Sukkot so far

[magid]

As usual, I was one of the few women with a lulav and etrog. And as usual, I'm reminded how bizarre lulav and etrog really are. Sukkot is a harvest holiday, and one that celebrates traveling through the desert for 40 years. Eating in the sukkah and other regular holiday prayers (permuted for each of the three pilgrimage festivals) show those sides. The lulav and etrog? Are just weird. I know there's all sorts of lovely drashot about the four species being like [four kinds of people; four Matriarchs; etc. (oh, hey, fourness like at Pesach - another way these two chagim have similarities)], but that doesn't address the why.

And speaking of etrogim: this year's etrogim from Israel are shmittah fruits, which can lead to the question of how to dispose of them properly. Mine will again find a home with an avid fruitcake baker (who impressively makes candied peel for these confections), but according to the men at the Israel Book Shop, this leaves the seeds to be dealt with appropriately. I suggested that they could be saved and sprouted (I know a couple of people who've started etrog trees in pots, and it would be incredibly cool to be able to pick one of my own 7-8 years down the road), and was told that the seeds should be dried out and discarded, because any trees grown from them would have the status of shmittah all the time. I'd think that if they weren't planted during the shmittah year (and especially, not in Israel, and not in the ground), that it would be a better way to use them (allowing them their potential), rather than doing some work-around drying out and throwing out.

I was invited out to a couple of lovely sukkot for lunches. It felt particularly nice in comparison to RH, where I was mostly on my own for meals. Something about needing a sukkah seems to inspire more invitations my way, even though I have a sukkah conveniently on my porch.
(Interestingly, the lunches were just about complete opposites. One was vegan, featuring whole grains and brassicae, plus more desserts than I could shake a stick at, while the other was a barbeque.)

Second night I had an interesting flame event. I use tealights in pretty cup-like glass holders. I have to tip them to get the flame to the wick, and with the second one, the flame was close enough to the end of the match that I just dropped the match in, which I've done a couple of times. Apparently, I shouldn't've done it this time: a couple of minutes later, I noticed that there were flames soaring half a foot above the holder, and the inside of the glass was scorched black. I kept watching, unsure if it would burn out or would turn into something I'd have to extinguish, and the flames kept burning aggressively. I heard a *crack*, and the holder broke around its circumference. One small piece fell on the floor (and I stupidly touched it, burning my fingertip a little), and I got shoes on, just in case. The tongs came in handy to get the glass into the trash, though I was nervous with the other large piece being hot... turns out cold water crazes hot glass most impressively. Weirdly, the last part to die out was the match. And the other candle lasted hours longer. (For the record, I found one small glass sliver on the counter, and the rest was three big pieces. I was really lucky.)

Random thought during davening: maftir makes sense as an add-on aliyah in the context of chanting the haftorah, or on holidays to include something from elsewhere in the Torah (usually korbanot). But did they do just the repetition of the end of the 7th aliyah before the time of setting up haftorot?
(Similar sort of question: was there a phrase that used to be used in havdalah before Esther's "la'Yehudim hayita ora...", or was it an accretion onto the ceremony? (Or was the use in Esther a deliberate evoking of a phrase that was already familiar?))

The LED lights work great, the timer works, and so on, but I'd like to get some more, because the number I have isn't long enough to make things pretty. I also saw lights in a sort of tube (I don't know enough about these lights to have a better description) that would've been cool. (*waves to Toyb*)

Comments

[gingicat]

Not having heard of shmittah produce before, I went and looked it up... and now I'm confused. How could shmittah etrogim be sold at the store?

[magid.livejournal.com]

Really, I'm not sure.

I know there were lots of issues about buying Arab-raised produce this year, and imports and all, but I really don't know the ins and outs of it.

[(Anonymous)]

My understanding is that shmitta produce is ownerless, and the stores (are supposed to) charge only for overhead, for getting the ownerless produce to the customer, and not for the produce itself.

That produce, but not of course the imports, retains the holiness of being shmitta produce, and parts not eaten cannot be, for example, just placed in the trash.

[magid.livejournal.com]

That makes sense in theory, about ownerless produce, but practically speaking, I can't imagine that the growers of these etrogim earned nothing on them (and while overhead to get imported fruit to market is definitely up from previous years, I still can't believe that what I paid was only overhead, even with each etrog packed in its own box).

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, that is a common paradox in Israel, ownerless fruit at three times the price. Perhaps some of it is overcharging to make up for volume.

If I were a farmer in Israel, I'd try to plan for my needs so that prices could remain consistent over the seven-year cycle for those to whom I'd sell, even though I'd have less to sell and more expenses during shmitta.

