirty selections, but that can be difficult … simply the more the better! Prayers are said over the nuts and fruits. The woman of the house places a big tablecloth in the center of the table and the containers are emptied onto the top tablecloth. The dried fruits and nuts are mixed together by bringing the four corners of the cloth together. Each person gets a “goody bag” of the mixture. Since it is too much to eat in one evening, the children usually take the “goody bag” to school the next day. Often they exchange favorites!
A wonderful tradition for our celebration of Trees and things that grow is to plant parsley, Plant for Tu B’Shevat and have your green parsley to dip in salt water for your Passover Sedar on April 6th and 7th…
Also called Rosh HaShanah La’ilanot, the New Year of the Trees, the festival of Tu B Sh’vat illustrates the significance of trees and nature to Jews throughout history
Plant seeds of candy into a grahm cracker crumb dirt and water it with chocolate sauce – YUM!
Posted in Holidays, Tu B'Shevat
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Why we bury our dead?
It is from Genensis
The First Death: Death as a Mystery
“Cain said to his brother Abel…and when they were in the field, Cain set upon his brother Abel and killed him” [Gen.4:8].How did Cain slay Abel? He took a stone and inflicted many contusions and bruises on Abel’s arms and legs, for he did not know what part of the body the soul goes out of, until, when he got to his neck, Abel died. After he slew him, Cain said: I must flee from my father and mother….Abel was lying in a field, his blood spattered over sticks and stones. The dog who had been guarding Abel’s flock now also guarded his corpse from the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky.
Adam and Eve came and sat by the corpse, weeping and mourning for him – but they did not know what to do with Abel’s body. A raven whose companion had just died said: I will teach Adam what to do. The raven took his dead companion, dug up the earth before the eyes of Adam and his mate, and buried his companion. Adam said: We will do as the raven. At once he took Abel’s corpse and buried it in the ground.
n From Midrash Pirkei Eliezer [Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer], ch. 21; it is found also in two medieval Midrashic compilations (Yalkut Shimoni and Midrash Haggadol)
This is the documentation on why we bury our dead now as well…
Many of the customs around death are found directly in Torah and the related Midrash from this first death in the Bible to Abraham’s purchase of the cave to bury Sarah and also the concept of putting a stone marker to commemorate the names of those who have died.
Thank you to Rabbi Janet Marder from her talk on Death at Gesharim 11/6/11
Chanukah / Hanukkah / Hanukah
Festival Of Lights – Celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees success fighting against the Syrians (2nd century B.C.E.). Commemorated by lighting candles during each night.
THIS YEAR Hanukkah begins at sunset on Tuesday, December 20, 2011, and ends at sunset on Wednesday, December 28, 2011
from Avrham Rosenthal:
On the first night of Chanukah we light one candle. On each subsequent night
another candle is added, until the last night when we light eight candles.
On the first night, the first candle is placed on the right side of the
Menorah. From the second night of Chanukah and onwards, the additional
candles are placed to the left of the first candle. However, when lighting,
the candle furthest to the left is lit first, and then one proceeds towards
the right.
NEW Traditons:
• A mitzvah each night – children take 8 pieces of paper and write one extra nice thing they can do for their family each day.
When they light the candles they pull out one ‘mitzvah’ and try to do that before then next evening.
• A food tradition we thought of – after Sukkot you need to find a way to make a mitzvah with the etrog and lulav… So we make citrus jam with the etrog and oranges and then we share it with family and friends at Hanukkah time… goes well with latkes too.
• Have a treasure hunt for the children. Make clues and hide the clues one leading to the next until the children find their Chanukah ‘treasures’. Best if the clues relate to the story of Chanukah. Follow the “Macabee Treasure map” etc. (from Ethyl Kunes)
• Another ‘new’ Chanukah tradition – A focus on miracles at this time
in a good way to add more meaning to this holiday.
While we recall the ‘miracle’ of the Macabee’s success – each night
we try to discuss another miracle in history or in our lives now. It
is very interesting to think of other instances where ‘right won over
might’ or when ‘good came from believing the right thing will happen
against unlikely odds’. It makes for an excellent family discussion
and in keeping with the spirit of Chanukah.
Posted in Chanukah, Holidays
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White for Yom Kippur
A link to the question of the week – why wear white and sneakers on Yom Kippur.
Posted in Prayers and Rituals, Uncategorized, Yom Kippur
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Get Ready for Sukkot
Right after Yom Kippur we start building our Sukkah!
PVC Sukkah!
Sukkoth begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which is 5 days after Yom Kippur. The festival of Sukkot, also known as Chag’ha Succot, the “Feast of Booths” (or Tabernacles), is named for the huts (sukkah) that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land. These huts were made of branches and were easy to assemble, take apart, and carry as the Israelites wandered through the desert.
Of the many symbols associated with Sukkot the most important are the Four Species. The Four Species are: Etrog – The fruit of the goodly tree, also known as the citron Palm branch – know as the lulav Myrtle – the hadas Willow – the aravah Together these items make up the Etrog and Lulav, which are important ingredients in the celebration of Sukkot in the synagogue .
