notquiteisraeli | Entries tagged with jewish stuff

We ended up doing Pesach with Orit and Aharon. It's not a bad thing - just very, very long. Why is it so long?

Well, it's my nephew Elad. See, he likes to make long drashot (loosely translated - sermons) on every tiny little point in the haggadah. He has them planned.

I love Elad to death, but...yeah. Seders with Michal (Eyal's cousin) and Nahum go shorter, not because they cut anything out, but because they cut way down on drashot. The ones that Nahum makes are short, to the point, and full of dad jokes. It's entertaining. Elad is deadly earnest.

That aside, I generally like doing Pesach with Orit and Aharon. My father-in-law is there, and he's a soothing presence. Orit is a warm, welcoming hostess. Aharon has a truly generous heart. Sima, Aharon's sister, is there, and she is my icon - smart, funny, warm-hearted, and kind. Ilana, Aharon's mother is there, and she's delightfully salty and gives zero fucks. Nati, Orit's youngest, is always entertaining. And the singing is gorgeous - Iraqi Jewish melodies sung by Aharon and Elad, who both have haunting tenor voices.

The food can't be beat, either. Pesach schnitzel, bakhsh (Bukhari style rice with herbs and meat), tahdig (another rice dish), matzoh ball soup, grilled salmon...yup, Orit knows how to put on a spread.

Still, we cut out at midnight - and no, the seder wasn't over, just the meal. But Eyal was exhausted, and we had an hour and a half to drive.

Eyal was proud of me. I was given a part to read, and read it well. Sima praised my singing. My nieces all showered my outfit and makeup with compliments ("Pink is your color!"). But I think I summed it up when I said this at the seder:

"ב"ה אנחנו יכולים כאן ביחד"

"Baruch HaShem we can be here together."

That's something everyone agreed on.

חג פסח שמח

Chag Sameach!

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Tractor's Revenge, "Echad Mi Yodea"

1. I am now the proud owner of a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer and a new air fryer. Eyal also wants to get a new microwave, and I'm okay with that - our current microwave is 14 years old and was a hand-me-down at the time. Anyway, we have unboxed the air fryer, but decided to wait until after Pesach to unbox the stand mixer. No point unboxing something that's basically made to make leavened products when the flour in the house will literally be locked up and sold to a non-Jew for a week (I am not making this up).

2. I have made myself neat little schedules in Excel and forwarded them to my therapist for discussion. Some of the stuff can be easily swapped out for other things (e.g., if it's not a good day for me to work on my website, I can work on marketing or action plan reading). Others are more or less fixed (showering, bedtime).

3. I have started taking biotin to see if it will help with my hair growth. So far, my use of a different shampoo, conditioner, and detangler/heat protectant seems to be helping. And my new haircut is a lot more flattering. Yaniv knew what he was doing.

4. Going back to item 1 - we will be doing Pesach in Tel Aviv with Eyal's cousin Dorit.

5. Hoping that we get our new glasses soon.

6. Tuesday night we had a delightful evening playing Chez Geek with Regev and Esti at Esti's place. (Regev is Eyal's coworker, Esti is his girlfriend and works as a lab tech at Soroka Medical Center). Both of them are sweet and fun, and Esti's pup snuggled down in the chair next to mine to rest and accept pets. He's a love, a small guy who's 13 years old. (Still puppy.) Esti won both rounds of Chez Geek. Eyal is swearing revenge on me for preventing him from winning the second round and "throwing him under the bus." In good fun, I might add - he gets that the whole point of the game is to throw your friends under the bus.

7.Therapy later today, pharmacy after that, and tomorrow, we take my father-in-law to the Israel Philharmonic to hear Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart. And then for lunch.

Current Mood: chipper

1. My interview with CELTA Athens went well, and they offered me a place in the course starting January 7. I have made a down payment on tuition to guarantee my spot. Yay!

2. Saw the cardiologist. Dr. Slutsky (stop giggling) treats a lot of young women, which is a plus. He ordered a stress echo so he can see the extent of the damage - if any - and decide how to prevent future damage. He specifically said that he avoids invasive testing unless absolutely necessary - a good thing. Blood tests have also been ordered. (If you think his name is funny, imagine the fun Israelis have with the name "Zona"...which is Hebrew for "whore".)

3. My brother-in-law Alon had his 50th birthday party, which was a romp. Good food, cake, sufganiyot, and lots of laughter. He's usually a pretty serious guy, so it was nice to see him loosen up and smile. The last time I saw him loosen up like this was at our wedding. He went out of his way to tell me that our present was the best present he could think of (we gave Alon and Sarah enough money to pay for a date night and volunteered to babysit the boys). Also he imitated a parrot that he knew when he was a kid that had interesting vocabulary. (The boys were out of earshot by then.) Hearing Alon croaking "Maniak! Maniak!" had everyone cracking up. (Maniak means "fucker".) All in all, a great night, well worth the drive to and from Tel Aviv.

4. Today I received a pre-order copy of Az Nashir: We Will Sing Again. It's an anthology of Israeli women's prayers written since October 7, in Hebrew and English. My friend Rachel Sharansky Danziger was one of the editors and contributors. It's really wonderful - a worthy addition to the Jewish tradition of women's private devotions.

