sarah in nyc

 Tonight we light the third candle of Chanukah. Normally, the proper greeting during the holiday is Happy Chanukah or Chag Sameach. This year, after the murderous rampage on Bondi Beach, not so much. Three years ago on Simchat Torah, Hamas invaded Israel. For decades I have been right at the center of the dancing on Simchat Torah at our synagogue. These days, my heart just isn't in it. I couldn't even go to Simchat Torah services the year after the war began. This year I went and hung back from the celebrations. The Purim of  1996 there was a terrible terrorist attack in a Tel Aviv mall. I remember that that year none of the adults were in costume and they were just barely holding it together for the sake of their kids. The children were joyful and the adults filled with mourning. I don't have any real answers about what to say this Chanukah.   Perhaps the last two lines of Maoz Tzur are just about right כִּי אָרְכָה לָנוּ הַשָּׁעָה וְאֵין קֵץ לִימֵי הָרָעָה. For the time...

This mornng I woke up to the extraordinary beauty of this. This Chanukah children's song that talks about snow on the first day of the holiday was a big part of my childhood Chanukah . Actually having it snow at that moment in the calendar is something that basically never happened. As I was reveling in the sight of the snow,  my husband told me the horrific news from Bondi Beach.   Here is an early take on the situation from someone smarter than I am. It's still beautiful out and I can't take the bitter taste out of my mouth.

 Last weekend I bought myself a weekend pass to go to the lovely juried craft show at the  Crafts at the Cathedral  at St John the Divine, a pleasant walk uptown. You can browse all of the makers that are on the link.   I am just goong to suggest some fiber folks who deserve a closer look.Did I buy anything? No, I did not. No because I didn't ;ove so much of what I was looking at...but because I make so many of my own clothes. I did want to point out a few makers whose work I especially liked. https://www.reintsemadesigns.com/s/shop  If I were the owner of an art gallery, or the business manager of an arts organization, of the head of development in an arts organization I would buy all of my clothes here. https://www.kbeckerdesigns.com/collections/all?page=2#collection_root These clothes look so incredibly good in real life. They are the sorts of clothes that could be worn endlessly in a million different combinations by anyone. Think Eileen Fisher but fitt...

 A simple meal is in store for us tonight. It is chicken cooked with sesame free za'atar, a couple of oven baked sweet potatoes and roasted vegetables.The  pots and pans shown in the Bloomingdales advertisements always showed beautiful raw vegetables. Mine are actually cooked at this point but forgive the lack of photo. In the department of strange, when we went to Bingo to buy goodies for Thanksgiving, I also purchased  a bottle of mouthwash. I opened the bottle last night and noticed that it wasn't packaged for the United states, but rather for Indonesia. It's nice to know that my mouthwash is halal. This photo of the block just south of mine, taken in 1970, showed up on my Facebook feed.You can see my building peeking through in the background. I wish I could credit a photographer.  This summer I purchased a multi sized pattern in a thrift store.  It is a multi sized pattern which meant that I could keep making dresses for my great nieces over the years. I di...

  Here I am, well you see some of me, standing in front of my grandparent's engagement photo. My grandparents got married before WWI. In this photo I am wearing a cashmere sweater that my mother and aunt bought my grandmother for her seventieth birthday. I was with my mother when she bought this sweater in the early 1960s. I can't tell you for sure when the birthday celebration took place but it was before 1965. I rarely wear this sweater because the color makes me look ill, but I was wearing an orange dress beneath the sweater to mitigate the color.  I guess I have just been feeling sentimental. Friday night two of our guests are people that I know since elementary school. One thing that I discovered during dinner is that I have very strong memories of particular lessons that my elementary school teachers taught me. My classmates don't share those memories. I don't know why those particular lessons stuck in my head, but they did. I had lunch with one of those friends t...

 My dear friend Shawna loved Thanksgiving. She was a beautiful, elegant cook and baker and loved to set a beautiful table. We often celebrated Thanksgiving together, (along with the second Seder and the second night of Rosh HaShanah). Shawna put thought and care into everything that she did and understood the power of flavor to evoke memory AND also push the eater to experience something new. After Shawna died it seemed imperative that we continue to do Thanksgiving together with her husband and his family. So we do.  Our preparation begins with a trip to Monsey, to Bingo to buy the holy brisket. Is brisket not traditional on your Thanksgiving table? The core of Shawna's Thanksgiving meal was both turkey and brisket.  After every trip to Bingo I share images of some products that catch my eye or amuse me. Charley, Shawna's husband pointed out this keyboard. He didn't know that Uncle Moishy is the frum version of Al Yankovic. Uncle Moishy has had a long career of concert p...