Holiday prep
Oct. 9th, 2003 10:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidMonday was Yom Kippur. Tomorrow night starts Sukkot [0]. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that ideas of doing mostly vacationy, excursion-like things have given way to more tasks, errands, and chores, though with a much healthier dose of socializing than I'd manage during a regular work week :-).
I just put up the s'chach [1] for my sukkah [2], so it is as done as it was last year, with only one bit of splinter. I would like to put up a sun block, and perhaps make some decorations (drawing on fabric), but that's all gravy, though much-wanted gravy. Oh, and rearrange the plants and such on the porch, so I can maximize the chairs out there.
Yesterday I bought my lulav [3] and etrog [4]. I bought them at the only place I know to buy one in the state, at the Israel Bookstore. The sets of four species are priced depending on which etrog you buy, and the rest is thrown in, as it were. Being frugal, I tend to look at the cheapest ones, which this year were $40. As usual, I was the only woman there, which doesn't bother me, per se, but I always wonder where the other women buying their lulav and etrog are (I suspect they get them through their shuls, or their husbands get them, or something.). After I'd chosen a pretty etrog without blemishes and a nice pitom [5], I found myrtle that had the leaves sprouting in threes from the main stem, and a straight palm with the tip intact. For some weird reason, there are no particular things to look for in willow branches.
The next major holiday preparation is the food, for which I have to do some shopping. Still, that's much more manageable, being something I do a lot more frequently. I had a request for fish, and so I decided to make dairy food this weekend. Still, since we're likely eating outside, a nice thick pea soup to start, so it won't matter as much if the main dish is cold. Ah, logistics...
[0] A week-long festival commemorating both traveling through the desert after the exodus from Egypt, and the harvest. (The major Jewish holidays all have a dual aspect, of something to do with the exodus, and something to do with the agricultural cycle.)
[1] Er, roof-type material, which by definition does none of the things you usually want a roof to do. It ahs to allow viewing of the stars, though more than 50% coverage. I use bits of wood.
[2] A booth built to live in for the duration of the holiday. Live in = eating in (unless raining (Yes, there are descriptions of what constitutes raining enough to eat inside.), and in some climates, sleeping in.
[3] A bundle of a palm branch, and some willow and myrtle branches, tied together with bits of palm.
[4] A bumpy yellow citrus fruit that smells wonderful. Inside, it is mostly pith and seeds, but some people make marmalade after the holiday anyway.).
[5] A boopkie sticking out of the blossom end, without which the fruit is useless for ritual purposes. This year there were some that looked odd, and I didn't care for them.)
I just put up the s'chach [1] for my sukkah [2], so it is as done as it was last year, with only one bit of splinter. I would like to put up a sun block, and perhaps make some decorations (drawing on fabric), but that's all gravy, though much-wanted gravy. Oh, and rearrange the plants and such on the porch, so I can maximize the chairs out there.
Yesterday I bought my lulav [3] and etrog [4]. I bought them at the only place I know to buy one in the state, at the Israel Bookstore. The sets of four species are priced depending on which etrog you buy, and the rest is thrown in, as it were. Being frugal, I tend to look at the cheapest ones, which this year were $40. As usual, I was the only woman there, which doesn't bother me, per se, but I always wonder where the other women buying their lulav and etrog are (I suspect they get them through their shuls, or their husbands get them, or something.). After I'd chosen a pretty etrog without blemishes and a nice pitom [5], I found myrtle that had the leaves sprouting in threes from the main stem, and a straight palm with the tip intact. For some weird reason, there are no particular things to look for in willow branches.
The next major holiday preparation is the food, for which I have to do some shopping. Still, that's much more manageable, being something I do a lot more frequently. I had a request for fish, and so I decided to make dairy food this weekend. Still, since we're likely eating outside, a nice thick pea soup to start, so it won't matter as much if the main dish is cold. Ah, logistics...
[0] A week-long festival commemorating both traveling through the desert after the exodus from Egypt, and the harvest. (The major Jewish holidays all have a dual aspect, of something to do with the exodus, and something to do with the agricultural cycle.)
[1] Er, roof-type material, which by definition does none of the things you usually want a roof to do. It ahs to allow viewing of the stars, though more than 50% coverage. I use bits of wood.
[2] A booth built to live in for the duration of the holiday. Live in = eating in (unless raining (Yes, there are descriptions of what constitutes raining enough to eat inside.), and in some climates, sleeping in.
[3] A bundle of a palm branch, and some willow and myrtle branches, tied together with bits of palm.
[4] A bumpy yellow citrus fruit that smells wonderful. Inside, it is mostly pith and seeds, but some people make marmalade after the holiday anyway.).
[5] A boopkie sticking out of the blossom end, without which the fruit is useless for ritual purposes. This year there were some that looked odd, and I didn't care for them.)
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 07:41 am (UTC)boopkies
Date: 2003-10-09 07:57 am (UTC)I found a not-so-large photo, though it's at a commecial site (they use a different pronunciation, so spell it as 'esrog' and 'esrogim'). They list etrogim without a pitom; apparently there are ones that grow that way, so they're kosher, but if an etrog had one and it gets knocked off, that's a problem. I suppose it would make sense for people to get ones without, but everyone I know gets it with; tradition...
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 07:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 10:04 am (UTC)Oh, and happy b'day!
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 10:10 am (UTC)(I tend not to buy much online at all.)
And thank you :-).
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 01:48 pm (UTC)Where were the women?
Date: 2003-10-09 08:13 am (UTC)Also, in general, tonight will be the crazy night at the Book Shop; the crowd last night was much smaller than I was expecting, and the folk behind the counter confirmed that tonight would be more busy (lots of people buying their lulavim/etrogim at the latest possible moment for them, so that they're as fresh as possible, I guess).
Re: Where were the women?
Date: 2003-10-09 08:22 am (UTC)And yeah, I assume tonight will be a mob scene. I like having fresh arba minim (especially when they're not going to be used on the first day), but I'm not nuts :-).Well, not in that way, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 08:17 am (UTC)Happy Birthday (ugh)
If you're feeling very bored
Watch your brother getting gored
Happy Birthday (ugh)
Happy Birthday
:-)
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 08:23 am (UTC)Er, gored?
You took up bull-fighting without telling me?
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 09:26 am (UTC)I'll let you know after the weekend (I'll be out of town) if I'll have a chance to come check out (and eat in) your sukkah. It sounds nice, and I'm glad you got it finished (minus decorations).
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 09:45 am (UTC)Thanks for the birthday wishes :-)
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 09:31 am (UTC)There was some discussion about getting me a set at all, because the first day falls on Shabbat, so I'd only be using it once. But. I do bench lulav every morning during Sukkot, even if I'm remiss in saying shacharit. Therefore, it's worthwhile.
And other women in my shul do have their own, plus we provide extra sets.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-09 09:51 am (UTC)I debated not getting a set this year, and borrowing someone else's, but it just feels strange, after having gotten one for so many years. Last year having my own lead to me feeling pushed into doing hoshanot on the women's side, which was uncomfortable for me. There hadn't been hoshanot on the women's side ever before, and so I hadn't thought about whether it's something I want to do or not, nor researched any opinions about it.
(Er, and I wasn't clear whether the gabbaim had checked with the rabbi before chag; there are times when having a Hillel minyan for home base is not quite ideal.)