Archive for December 2010
New Years Shabbat
Posted by: erika on: December 30, 2010
Funny thing happened in 2010. Christmas Eve and now New Years Eve both fall on Shabbat. For Christmas I was at work (Christmas Eve) and didn’t get home in time to light my Shabbat candles. Tomorrow, though, I get off work early and plan on coming home to have Shabbat dinner with Mirs before heading to our friend’s [...]
When You’re a Jew-You get Two New Years!
Posted by: erika on: December 28, 2010
I was always fascinated by the Chinese New Year, especially since moving to New York. A few years ago Mirs and I went down to China town about an hour to late and missed the parade but the evidence of the festivities were in the streets. The main drags were still closed off to cars [...]
I survived Christmas and ate Chinese food, too
Posted by: erika on: December 26, 2010
First things first, did you read my post on the Sisterhood?? If not, go read it and come back. I’ll wait. It’s true. I ordered Chinese food on Christmas afternoon. The original plan was to make some eggs and enjoy a mimosa while watching endless episodes of The L Word on Netflix. I opened Mirs’ [...]
As-Salam Alaykum/Shalom Aleichem
Posted by: erika on: December 22, 2010
The Wikipedia definition of As-Salam Alaykum and Shalom Aleichem are exactly the same; Peace be upon you in either Arabic or Hebrew. There are many things right now going on in my life where I need Peace. Things with my sister have hit a unbelieveable high, one of Mirs best friends suddenly passed away, and Christmas is a [...]
Baby Steps-a Rambling Post
Posted by: erika on: December 17, 2010
One Day at a Time Easy Does It It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint This morning one of you readers, always inspiration, said that she was taking baby steps in divorcing herself from Christmas and it got me thinking, am I rushing into this? The short answer would be yes the long answer is no. [...]
When will December 25th just be a Day
Posted by: erika on: December 16, 2010
Even as a Christian I was very aware that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th. December 25th, the date of Christmas is very close to the pagan Yule Holiday, which is on December 21st, if I’m not mistaken. The date of Christmas was chosen, I gather, in this close proximity to help the new Christians [...]
Whirl Wind of a Week; Podcast, Noah Aronson, JFREJ, and more…oy vey!
Posted by: erika on: December 12, 2010
This is going to be one long post, but I will try to be as concise as possible without sounding like I’m rattlling off fun-facts of my previous week. It’s probably best to start with the most recent and work my way back to last Friday, my Hanukkah party. 1. Shabbat, this week. I met [...]
Back soon with exciting news!
Posted by: erika on: December 9, 2010
Hanukkah is over and what a doozy it was! I’ll be back to updating later this weekend but so much fun to discuss. 1. Our raging Hanukkah Party 2. Sheer joy of lighting the menorah for 8 days 3. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Event 4. My podcast for the Jewish Forward. Exciting, right? [...]
New Jews; Blessing or Annoyance?
Posted by: erika on: December 7, 2010
I’m one of those people who believe that when you say something, “joking” it’s your way of saying the thing that you truly wish to say but do not for fear of hurting someone, upsetting someone, or disagreeing with someone. You don’t feel comfortable, for whatever reason, saying what you mean to say outright so [...]
How and Why do you Jew?
Posted by: erika on: December 5, 2010
I’ve started to write this post at least a dozen times. I’ve recently received 3 books on Jewish prayer from Amazon, To Pray as a Jew by Hayim Halevy Donin, Entering Jewish Prayer by Reuven Hammer, and Minding the Temple of the Soul by Tamar Frankiel and Judy Greenfeld. I’ve purchased them to better understand the things that happen [...]
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