So here’s the first part of how the weekend went down. Shabbat (the Sabbath) is celebrated by Jews from Friday at sundown until Saturday at sundown. We have prayer services on Friday evenings and on Saturday mornings. The main portion of the Bar Mitzvah is celebrated on Saturday mornings, but he still participates (this is how it goes at our temple, anyway) in a small part of the service on Friday night. What’s good about that is that he was able to get a feel for being up there in front of everybody before the actual “Big Day”. The first time he went up there to lead a prayer, he…
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Here’s SOME of the 4-1-1!!
Some of you have expressed interest not only in the fun details of how our weekend went, but also more information about a Bar Mitzvah in general, and I’m happy to oblige! I was trying to figure out a way to not get too “Textbook-ish” about it, and it finally occurred to me to just post the wording from the programs we handed out at the temple for our guests! I mean, DUH! So, this post will be informational in nature. I have taken out some names, but I’m sure you’ll have no trouble figuring it out. (By the way, if you are Jewish and need some wording for your…
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What a Weekend!
Well, our son is finally a “Man in Jews”!* I don’t have much time this morning to post about it because we’re exhausted and it would actually be infringing upon our pre-scheduled “Family Pajama Day”, but I wanted to check in with the blog world and tell you that everything yesterday went FABULOUSLY. I’ll post more over the next couple of days, especially when I get the good photos back from Julie and the funny ones back from the disposable cameras we put on every table, for our guests to use. These photos aren’t great but they’ll do for now! More soon! *Background story: Some time before our older son…
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He’s Ready! (and so are we!)
We had the rehearsal for Saturday’s Bar Mitzvah last night. Jim, the kids and I met the thirteen-year-old’s Hebrew tutor and the Rabbi at the temple for the run-through. It went really, really well. I couldn’t believe that my younger son was up there; time flies by and before you know it, they’re 13 years old, 5’4″, with a deep voice that can’t hit the high parts of some of the stuff he had to sing. I started feeling a little emotional. He is so totally ready for this, it’s not even funny. His tutor gave him a lovely gift. It’s a book about Jewish values and he wrote a…
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Latkes, Latkes Everywhere!
Melissa asked me to share how I make latkes/potato pancakes, and I am happy to oblige. Be forewarned, although this “recipe” is about the easiest thing you’ll ever do, there are no exact measurements, so you’ll have to experiment for yourself… Many people grind up their potatoes so they are creating almost a traditional batter for the pancakes. We, however, like the texture of a more “hash-brown-ish” latke. By the way, there are some photos of these latkes here, if you want to read up on our Hanukkahpalooza from a couple weeks ago. Ready? Okay, go: 1. I start off with a big bag of russet potatoes. I wash them…