sarah in nyc

  Before Chanukah ended , I was struck by the sunlight on the water tanks and  by the shadows that they cast. Thenthe sun began to set. Once Chanukah ended, it was time to clean our Chanukiyot.   Our oldest one unscrews with ease for cleaning and was easy to clean and polish. It is now back on our  living room window sill.   We did lots of hosting over the holiday. Nearly all of the tablecloths is washed and ironed and put away. All of this laundry made easier by the fact that we now own a working dryer.  Getting a new dryer was a long difficult and really boring tale that I won't be sharing unless you really want to hear each dull detai. Snow is promised for tonight and we are having a cozy meal of crock pot chicken soup with lots of STUFF. My husband loves a peasant soup filled with lots of goodies and doesn't understand why I would go through the effort of straining a soup. We are also having a chicken. This cute chicken was coated with sumac and hawaij ...

Well, if you don't read the news, it has been a lovely Chanukah. We have had visitors both in real life (and virtually) every night.   Last night we had an overnight guest. Tonight it is just the two of us (unless someone decides to drop by). I have been posting old Chanukah photos from my parents' photo albums all during the holiday. Chanukah 1956, my oldest sister being held by our mother. When I was a little kid looking at this photo, (taken in Halifax mid 1950s), I was desperately jealous of the kids who got to dress up as candles. I never got to experience the glory of those tissue paper costumes. With my two older sisters circa 1964. This photo appeared in the local paper. My mother did the excellent job of styling the photo The photo below is also from the mid 50s in Halifax. Click on picture so you can enjoy the two boys who have seriously committed to being crosseyed. Chag Sameach. Shabbat Shalom!

 Just a couple of thoughts about Maoz Tzur before darkness falls and  Chanukah is officially over. Most Jewish liturgical poetry that does a sweep of history like  Dayenu   the hopes for the rebuilding of the temple are usually found in the last stanza.  Maoz Tzur begins with the hopes of  a future  redemption rather than ending with it.   You can take that thought wherever you want to go with it.   Many of my readers may be familiar with the English lyrics of the poem rather than the original Hebrew.  Rock of Ages, let our song, praise Thy saving power; Thou, amidst the raging foes, wast our sheltering tower. Furious they assailed us, but Thine arm availed us, And Thy Word broke their sword, when our own strength failed us. Kindling new the holy lamps, priests, approved in suffering, Purified the nation's shrine, brought to God their offering. And His courts surrounding, hear, in joy abounding, Happy throngs, singing songs with a migh...

    Just a little while ago, my husband and I lit the last candles of Chanukah. They candles are still burning as I type. Last night our kids joined us for dinner ( many latkes in three varieties--batata, carrot and zucchini) and candle lighting and singing and the exchange of gifts. It was wonderful to be together. Tomorrow I will clean the wax and the oil from all of our chanukiyot. But before I do that I want to share two Chanukah thoughts. As I wrote in my last post, this year I used wicks that I made by twisting the weft threads from an old rag. The wicks are thin.   The resulting light isn't  hearty flames but rather teeny pinpricks of light against the darkness. Of course it brought this song to mind. The song talks about chasing away the darkness with light and how our small lights join together to create a mighty one. Looking at these tiny points of light also has me thinking about needing to make a teeny bit of oil last for a long time, perhaps the ori...

As the sun sets on the last day of Chanukah, I want to talk a bit about our Chanukiyot.  I have mentioned earlier that when I take photos of our lit  Chanukiyot each night of the holiday that it feels almost like a portrait of the person who owns that particular Chanukiya. Today, as I cleaned up all of the built up wax and polished each Chanukiya before I put it away, I thought about each one and the deep connection we each have to our particular Chanukiya.  My late mother-in-law used to say often that she was terrible at choosing gifts for people. She usually managed this by giving cash as a gift. When my kids were little and money meant very little to them they found this choice baffling.  But once when my older son was at the height of his train love,  my in-laws called me. Their synagogue gift shop was selling a train shaped menorah, did I think it would be a good gift for my son? My son was deep into his passion for all things train. He ardently wat...

My sister came to town to enjoy her time off from work and to celebrate Chanukah with us.We took the subway to Boro Park to go to one of our favorite restaurants. We are always happy to see the buses from Bet Zipporah, the school with my mother's name when we go to Boro Park Our cousin and her husband at her caregiver were all meeting us at  Angela's Restaurant . It's a favorite of ours and will be of yours if you like skewered grilled meat. We had called to make sure that there would be room for our large party but unfortunately we had to wait to be seated. The wait was well worth it. We ate our fill of skewered meats of all kinds while watching Russian variety shows on the giant TV screens. Eating at Angela's, being served by Angela is like spending the evening in Uzbekistan. You just have to go with the flow and you will have an excellent time. There are no  menus. Angela will offer options for you to select from, she will ask your table to raise th...