5. On order: the Twin Peaks Tarot.

6. Eyal and I have already made our anniversary plans: we're seeing the Toscanini String Quartet in Tel Aviv. Strangely, my therapist was surprised when I told him, saying he didn't realize we were so much into classical music. Well, we are. Very, very, much. Particularly chamber music. A favorite of ours? Beethoven's cello trios, as performed by Daniel Barenboim (pig!), Pinchas Zukerman (cute smile!), and Jacqueline du Pre (team Jackie!).

7. On Wednesday, Eyal asked me if I'd ever heard of a card game called Munchkin. Long story short, a game night involving one of his co-workers and a couple other friends is in the works.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Jerusalem Quartet, Beethoven, String Quartet No. 18 in C Minor Op. 18 No. 4

1. Started my Hebrew course today. It's fun, actually. I'm also looking into taking some professional courses (online marketing, web design). I may as well do my best to keep busy whilst waiting on the CELTA course. At least that way I'll be ready to start my business as soon as I have my diploma. Since the Israeli state has organizations that help people with disabilities start small businesses, including hooking them up with accountants and lawyers, I'm very keen to get things up and running as soon as I can.

2. I don't know that I specified what, precisely, my business would be. Quite simply, it would be teaching English to individuals or groups up to four. My client base would be adults studying for the university entrance exam (most people in Israel delay university until after they finish their military service), older teenagers studying for the diploma exam (yes, it requires English proficiency), and adults looking to improve business English. I have no plans to teach kids (although my seven year old nephew Yosef loves learning English from me and so far can count to 100 and knows his colors and shapes).

3. Laundry continues from day to day and week to week. Laundry is the one a few tasks I don't delegate to our cleaning lady, Tiferet. It's not that I'm a control freak, it's just that laundry is something I can do. Ditto the dishes and cooking. I also de-clutter the dining and living room every Friday before Shabbat comes in. I hate lacking the spoons to do deeper cleaning, but in all fairness Tiferet does a much better job than I would even if I did have the spoons. Anyway, as I was folding Eyal's clothes today, I found myself happy that the quality of his clothing has drastically improved in the four years we've been together. No, I don't pick out his clothes...though I did suggest he switch to boxer shorts (he loved them). I also suggested he upgrade his ill-fitting and raggedy clothes, which he did on our trips to the States. Thanks to the Jockey outlet, he now has supremely comfy underwear and undershirts; Old Navy and Marshalls provided fun t-shirts; Target supplied new jeans. All at better prices than can be found here in Israel.

4. In a couple of weeks the holidays start. We'll probably do Rosh Hashanah with my sister-in-law Orit. That's always nice; I get along extremely well with everyone - all seven of her kids, her husband, her husband's family even. It's lovely to do the Rosh Hashanah seder with them. The singing is lovely, with haunting Iraqi melodies. Then the day after Yom Kippur, we drive to Petach Tikva to Eyal's mother's grave for her memorial. Sometimes it's hard for us to get a minyan (if women counted it'd be easier, but we don't, so ten men older than 13 it must be) to say Kaddish, but it's been easier since last year when Alon (Eyal's brother) started coming. (There's a long story there but I can't get into it here.) After that? I think forever after Simchat Torah will be tainted with mourning...it's the anniversary of the October 7 attack on the Hebrew calendar. Just like we still recite prayers composed to mourn the victims of the Rhineland Crusades and the pogroms and the Holocaust, new prayers will be composed.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Rogue Wave, "Eyes"

I'm doing a lot of writing these days. Granted, most of it is for my pre-course work for CELTA, so it's writing that's actually purposeful. Mind you I'm also writing about my life.

bikergeek suggested the title for one in a tongue-in-cheek throwaway comment ("Four Months In The Life Of Anna Davidovna") but honestly, it fits. So thank you for that; if I get that one published, I'll dedicate it to you. I came up with a bunch of titles ("The Queen of Comedy," "Bedlam Girls," "War Bride," "Alice & Dorothy," "Shiksa Face," "Who's Your Daddy?" - among others). I know, roughly, where I want each piece to go. Getting there is a bitch and a half.

Naturally, because I'm writing, I'm also doing a hell of a lot of reading. For my course I have my books:

Learning Teaching: The Essential Guide To English Language Teaching Third Edition by Jim Scrivener
Grammar For English Language Teachers by Martin Parrott
Practical English Usage: Fully Revised Fourth Edition by Michael Swan
English Grammar In Use by Raymond Murphy

Fun stuff. Actually, I do enjoy my work for my course, so yeah, not bad.

For leisure I've been perusing Henry Beard's revised and updated Latin For All Occasions (Lingua Latina Occasionibus Omnibus). To improve my writing I've been taking notes on Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, which is one of the best books on writing ever, and the screamingly funny How Not To Write A Novel, by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman. The latter I recommend not only to writer friends but to anyone who enjoys reading.

I don't read a lot of fiction these days. I also read a lot of Jewish books; I have a considerable number of books on Jewish magic (not mysticism - magic, and yes, there's a difference) in addition to my devotional texts (prayerbooks, Tanakh, several collections of the Psalms) and my commentaries (I have Rashi on the book of Exodus as well as a modern translation of the 16th century Yiddish commentary known as the Tsena Urena). I consult my enormous Hebrew dictionary a lot (one of the few useful things my wasband left to me).

Writers usually start as voracious readers, I suppose, and if I'm going to be teaching the English language, I guess it's good to be the kind of person who appreciates it.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: Bon Iver, "Holocene"