Journey to the Knot: Happy New Year!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Happy New Year!

To most Americans, it is not a new year just yet, but to Jews around the world, it is! The high holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur signify the beginning of the Jewish new year. It has been a time to reflect on the past and on the self. And, as we enter this new season, I wanted to share how my family celebrated.

For Rosh Hashanah, I attended services at Temple with Mom, Bob, Kira, and Erick - as well as my aunt and uncle. Sam had to stay home with Banner that night. I have to say - I had a really good time at services - which is not something you would typically hear me say. Mostly, I enjoyed goofing off with Kira. It was her first time to attend services as a married woman, and her husband did not love us whispering through so much of the service, but it was just like old times. Mom used to always have to whisper to us in a sharp tone, "Do I need to separate you two?" And, this time, Erick was the one saying that. But, what can I say? I love my sister!

Goofing off at services - the service hadn't started yet!

The following day, Mom and Kira were not feeling well, so since most everyone was staying home, I decided half-way to Temple to turn around and spend the day with Sam and Banner. I decided to make it a home holiday. I watched services on the live streaming, which was kind of nice because I got to show Banner the Shofar service. For the first time, he got to see the shofar being blown loudly, and he was glued to the computer screen. So cool! We also made a Rosh Hashanah card for Grandma & Papa and a birthday card for Papa (whose birthday was that day). (Pictures below!) I also decided to try a new recipe I had found for an apple honey challah. It was a BIG task, but SO worth it! The recipe can be found here. It makes two challahs, so we ate one for Rosh Hashanah (just us at home), and we saved (froze) the other for Yom Kippur to share with the whole family. These challahs were AMAZING! If I had more time and patience, I'd make them a lot more often - but I'll only make these for special occasions since it takes a really long time - and a lot of work to knead this dough!

Later that night, we all went out to celebrate Bob's birthday. Lots of fun pictures were taken there! Great way to start the new year!

For Yom Kippur, Sam and I went to services with Mom, Bob, Kira, my aunt, and my uncle. After services, we went to my mom's house for a home-cooked meal and visiting. Banner got to spend some extra time with his Aunt Gayle that night. The following morning, Kira, Bob, Sam, me, and my aunt and uncle went to morning services. (Mom wasn't feeling well.) I don't know why, but I really liked this service. The rabbis did the Torah portion, and in 32 years, I don't remember ever hearing a rabbi read from the Torah. I know, that sounds really weird, because you would think that rabbis would read from the Torah more than anyone else, but usually, a Torah reading is read by someone being honored or a Bar/Bat Mitzvah student. So, this was a real treat to hear 4 different rabbis read from the Torah. (They were doing this in memory of the woman who typically would read the Torah portion on Yom Kippur day. Ms. Fisher died earlier this year, and she was one of my Hebrew teachers so long ago.) Anyway, the service went pretty quickly, and then Sam and I went home to be with Banner, who had spent some extra time with his NaNa (Aunt Shelby). At this time, I finished decorating the cupcakes I made earlier that morning. The cupcakes were for dessert at our annual family Break Fast on Yom Kippur night at Uncle Freddy and Aunt Jacque's house.