sarah in nyc

 Tonight is a special night. Tonight all five of us will be sitting at our Shabbat table. Our older son is home from Amarillo for the weekend. It feels really wonderful to have all of us together. Our younger son asked me if i could make him a cross body bag to hold his phone, epi-pen and wallet. I had tried last week but the physics of construction completely overwhelmed me and I just couldn't figure it out. Yesterday I sat down to try again and this time I was able to come up with what I described to my son as a first draft for the bag to hold his essentials as he goes out and about. The bag is made out of denim and is topstitched with orange thread that showed up in stash from a friend's dead mother or grandmother. The front pocket has room to hold a standard men's well stuffed  bifold wallet.  There is ample room for both a large phone and an Epi-pen in the main pocket.. The next iteration of the bag will be made in fabric that my son chooses and may be lined or made ...

Today is Rosh Chodesh Elul, the new moon of the month that precedes Rosh haShanah. Traditionally it is a time for reflection, a time to repair relationships. During the month of Elul the shofar is blown each morning at the end of services to remind people that it’s time to do teshuvah . Teshuvah   is usually translated as repentance. The meaning is less of the Bible thumping sort of repentance but more a sense of reviewing your actions and behaviors of the past year and working on mending behaviors and relationships.   I am blowing shofar on the second day of Rosh haShanah. I use the month of Elul to practice.  I do do  two practices each day. Today was the first day. It sounded good. I also did the lettering for Mike’s tallit.   The text comes from Jonah’s prayer In the wrapping up of my soul with God I pan to add some hand or machine stitching around the letters.  Those little eddies are supposed to indicate water. If you want to list...