Pesach Part 2

Life seems to be flying ahead of me so fast that I have at least 10 blog posts just waiting to be put up.

Here's the second Pesach part that I meant to put up earlier.

Pesach brings with it many things, mostly the domains of families. Many take trips, head out to wild, exotic places, just to see the sites and report back. Children in these families take great pride in reporting where they just came from, what they saw, and what they did. They brag about their latest exploits to their neighbors, friends, and classmates- and woe to those children who didn't do anything at all.

This past Pesach, the neighbor of mine who has 7 children delivered her eighth, a boy. And so, I and Mr. NMF volunteered to take the young ones on a trip to the zoo. Nothing major, but anything with 7 children becomes something major, of course. An enjoyable time was had by all, viewing the elephants and the vultures, just waiting to swoop down on my unsuspecting NBD, who laughed the whole time.

But the best part was, that now they had something to 'talk' about- that they did something on Chol HaMoed.

Compare that to my new neighbor, who also has 7 children, and is also a Ganenet. (I seem to attract these type of families as neighbors.) She confided in me that for her family, a Chol HaMoed activity is spending time with everyone- just hanging out together, small art projects, new games at home, or heading to a large park or picnic with extended family. In a way, I like this style some what better- as it promotes values that one doesn't really need to do something flashy or overdone in order to have a wonderful lasting time, that makes for good memories.

Either way, Chol Hamoed becomes the time to spend time with family. I hope all succeeded in doing that this Pesach.

Pesach Part 1

I'm busier than ever these days, especially with the inevitable Pesach cleaning. I'm also insanely jealous. Why?

Well, I'm making Pesach- the seders, the cooking, the cleaning- you name it, I'm doing it. And throughout the last couple of weeks, the common refrain from the young couples in the neighborhood has been something like this.

Me: How are you doing?
Neighbor: I'm busy packing. Gosh, it takes a long time.
Me: Really? Going to the US for Yom Tov?
Neighbor: Yes, and you wouldn't believe how much work it is. Packing, then taking a __ hour flight- it's just too much. You're so lucky you get to stay here.
Me: _______

If they think a 15 hour flight is hard, even with several children, try making Pesach anytime.
But anyway, enough with the griping. (Sorry! It's practically Erev Pesach! Hard to remain cheerful.)
Good news is that I get the amazing experience of being here in Israel for Pesach. Last year I got the pleasure of hosting a 2nd Seder, even though we had already moved here permenantly, and so I got to take pictures, relax, and enjoy the Seder in an entirely different way than I normally do. This year I plan to do the same, with even more guests.

It's a totally different feeling to know that you aren't obligated to start measuring your matzah out- and instead, you can just focus on the meaning of the Seder, the Divrei Torah, the essence of real freedom. I think it would be fun to continue hosting a second Seder, for fun, even when I don't have guests from America.

And now, for your viewing enjoyment, a short clip from the Robotics team in Rishon L'Tzion.



More on Pesach will be coming later. Stay tuned!

A Bunch of Firsts

Well, my first Pesach and Sedarim made is now half over- hurrah!

I succeeded in getting the house clean, the two Seders (for our American guests) created, and all by the time of burning Chametz.

Birkas HaChama was another phenomenal first- standing out there with all the other women, looking at the sun in a new way- that only happens once in 28 years. It was phenomenal, inspirational, and a new recognition of Hashem- that even the largest luminary serves Him. My whole neighborhood gathered together- B'Rov Am, Hadras Melech- when more people come, it's more glory for the King of Kings.

This was the first year that I personally only kept one day of Yom Tov- quite fun to stand there taking pictures of a Seder that I didn't have to participate in...and I realized that I'll never have a 3-day Yom Tov again, except on Rosh Hashana, every once in a while.

It was also NBD's first Pesach- and even though she only made it past the first kos (cup), she still enjoyed it!

I'll be on a slight vacation till after Pesach (unless something really interesting comes up)- so Chag Kasher V'Sameach!

OII #9- It's a War Zone- Really!

I decided to save some money this Pesach and join a co-op for vegetables. You had to order insane amounts of produce- like 9 kilo of potatoes, carrots, and onions, along with 5-6 kilo of other items- but it saved hundreds of shekels, at least in my calculations.

And I wasn't the only one- everyone I knew was ordering from them, telling me how easy it would be to head down to the local Bais Yaakov parking lot and just pick them up.
So, I blissfully sent in my money and waited to pick it up.

I offered to go myself, but Mr. NMF insisted on helping me out, and he went down. Little did I know what was in store.

He came back an hour and a half later- looking like he had just walked out of a war zone. Kippah askew, he told me, "That place is a madhouse. And, I didn't finish!"

