I was writing but then I got on LJ and remembered I said I would post weekly so here I am procrastinating on my writing. See how that works. It is kind of circular logic. Woot. Anyway. I am working on my Slashy Valentine and it is going ok but I don't have a very clear sense of direction with it or strategy for it. I was given a vague prompt and those are tough. Nothing that has to be in there so I could go anywhere with it. I am going to write it out and see if I can bring it in on time. I have 1100 words right now and it seems to be cooperating. 

I went to a Bar Mitzvah today and really enjoyed it. A friend of mine from work's son. He did great and I got all weepy because I know it was really hard for him to pull it together and he did it! What a champ. He did it! It was interesting to be at a Shabbat service too. It was kind of long - like three hours - but I remembered more than I thought I would. Very fun. I really enjoy Judaism. 

I am posting with my Obama icon because right about now - I really miss Obama. God - I hate Donald Trump. He is such a tool. Worst president we have had. I cannot believe we are on the brink of war with Iran. What a mess this all is. I hate the fucker. 

Anyways. Hope all is well with you in your part of the world. I don't have any idea how long my story is going to be. I want it to be short. So hoping it cooperates. 

Be well! 






Poof, like magic this is cross-posted from - Dreamwidth! Please comment where you prefer.

Happy Passover one and all. Tonight is the first sedar and Jews all over the world will commemorate freedom and liberation in a dinner ceremony. It is a beautiful ritual and retelling of the Passover story. In pop culture it has been memorialized in the movie, The Ten Commandments.

Here is some wiki-information:

Passover (Hebrew, Yiddish: פֶּסַח Pesach, Tiberian: [pɛsaħ] ( listen), Modern Hebrew: /ˈpesaχ/ Pesah, Pesakh, Yiddish: Peysekh, Paysakh, Paysokh) is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar, which is in spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and is celebrated for seven or eight days. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays.

More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover

This is a very important Jewish holiday and just sharing this with you. I am too tired to go anywhere as I worked my guts out but I celebrate it in my own way.

Cheers to you and lashana tova.


by cherany at amillionblinks

Happy New Year to all. You may ask why I post such a declaration at such an odd time of the year....well the Jewish calendar is different and on this night, we celebrate the change in the year and its turning over to Jewish Year 5772. This holiday, Rosh Hoshana marks the beginning of the High Holidays in the Jewish faith which will end in some 10 days with Yom Kippor, the Day of Atonement.

I had a very low key night but though I would mark the holiday's passing, blog style.

L'shana tova
Peace be with you.

Spent in pretzel formation at empowerment yoga class. Lit candles late and I am too tired to share the photo. Sorry gang! That is the long and short of it. I thought I would share a bit about the meaning of the holiday ... referencing some online sources and personal memories.

Hanukkah is the festival of lights. (all me)

From wiki:

Chanukah or Chanuka), also known as the Festival of Lights is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE.

Me: Temple was desecrated and they were trying to restore it. They thought the oil in the lamps would only last a little while and it last eight days. Miracle!

Wiki:

the Maccabees discovered that almost all of the ritual olive oil had been profaned. They found only a single container that was still sealed by the High Priest, with enough oil to keep the menorah in the Temple lit for a single day. They used this, and miraculously, that oil burned for eight days (the time it took to have new oil pressed and made ready).

In other news:

Anyhoo. I am slammed at work but yoga was cool. We got 10 minute massages from a local massage therapist. That was way cool. She does house calls...I have always wanted to do that...have someone come to my house and give me a massage. I wonder if my cat would stand for that. Huh.

Catch ya soon.


by nienna_weeper

Today is Yom Kippor for those of the Jewish faith and here is a small bit about this from the wiki.

Yom Kippur (Hebrew: יוֹם כִּפּוּר or יום הכיפורים‎, IPA: [ˈjom kiˈpur]), also known as the Day of Atonement, is one of the holiest days of the year for Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days (or sometimes "the Days of Awe"). Children under the age of 13 are not required to fast from sundown to sundown.

More on this is here and I found the wiki pretty accurate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur

It is typically a day of reflection. One goes to temple and ends the fast with a meal with friends and family.

Good yontif to all of you. I am not in strict observance of the holiday but am noting it in my own way. Cheers.

(the next holiday on the Jewish calendar is Sukkot or the celebration of the harvest).


Blinkie by willowings

Tonight is Rosh Hashana or the Jewish New Year. It is year 5771 in the Jewish calendar. This holiday is considered one of the high holidays to those of this faith.

Wiki info: (the basics)

Rosh Hashanah is the start of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar (one of four "new year" observances that define various legal "years" for different purposes as explained in the Mishnah and Talmud). It is the new year for people, animals, and legal contracts. The Mishnah also sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and sabbatical (shmita) and jubilee (yovel) years. Jews believe Rosh Hashanah represents either analogically or literally the creation of the World, or Universe. However, according to one view in the Talmud, that of R. Eleazar, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of man, which entails that five days earlier, the 25 of Elul, was the first day of creation of the Universe.

For more information on this holiday you can go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah

The other major high holiday is Yom Kippor or the day of atonement and that is on September 18th.

Just thought I would post in about this. I am noting the holidays in my own way.

Cheers.


by cherany at sayclubsandmore

So tonight is the first night I am celebrating the shabbos. I did the challah, I did the sampling of wine *hic*, I did the candles...I got the candle prayer write but must admit to some confusion on the wine vs bread prayer. I forgot to print the stuff out today at work so this will have to do for my first effort. Shabbat shalom.