I'd also hope to make it so that others could take what they needed for their personal use from what grew voluntarily in my left-alone fields, and I imagine I would make reciprocal arrangements with neighbor farmers so we could all fill our needs.

[magid.livejournal.com]

If I were a farmer in Israel, I'd be a lot more knowledgeable about huge areas of halacha I have a nodding acquaintance with now :-).

I know that the farm I have a share in does rotate crops, and fields do 'rest' with just cover crops. If only shmittah could be one in seven years of rest, rather than a given seventh year; that would make the economics a lot easier. (Pipe dream, sure.)

It would be great to have a cooperative sort of agreement so everyone could get what they needed... how close is this to some form of kibbutz effect, d'you think?

[cellio]

The lulav and etrog? Are just weird.

I'm with you there. And I haven't ever actually managed "rejoice" while waving it, especially in the more ritualized bit during hallel. I don't get it.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've not managed rejoicing over them either, though smelling the etrog is evocative. There's the simchat bait hashoeva that's always cited as a time of intense joy, and I wonder what it was like; drawing water doesn't seem like it would cause that much celebration (though having water through the year is definitely a good thing in a place that is so dependent on winter rains).

[(Anonymous)]

turns out cold water crazes hot glass most impressively

Consider yourself lucky that you've only first encountered this now!

I learned young. It really is scary when a too-warm glass fresh from the dishwasher explodes as seltzer is being poured into it.

Very glad you are okay! Smart thinking about the shoes.

Have you considered those festive pomegranate string lights?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I think I remember my mom talking about how pottery can craze, and I know that when I'm canning, I need to put the hot cans on a towel, not on the cool counter directly, to avoid that kind of breakage, but somehow it didn't gel in these other ways, too. (I didn't realize how long the glass would take to cool off either.)

That must have been scary with the seltzer! I hope you didn't get cut by the glass. (Aha! A reason not to use dishwashers! ;-P)

I've had glass break before, just not in this spectacular sort of way; shoes are de rigeur when dealing with little vicious shards that can be hard to see!

Does the Israel bookstore carry the pomegranate lights? (I got the lights at Home Depot because I already had a credit there.)

You were up late! Or was that early?

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, I hadn't thought of your canning. Now I am even more impressed! Even though I know from experience what can happen, in hot-jar-cold-liquid situations I still forget to do as you do and act with caution. I did crack a nice jar a few months back while making yogurt.

The seltzer glass explosion was so unexpected and sudden! I don't recall getting cut then. Thank you for your concern. You are right, the glass might have flown at me!

And of course, in those days, my mother would shoo children away carefully from broken glass and then clean it up for all of us. There's nothing these days that makes me feel lonely quite the way that incidents of broken glass do.

Aw, I still would like a dishwasher. Silly.

I thought it might have been you some time back who pointed me to pomegranate lights. I wonder now how I came across them then. I don't know which site it was then, but searching "pomegranate lights" on Google yields more than a few pertinent matches, including at reputable stores and sites. It would be worth asking at the Israel Book Shop.

You make me feel looked-out-for. Thank you.

[magid.livejournal.com]

You make yogurt! Very cool. That's one thing I haven't tried yet, though I should increase my yogurt intake (read: more calcium).

My mom would also be the responsible one, making us go away and cleaning it up herself.

If I pointed you to pomegranate lights, I'd obviously forgotten!

Thanks you for your kind words! I appreciate the sentiment. Moadim l'simcha.

[(Anonymous)]

They're called rope lights, e.g.,

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=rope+light

[toyb.livejournal.com]

Oops, failed to be logged in. And, rope lights (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=rope+light).

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

So, I was considering this, since I hope to bake the recipe I'd need the etrog for this weekend. How best shall I retrieve it from you?

(And also, thank you again! With tigerbright's help I'll dispose properly of what I don't use.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Well, I could bring it to the BU Academy (it's still at the end of the BU Bridge, yes?).

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

That would be perfect, and it would be great to see you! We're still at the end of the bridge, and they've even fixed up the intersection to be safer(ish). Do you need my work phone #?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've been through the intersection recently... I think it's going to take a while until people are more familiar with the new layout for it to be noticeably safer.

Tell me what times/how late it's ok to show up? (I'll likely be walking.)

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I'll be at work till 3:30, today and tomorrow (I can stay till 4 or later tomorrow if you need me to; the building itself closes at 4:45.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

OK, I'll aim to drop it off tomorrow morning, then. (Shabbat starts early enough these days that I wouldn't want to be out meeting you at the end of your workday, much less ask you to stay late!)

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

That works! I get here at 7:30 AM, so I'll definetely be here whenever you get here.

Thank you, so much! *happy dances*