Shaking the Etrog & Lulav:
Etrog left hand Lulav right hand
East – forward South – right West back North left Up and then down
Turn the etrog so the pittam faces up, and keeping your hands close together so the lulav and etrog are touching, wave them in six directions: east, south, west, north, above, and below. A warning: a broken pittam, renders the etrog passul, unkosher for use.
The Arba Minim, or the four species, represent the abundant, agricultural nature of Sukkot. Just as the farmer gathers his crops, we are also instructed to gather four kinds of growing things and use them to praise and rejoice with G-d.
First Blessing: Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh Haolam asher kishanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al netilat lulav.
Blessed are You Lord our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the taking of a palm branch.
Second Blessing: Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh Haolam, shehekheyanu, v’kiyamanu, v’higgiyanu lazman hazeh.
Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and allowed us to reach this season.
Ushpizin, “inviting guests” into our sukkot. On Sukkot, we focus not on all of the things that we have, but on the people that are important to us and help us become better people. So we invite our friends and even strangers to visit in our Sukkah.
Posted in Prayers and Rituals, Sukkot
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Build a PVC Sukkah
PVC PIPE SUKKAH
The plan link here.
Assembly Notes:
- DON’T GLUE ANYTHING FIRST! Assemble the top frame first on the ground (down side down), glue as specified, then lift to insert legs. Assembled lattice with duct tape or twine.
- It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle, the kids will love to help build and play with it.
- All pipes and fittings (except the 1-1/2” top cross members) are 2” PVC pipe that can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowe’s or equivalent.
- I tried to make the frame fit the 4’ x 8’ PVC lattice sheets (used in gardening or house trim).
- Cutting 1-1/2” pipe is difficult to get square by hand, try using a miter box or a PVC pipe cutter. Use a power circular saw (risky with kids around) as a last resort. Use a knife to trim flashing off each cut.
Instructions:
- Start assembly on a flat surface like a patio or driveway.
- Cut 6 ea. legs to 6’-8” from 2” x 10 ft. pipes.
- Use 3 ea. of the left-over 3’-4” pieces to make the front roof member. I cut them down to 2 ea 30” pieces and 1 ea 36” piece in the middle. Assemble with 2 ea TEEs and measure the total length.
- Cut a matching single length of pipe for the rear roof member (mine was 102” or 8’-6”).
- Cut 2 ea side members 90-1/2” (or 7’-6-1/2”). When assembled with elbows (90ELs) the side width totals 8’. This matches a single piece of lattice.
- Cut 4 ea 3” short pieces of pipe (out of scrap) for connectors and assemble the entire top frame, DON’T GLUE IT YET. Each corner comprises of an 90EL and TEE with a connector.
- When you get everything aligned and the TEEs pointed down, glue the corner TEEs to the 90Els (pull each joint apart, apply glue, then reassemble quickly and align immediately – the glue sets fast). Then glue these to the side members ONLY (if makes it easy to store yet the corners won’t fall apart).
- Glue the front member together with 2 ea ‘TEEs’ (make sure the point down) and 3 pieces cut in step 3. Do not glue to the end pieces if you want to disassemble and store easily.
- You now have two side assemblies, a front assembly, a rear member, and six legs. I use duct tape to secure the front and rear members to the ends, but you could use screws also.
- Lift the top frame and a insert the legs. The weight of the top frame will hold the legs in place.
- Optional: use buckets or cans and cement the legs in place.
- Place 3 ea 1-1/2” cross members on top and secure with duct tape. Decorate with palm frawns.
- Secure a 4’ x 8’ lattice to each side with duct tape or cable ties.
- Cut 3’-6” off 2 ea lattice sheets for the front panels. The remaining 2 ea lattice sheets 4’-6” long form the back side when overlapped and taped together to fit.
- Decorate for Sukkah.
Supplies:
- 9 ea. 2” x 10 ft. PVC pipe
- 3 ea. 1-1/2” x 10 ft. pipe
- 6 ea. 2” TEEs
- 4 ea. 2” 90Els
- 4 ea 4’ x 8’ lattice sheets (either wood or PVC)
- PVC cement (clear, NOT purple). Applicator is part of cap.
- Duct tape and/or cable ties.
- Flower Pots filled with sand for stabilizing the corners.
Tools:
- Saw or PVC pipe cutter for 2” PVC pipe.
- knife to trim flashing and cut duct tape.
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Symbols for the Rosh Hashanah Seder
These are the symbols that you find in many communities to represent Rosh Hashanah.
Round Challah, Dates, Pomegranate, Apples & Honey, Gourds or Pumpkins, Black Eye Peas, Leeks, Beets or Chard, Fish, Head of a Ram!
“May it be the will of God that we be as a head and not a tail”
For a good sweet year!
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All About Tashlich – BreadCrumbs
Tashlich – the “casting out” of our sins by throwing bread crumbs into flowing water on the first day of Rosh Hashana – This very ancient custom comes from the Bible – Micha 7:19 -
It goes back many centuries but the early writings about it is from the 14th century in Germany - many rabbis tried to do away with the tradition but it is still popular today and very symbolic.
Watch this short YouTube video to learn more about this tradition:
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The Shofar Blast
Good link explaining the shofar and its significance at the High Holidays:
Jewish Question of the Week – Week #4 (Shofar) – YouTube
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