( A pic of the candles lit...Collapse )

They look prettiful all lit up and I am letting them burn down. My mom's idea was to put water in the drip cup things so the wax does not stick to them. Smarty there.

Happy Friday.


by nine16oh4

So tomorrow I go back to work. The end of my freedom, the end of sleeping late, not that I do, as I am up by 8:00 am most days here. I will have to get up at 5:11am tomorrow. Why 5:11? So I can snooze to 5:20. :P There is a mathematical reasoning behind that. I would like to say I am ready to go back to work, but I have been enjoying my time off and been a combination of productive and creative. I did not get to writing but I got to some graphics I wanted to make and that was fun. So back I go.

Today, I got something done that I have wanted to do for a while. As you know, I spend much time here posting about Hanukkah and the ritual is a good feeling, the observance. It is centering and grounding in a way that makes me think that Judaism really is a part of my life. Sooo. I have for some time been pondering adding in the observance of Shabbat into my life. This is the weekly thing and I am sure I will bore you with more details on that later but I got myself over to the "Afikommen" (the Judaica store in Oakland) and did some shopping. What I was looking for was the candle sticks for sabbath, the candles and a small guide on how to observe and the symbolism of it all. I found everything I needed and made some connection in the community as well. We haggled prices which was very fun and seemed very true to the experience to me. I just had a whole bunch of fun with that.

So, behind the cut are my shabbat candles and candle sticks.

( Shabbat shalom...Collapse )

I bought a guide called "The Sabbath" by Samuel Dresner and I think this will all get me started. They tried to sell me the snazzy candles (6 for 20.00) but I got the big box of 72 candles for 10.00. I am Jewish and that was the better deal. I am going to burn these candles, not look at them right? No meshugeneh here.

Cheers and good night.

And so we come to the end of our Hanukkah 2007 presentations. This is the final night. I just lit the menorah as I was out earlier. It was kind of sad to do that. I really like this holiday and it is grounding to have the ritual each night and recite that prayer. It reminds me of my childhood and the excitement of it all.

( The eighth crazy night...Collapse )

Here is a small blurb on the significance of the holiday:

( The history of HanukkahCollapse )

From: http://www.history.com/minisites/hanukkah/

Thank you for celebrating with me this year. It makes me feel like I had you all with me each night.

So here we go.

( Menorah day two...middle candle plus two...Collapse )

So what Hanukkah would be complete without a fight amongst the family? Jews are a contentious lot. In my family, I am the only one who is actually observant of any of the holidays. So I bring up on the phone with my brother that I think that my niece should know about her Jewish heritage. They are raising her Christian without any mention of the fact that she is of Jewish descent. I find this of concern. Her last name is *insert very Jewish sounding name here* and as such she is easily identifiable as Jewish and I it is also culturally important to pass on the knowledge. I don't want to tell them what religion to practice...I just want them to tell her that she is Jewish and what that means. I got the noddy answer and yada but I could tell...this was not going anywhere fast. So I guess this was not a fight really...but a discussion. Let's just say, the topic is OPEN.

I won't send a Hanukkah card this year. She is seven and too young to get it. I will hold that until she is older. I also imagine that this would cause a ripple with my sister in law who REACTS to things. So, backed off for now to bring this up later. No harm, no foul. Advice from the friends list is welcome.

In other news...The Uni chugs along

Work is bizzy izzy. I am putting together the division holiday party for next week and we are hitting defcon one. I sent out about 10 emails getting approval for last minute purchases. My boss is like, so nice. She approved everything. She also laughed at me. He he he. We get to go shopping tomorrow. Wrap raffle gifts on Friday. I am BIZZY. And people think they can give me work to do! What is WITH that?!

I am ready to start my holiday cards. Woo. So get ready!

I am tired so tonight is low key. I made this little menorah blink but I have a better one planned. Woo. Night all!

It's time to celebrate Hannukah.

I lit the candles right at sundown. Well I thought it was sundown. It was clouded over so it was a good guess. Dark anyways.

( The First Night of Hanukkah at my humble abode...Collapse )

There is a set way that you go about lighting the candles. You light the center candle first and then light the menorah from right to left. Each night you add a candle to the menorah until there are eight candles there.

And so it goes.

Happy Hanukkah!



shaina_star at faded_graphics

Note that Hanukkah relates to a specific incident in Hebrew history. I will post some about that as we go along.

I will be celebrating Hanukkah again this year and dragging you along with me. I light the candles each night and post a picture of my menorah for you all to see. It makes me feel good to do it. Google is a funny thing and a search on Hannukah today brought up this funny article.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071204/NEWS05/712040321/1001/NEWS

He he he.

And here is the background on the dreidel thing according to Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreidel

So keep an eye on the journal here for Hannukah factoids and suchly. I will post some little things for you.


by shaina_star on faded_graphics

So I am not observant today but I am making note that it is the second day of Yom Kippur, probably the most important Jewish holiday during the year. Rosh Hoshanah was last week (Jewish New Year) and this one comes fast on its heels.

So I have some info for those who would like to know more, gained from the site: Judaism 101, a very helpful locale on the internet.

( Yom Kippur...The Day of Atonement...Collapse )

Things to think about. Have a good weekend.

Tomorrow: Bunday

Tonight is the first night of Passover. Good yontiv to all of you.

Last year's factoid is here: http://phyncke.livejournal.com/40211.html

Don't want to repeat myself but there is a lot of information!

A quickie here. Time for bed. We just had a shake, rattle and roll too. What a weird night it has been but I managed to light the candles.

Here is the last installment in the Hanukkah saga.

Sleep well all and to all a good night!