Welcome to the Way-Back Machine

I recently signed up for 23 and Me. This week a new to me cousin was in touch and I shared photos. Both the conversation with my cousin and the process of sorting through old photos got me sentimental so a visit to the summer time Way-Back machine is in order.

These are the oldest photos I have from my family. This is my great Grandfather Zalman Paysach. We aren't sure of his last name but we do sing some of his niggunim..

Below are my grandmother's parents, Brana and Chaim. They both came from fancy families. you can see it in their regal bearing.

My oldest sister wearing pants with a belt and pockets. She looks like she is playing Katherine Hepburn as a child.

This photo was taken on Passover of 1960. My sisters are wearing winter jackets and wool hats. It must have been warm because they are wearing capris and no gloves. My hardy cousins are not wearing coats. Every one in this photo is now a grandparent.

The two following photos were developed in may of 1961. My sisters look chic in their blue coats with red braid trim.

These fabulous coats also came with matching navy hats. How could one not be delighted while dressed in such elegant ensembles.

This is from the summer before I was born. Perhaps one of my sisters can identify the beach.( My sister informed me that this is Weirs beach. My husband and I took our kids here often.)

A few summers later, here are my sisters in Rockport. I was there that day, just not in that photo.

It's the summer of 1968. In other places there is rioting in the streets. My sister is wearing her Eugene

Mc Carthy pin. We visit the Old Ironsides.

Another summer, another beach. I have no idea which beach. ( My sister informed me that we were on Martha's Vineyard- The bit of luggage being carried by my sister in the awning striped shirt is a complete mystery to us.)

Fast forward some thirty years...

My kids know how to accessorize.

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Connecting with the past

A few months ago I had a craving for my father’s chicken fricassee. If my father were still alive I would have called him up and he would have talked me through the process of making it. My father is no longer alive so I turned to my cookbooks and the recipes I found for chicken fricassee were nothing at all like the stew of chicken necks, gizzards and wings in a watery sweet and sour tomato sauce that I enjoyed as a kid. I assumed that the dish was an invention of my father’s. I then attempted to replicate the dish from my memory of it and failed. A couple of weeks ago I saw an article on the internet, and I can’t remember where, that talked about Jewish fricassee and it sounded an awful lot like the dish I was hankering after. This afternoon I went to the butcher and picked up all of the chicken elements of the dish, a couple of packages each of wings, necks and gizzards. My father never cooked directly from a cook book. He used to re...

The light themed tallit has been shipped!!!

I had begun speaking to Sarah about making her a tallit in the middle of August. It took a few weeks to nail down the design. For Sarah it would have been ideal if the tallit were completed in time for her to wear it on Rosh HaShanah., the beginning of her year as senior rabbi of her congregation. For me, in an ideal world, given the realities of preparing for the High Holidays I would have finished this tallit in the weeks after Sukkot. So we compromised and I shipped off the tallit last night. I would have prefered to have more time but I got the job done in time. This tallit was made to mark Sarah's rise to the position of senior rabbi but it was also a reaction to this year of darkness. She chose a selection of verses about light to be part of her tallit. 1) אֵל נוֹרָא עֲלִילָה God of awesome deeds ( from a yom kippur Liturgical poem) 2) אוֹר חָדָשׁ עַל־צִיּוֹן תָּאִיר May You shine a new light on Zion ( from the liturgy) 3) יָאֵר יְהֹ...

A Passover loss

My parents bought this tablecloth during their 1955 visit to Israel. It is made out of linen from the first post 1948 flax harvest. The linen is heavy and almost crude. The embroidery is very fine. We used this cloth every Passover until the center wore thin. You can see the cloth on the table in the background of this photo of my parents and nephew My Aunt Sheva bought my mother a replacement cloth. The replacement cloth is made out of a cotton poly blend. The embroidery is crude and the colors not nearly as nice. The old cloth hung in our basement. We used the new cloth and remembered the much nicer original cloth. I loved that my aunt wanted to replace the cloth, I just hated the replacement because it was so much less than while evoking the beauty of the original. After my father died my mother sat me down and with great ceremony gave me all of her best tablecloths. She also gave me the worn Passover cloth and suggested that I could mend it. I did. Year after year ...

sarah in nyc

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