So, I decided to go down to see for myself.
Hundreds of people, all crammed together, toting huge bags and sacks of vegetables. Trying to balance their chassa (romaine lettuce) and their green onions, on top of giant boxes of bananas, people were rushing back and forth, with baby carriages, shopping carts- you name it, they had it, to carry the produce.

I noticed two things.
Firstly- wow.
Mr. NMF has a rebbe who was here right after the 6 Day War. A friend of the rebbe's was sick, and the doctor prescribed eating apples. In order to get apples, they had to search, and finally found a rich Arab who was willing to sell them some apples from his one apple tree for a hefty price.
Now- we have abundance of produce- so much fruit and vegetables, that we can't even carry it home. Israel has come a long way since the days of no apples.

Secondly, a man was rushing back carrying his bag of apples, and it developed a hole.
Suddenly, everyone stopped, including me. We all dropped whatever we were carrying, and raced after the apples that were slowly bouncing down the hill, and retrieved them all. The man thanked us all profusely, and remarked- Mi K'Amcha Yisroel- who is like Your nation, Israel!

That's how everyone behaved. Despite the fact that it was a tumult, almost like a war zone, when it came down to it, everyone behaved like decent human beings, like a mentch.

So- if they say that Israel is a war zone- well, it could happen, but only during vegetable pick-up before Pesach.

Erev Shabbos #14- Ahh....

Well, thank G-d I'm exactly where I should be in Pesach cleaning. Which is a good thing.
Yesterday, I had an interesting experience that I will post about soon...

Now, is peace and preparing for Shabbos. It's like that breath of fresh air after a long day, or the cleansing feeling after a rainstorm. My apartment may smell of bleach, but that lemony scent is what makes it all the more relaxing. I can go into Shabbos not worried or frazzled, but calm and content.

Ever noticed how no matter what time Shabbos is at, there is always a rush to get ready on time? It's as if our brains calculate exactly how much time is needed depending on which time Shabbos starts at! Well, this Shabbos I'm determined not to rush or be impatient. And, I'll breath a sigh of contentment as I usher in the Shabbos Queen.

So Gut Shabbos everyone!

OII #8- Patience and Products

I'll admit it: I was scared stiff. Yes, that would be me, the shy, nervous trembling person standing in the corner.
Why, you may ask?

Well, I was about to embark on a big step: Ordering my Pesach butcher order.

Don't laugh, it's not a funny business. When I moved here to E"Y, I knew the basics. Salamon- Salmon. A+B- Gefilte fish. Of- Chicken. And, so on.

Succos- I didn't order anything special or out of the ordinary. And, slowly I learnt more. I learnt there was Nile perch, sole, tuna, pike, carp, and silver carp. I learnt that Rolada meant a roast, and that I could get a bag full of Atzamot- bones for soup.

But, Pesach is the large order, the one that I can't afford (literally) to get wrong. And, I panicked. I mean, how in heaven's name could I figure out the Hebrew words for half the stuff I know how to cook? And then make sure it's Pesachdik? That was a challenge.

I came prepared. I marched in, and told them (my butcher only speaks Hebrew) in my best Hebrew the basics of my order. And then I got stuck.

I blanked out. I wanted ground pike and whitefish to make homemade gefilte fish, but I couldn't seem to get anyone to understand my wording.

Patiently, my butcher took time out from his busy schedule to try to help me decipher my own words. Slowly, we went through each fish, every single name, and he explained to me which ones were for which. And slowly, I figured out that pike is Booriy, and that there is no whitefish in Israel, but I could substitute silver carp- Kasif.
Meanwhile, he had customers waiting, but he took the time to patiently help me, the English speaker, without making fun of me.

For my meat order- I had to do more research. You see, in Israel, it's not done by name- like London broil, or sirloin, or ribeye steak. It's done by number- 1, 2, 3...with each representing a different cut.
So, I went home and turned on my trusty laptop, and lo' and behold- I found an amazing website- IsraelEasy, which showed me I'm not the only Olah to have this problem. Here's the links to the meats and fish of Israel- if it is of use to anyone.

And, my butcher was patient with me yet again, and helped me decipher my meat order as well, in slow Hebrew and broken English.

Thank G-d for kind Israelis. Otherwise, how would I eat!

Spring Cleaning

Alright, halfway done. There, I said it. I know there is about a week till Pesach- but B"H- well on schedule, even with NBD being extremely cute and charming. What can I do? I have to stop and play with her sometimes, I just have to.

So, I decided to play devil's advocate with myself. Why am I cleaning so much?

What makes me decide to Pesach clean every book in the house even though we probably won't read more than 2 of them over Yom Tov?

What causes me to reorganize closets, and shuffle drawers?

I mean, if it was up to a guy- they would say- well, it has to be more than a kezayis, and it has to be edible by a dog, and if it is less than a kezayis we only worry about it if it comes to the table...so.....there, I'm finished, in less than a day.

It seems that Pesach has become a time for me, as well as other women and girls, to obsessively clean, far more than necessary.

