I’ll have mine sliced
As the country gears up for Yom Kippur, beginning on Wednesday night, the preparations are happening all over the place, in varied ways. There’s the greeting that people use during this time of year, when they say Gmar chatima tova, or chatima tova, meaning, may you be written in the Book of Life. That’s a switch from last week, when people were just saying Shana Tova, or Happy New Year. Chatima tova is kind of a heavy greeting to be tossing out to everyone you see, and you gotta hope that it’s heartfelt, because otherwise, what book will you end up in?
And those are just the greetings. There are those of us who are seriously thinking about repentance and forgiveness. And there are those of us who are thinking about the 35th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. And then there are those of us, yours truly included, who are thinking about the food needs for the next five days, given that Yom Kippur ends and then Shabbat begins. I’m thinking about it because of a food incident last week, before Rosh Hashanah.
I was at Rafi, our local bakery, to buy challot for the chag. Truth to tell, I don’t usually like their challot, but I do like their babka, and in the interest of time, we were willing to eat their challot for the holiday. So I got there at 10:30 am on erev chag, which is usually early enough to have your pick of the challot, and lo and behold, there were no challot to be had. The shelves were empty and people were lined up at the counter, waiting for the huge, round challot to come out of the oven. I got lucky, and snagged one tremendous challah right away, and then a fresh batch came out of the oven, fulfilling all of my challah needs.
But as I was waiting to pay, an American guy runs in, bicycle helmet still on his head, and asks, in English, if there’s any sliced challah available, or if the bakery has a slicing machine. A hush immediately sets in over the crowd. Who would want their challah pre-sliced? What kind of person is this? The owner, of course, said no, because who ever wants their challah pre-sliced?
The saga continued. He called his wife from his cellphone, asking if she still wanted challah given that it wouldn’t be pre-sliced. “Yes, yes, I promise I’ll slice it very carefully, you’ll never know that it wasn’t sliced in a machine,” he told her. “If they don’t slice it here, I can’t imagine that there’ll be another bakery where they do.” The rest of us looked at each other, shrugging our shoulders, because, hey, clearly there’s no bakery that slices challah ahead of time.
Anyway, I took my pile of challot home, where they all got eaten (torn, not sliced), and now I’m thinking that I’d better get to the bakery much earlier on Wednesday, and on Friday. Because I’ll tell you one thing: I may not like their rest-of-the-year challot, but their High Holiday challot? Fab-o.
Nostalgia Sunday
Filed under: Art, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Pop Culture
I don’t know Hayim Shtayter personally but he is a man after my own heart. Shtayer, a veteran Israeli graphic designer, has an extensive collection of antique and period greeting cards for the Jewish New Year, some of which can be found online.
What is nice about this season is that even today, if you go down to the open market shuk, there are still stands selling this sort of card. Brightly colored, often embossed and/or sprinkled with sparkles, these are hopeful messages for the near future, a mix of national pride, military might and religious symbolism.
And sometimes, with a new house and a new car thrown in for good measure!
The “Shana Tova” (good new year) style – described by graphic designer David Tartakover in a 1978 book as “folk art created by anonymous artists” – was honored by the Israel Postal Service in 2000 and 2001 when it commissioned Shtayer to create a series of stamps using images from Rosh HaShana cards.
If you like the Shana Tova style, there’s still time to send an e-card to friends and family. The one I got was really sweet. In any case, best wishes for a New Year filled with health, happiness and a bit of peace, wherever we can find it! Shana Tova!
Shana tova u’metuka
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Religion
There’s no question that Rosh Hashana cheer is in the air, whether it’s signing off of every conversation with a Shana Tova salutation, wishing a Shana Tova to each clerk, salesperson or person that one meets, and the number of Shana Tova emails — not to mention the round challahs and apples and honey gifts on Facebook — that are arriving in the email inbox.
The streets are crowded with people, shopping all the time, for food, gifts, last-minute outfits, and the planners who are already picking up decorations for their sukkah.
What I always like about Rosh Hashana in Israel, as well as Yom Kippur and Sukkot (and all the rest of the calendar year, for that matter), is that they are holidays for everyone, secular or religious. Sure, some of us spend a lot of time in synagogues during this month-long holiday period, thinking about personal repentance and ancient piyutim, and that’s our choice. Many don’t. But nearly everyone in Israel is celebrating in some way, sharing special meals with family and friends, buying “shay l’chag“, holiday gifts for one’s hairdresser, accountant, travel agent or clients, cleaning up the house and yard before the onslaught of guests, and thinking of creative ways to use honey or new fruits.
I suppose that for me, it comes down to the fact that no matter how many years I’ve been living here, I still derive a little thrill at how different it feels to celebrate one’s new year in September rather than January. It feels different to say Shana Tova U’Metuka, rather than Happy New Year. It feels different to toss around pomegranate seeds, rather than glitter at midnight.
So here’s to a happy new year for all Israelity readers and bloggers, and finding your kind of celebration. Sweetness and happiness in 5768.
Foto Friday
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays
It’s the season of pomegranates, and it’s customary to eat this red-seeded fruit on Rosh Hashanah, because this is when the red seeded fruit is in season and we eat new fruits to celebrate the New Year.
I learned a great way to cut and seed pomegranates from my sister, who taught me to fill a workbowl halfway with water, cut the pomegranate in half, and put the cut side of the fruit into the water. Then pull the seeds out with your fingers immersed in the water. This way, you cut down on spurting red juice all over you, and the water doesn’t affect the seeds, either. Then you’ve got a bowlful of pomegranate seeds for sprinkling in salads, over desserts or straight (or in wine).
I scream for ice cream
It’s quite common here to received a gift from your place of employment for both Passover and Rosh Hashanah. A couple of years ago my wife received 1000 NIS in gift certificates that could be used just about everywhere – Home Center, supermarket, clothing stores, electronic stores, etc. In typical Rubenstein fashion, we realized right before we were to take off for vacation that they were about to expire. Luckily we found out that they could be used at duty free in the airport. We had used half previously but figured it would be quite easy to find something we can use at the duty free electronics store. We settled on an ice cream maker, even though we figured it would spend more time on the shelf than actually being used. Thankfully this was not the case. Summer arrives, the ice cream maker comes out. Making ice cream can be an arduous process. With a little creativity and patience the payoff can be great. We try to be original with our flavors. I can get chocolate ice cream anywhere, so ice cream time for us can get quite experimental. I’ve made halvah ice cream, green tea ice cream, cinnamon ice cream, date ice cream, chai ice cream
You can see my recipe for strawberry ice cream here.
However, I’ve been humbled. Baroness Tapuzina made an incredible looking (and seasonal) Roasted Apricot and Techina Pistachio ice cream. I’ve had silan (date honey) sweetened techina as a topping but never thought to actually put in the ice cream. I’ll be tackling this recipe this weekend.
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