tales from a far-land

Judaism Journal Entry: Week Four Make a list of Jewish guests, past or present, whom you would invite to your Sukkah.  Explain why you’d like to have them as guests. For my first ever Sukkot holiday, I would want to make the holiday somewhat traditional in nature so that I could experience all of the traditions and customs first.  I would want to get the get the full essence of the holiday before trying to replicate it in future years. However, before any guest invites could be extended, we would first need to build the sukkah.  For this endeavor, I would invite my father over to construct the structure.  He is one of the most meticulous and precise carpenters that I know.  This would guarantee that the sukkah would be stable enough to hold all of our guests, but it would also be recyclable, one that we would be able to use year after year.  After the sukkah is erected, we would then need to decorate it.  This, of course, would be ...

The beginning of the Jewish calendar is full of holidays.  At class on Tuesday evening, we learned about the "Festival of Booths" or Sukkot which started Wednesday evening this week.  Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival.  During Sukkot, families traditionally build a sukkah (a hut) in their backyard to represent the temporary shelters in which the Jewish people lived while wandering in the desert for 40 years.  During the seven days of Sukkot, the mitzvah is to "dwell" within the sukkah which can be fulfilled by simply eating all of one's meals there.  Well, after learning all about Sukkot and its significance and customs, our class's Rabbi then tasked us to build our own sukkah out of Runts candy, frosting, graham crackers...

I am happy to report that Josh and I have made it through our first official "Days of Awe".  We attended the evening and day services of both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  We both fasted.  A huge kiddos to my husband who actually fasted *way* longer than you are required to just so he could "Break the Fast" with me. (Much thanks!)  After the entire ten day experience, I can honestly say that we found it insightful and inspiring.  As a newly attending congregant, there were several moments during the services that I was lost, especially during the Rosh Hashanah day service.  No one warned me that 95% of the service is all in Hebrew!  But even as I was struggling to follow the flow of the service, the Cantor would sing a song or blessing so beautifully that I would forget I had no idea what she was singing or even what it was about.  Our kids even participated in the High Holy Days.  As a family, we attended the Tot Service of Yom Kippur....

This past Labor Day, we spent the weekend with Josh's parents during their recent visit to Phoenix.  Much fun was had.  We celebrated Shabbat on Friday, visited the Arizona Science Center on Saturday and enjoyed a pool party on Sunday at Alisha's home. Our Saturday excursion to visit the Arizona Science Center was to experience the exhibit, Sesame Street Presents The Body.  The exhibit itself was very interactive and fun.  However, we were sorely disappointed that there were not Sesame Street characters roaming the exhibit.  In fact, there was only one character available to interact with, Cookie Monster.  He did not even make an appearance at the exhibit until an hour after opening time.  And then, when he did arrive, he was only available to kids who waited in a very long wait line to see him.  Sadly, our kids never visited with Cookie Monster that morning.  Aiden hanging out in Elmo's ...

To all of the grandparents in our life ... Happy Grandparents' Day! And for those loving remarks, she was rewarded with a half hour of television.  

As a last hurrah of the summer, we decided to take an extended weekend trip to Coronado, California, with our friends, the Richards.  They had extended an invite earlier this summer and we gladly accepted.  Who wouldn't want to escape to Coronado at the end of August!?!  We cannot thank them enough for the lodging, the hospitality and the good times had by all.  All four of the kids are very close in age and remarkably played very well together.  A daily trip to the beach was mandatory and absolutely beautiful. It was a very short walk from where we were staying and the kids exhausted themselves playing in the sand.  In fact, we never had to get in our car the entire time we were there.  Everything was in walking distance.  So relaxing and enjoyable.  What a memorable trip!  We cannot wait for our next Coronado vacation. Thank you again, Tommy, Yolanda, Tom and Becky!  We had such a great ti...

Happy Jewish New Year 5774!   May the New Year be sweet and fruitful for all.

Over a year ago, my Jewish learning journey began.  Josh and I attended a Humanistic Judaism course taught by Rabbi Adam Chalom in Scottsdale.  We both instantly connected with the Rabbi, their values and joined their local congregation as members.  Throughout the past year, we continued to learn much about Judaism.  We attended several Shabbat services on Friday night, celebrated many of the holidays separately and with the congregation, and we enrolled Madilyn in Sunlight Sunday school to teach her about Judaism from the child's perspective.  We found this to be a good experience for us, however, after the past year, I was yearning to learn more about Judaism and looking for a community of people for our family to have a deeper connection. Thus begins the next chapter of my Jewish journey.  This fall I have decided to take a religion course -- Introduction to Judaism .   For the next eighteen weeks, every Tuesday night, I will be learning...