I must have hit the roof when I heard, "Well, you could actually use a soup that you cooked before Pesach with your chametz pots on Pesach. Because the little chametz on your pot is batel before Pesach."

I always thought that my countertop had to be left for 24 hours, kashered 3 times with boiling water, and then covered. Now I hear, "Well, if you're going to cover it after all that, then what's
the point?"

So why in heaven's name did Jewish women throughout history obsessively clean?

I think it stems from an old story. There was this Rav, who asked his wife why she was scrubbing the walls and the floors. After all, we don't really eat on our walls, so the possibility of there being more than a kezayis of chametz on the walls is almost nil.
She answered, "If the cleaning was left up to you, we'd have chametz in our house on Pesach."

We clean because we know, that if we clean far more than necessary, the chance of there being chametz in our houses goes down to nil. If we just cleaned what's needed, the risk of finding that pretzel during bedikas chametz, or not finding it at all, goes up astronomically.

So, we clean. We clean and clean, we spring clean and regular clean and Mr. Clean all in one.

So pass me the bleach, okay? Thanks.

EDIT: How do y'all like the new look? Comment please!

Money Tree

When I was little, I was told that "money doesn't grow on trees." Albeit that it is made of paper, and therefore, has something to do with trees, making money is not an easy business.

With the economy in the US the way it is, finding a job in today's times is harder than ever. I personally know many who are collecting unemployment, and I know some who are scared stiff that they soon will have to do the same.
The Israeli job market is a tough one to break into- mostly since jobs are found via the special 'P' ingredient- protexia. There are also very few jobs for Anglos (English speakers) that don't require fluent Hebrew- something most Anglos don't have yet.

So- what do we do? Well, we take advice from people like Orthonomics- and start cutting down. Frugality becomes our middle name. And that's a good thing.

When I got married, I realized I no longer had the same budget as I did when I was single. I mean- it was the same budget, but it had to be stretched more ways. I clipped coupons, shopped for sales, and looked for every way to try to save money and still remain in my budget.

When I moved to Israel- I did the same. But things are different here. Not too many coupons, but more sales. Items are cheaper here, but sometimes made of shoddier material.

But, Pesach is here with a vengeance, and my mailbox has been inundated with circulars for greater savings! Coupons for the grocery stores, co-ops for the vegetables and meat, even a joint effort by a Rosh Yeshiva for savings on Mehudar Matzos.

I can't remember the last time in the US that I saved money on Pesach! It's so wonderful to be able to feel like Pesach food products aren't going to bankrupt me (and frankly, might be cheaper than during the year due to the extreme amount of savings!)

So- why does this only happen in Israel? Shouldn't there be Pesach savings all over?
After all- money really doesn't grow on trees!

Erev Shabbos #13- Pesach Prep

It's Erev Shabbos again, and I'm starting to do more than just think about Pesach. I mean, I did start cleaning already- basic, nothing major, but now on Erev Shabbos, it comes to a head.

As I wrote my shopping list, I thought- well, only one package of pearl barley, as Pesach is coming. Oh, and why buy more of 'that', for I'll just need to get rid of it before Pesach. Oh and make sure to get 'this' before this week, because next week, our store will be Pesachdik already.

Pesach requires advance planning. Oh, and this is the last week I can have guests before Pesach- as the cleaning ensues with a vengeance next week.

So, my Erev Shabbos this week is connected with Pesach. But, that's okay.

I will take the time, now that the clock's changed, to enjoy a later Shabbos, to have more time to prepare, to relax, to get myself into the Shabbos atmosphere before Shabbos.

Because next week- the fury ensues- so I need all the relaxation time that I can get!

Gut Shabbos everyone!

The Countdown Commences

The 'P' word. Yes, I know BOSD, fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself, according to Professor Albus Dumbledore, at least. But, it makes me feel better, 'kay?

This year will be my first year doing it by myself. I'm an only girl, so at home, I did it as well, just, together with my mother. Now, I'm on my own. And, with a little one to boot. So, I'm allowed to be scared of it, okay?

Here goes. Deep breath, "Pesach." Rosh Chodesh is in 2 weeks, that means Pesach is in a little less than a month. And my countdown commences. 3 bedrooms to do. Kitchen to clean and kasher. Pesach stuff to unload. Cooking to start. Help my neighbor with her house. And somehow, do this all before Seder night. Can I start freaking out now, or would it be preferable to wait till later?

I know, tackle it a bit at a time. But according to this article on MII, I'm already behind. Yikes.
I prefer not to think about it, and then panic later.

ProfK describes the syndrome and it's consequences. Ima on the Bima is actually excited for cleaning.

How do you handle Pesach Panic?
Edit: I totally subscribe to Mrs. S's version of Pesach cleaning system!

Respond in comments please- as I'm a member of the I love comments club :)