Happy New Year

To my fellow "tribal" members, a happy new year to you and to all of the goy out there, happy free days off from school. I dig the whole concept of the Jewish New Year. It's actually pretty cool if you think about it. I mean you open a book and forgive those that have wronged you and everyone that you've wronged has to forgive you and ten days later you close the book and poof you are cleansed for the year and get to start all over again. Some may quickly ruin their clean slate while others try to hold out a little longer but its a cool concept. This year was a bit sad, its the last year that I'll get to see the only Rabbi I've ever known. I tried going to services once while I was at school and it just wasn't the same. Reform folk in DC are wacky and there was guitar playing and folk song singing and I felt like perhaps I was in the wrong place or that someone confused the "High Holidays" with a Huge Ho Down.

the other cool thing about the holidays is that we get together with Mo and his fambino. This year was especially fun because Jen's parents and her brother came too. All kinds of education going on about the food for us and what they do on Christmas. Very educational but not in a cheesey or forced way just folks sharing their traditions. Plus, it was fun to watch Ryan try to avoid some of the more potent holiday food items (yeah I'm talking to you Herring, Chopped Liver, Gefiltile Fish and hot pink horseradish). Jewish holiday feasts are not for the faint of stomach. Kellay, you missed another chance to have some soup nuts. My dad thought we should send you some and I told them how you'll probably show up at Seder regardless if I'm around.

Anywho, the only downer to the whole holiday were some of the other attendees at dinner. Last year there was an extremely awkward incident whereby one of these people loudly berated her elderly mother in front of everyone. not only was this embarrassing for her mom but also for all of the other guests in their house. i'm not saying you have to get along with your mom all the time, but there are some conversations that are better had in the privacy of your own home. No one else wants to hear it and it just makes everything after wicked awkward. This elderly mom didn't not attend this year but instead there was knitting before dinner. Kinda rude if you ask me, particularly when the knitter repeatedly asks (rhetorically i presume) "should I stop knitting and being rude"? Course my instinct was to retort "why should this night be different". [for those of you tribal members think of phrasing this retort as one of the four questions at Seder]. Sadly, my good upbringing and lack of desire to create more awkwardness prevented me from forming these words. instead I thought them really hard and hoped that other people would pick up on it. Think my dad did, cause he shares my feelings about this particular woman and he also knew better than to make verbal comments. Ah well, didn't ruin the night. Plus my desserts came out pretty good even though they were new recipes and no one seemed to mind being my guinea pig. Sweet!

Until next time...