Hannukah -Shabbat-Snow Day

The snowstorm that started Friday afternoon continued through Friday midnight and gave us about 8 inches of fine powder.

We are snowbound again, and thus have a nature-made Shabbat as a day of complete rest at home.

Here, the dark, stormy day is seamlessly becoming dusk, as the snow piles up around the leafless Aspen tree on the back patio.

Shabbat is nearly upon us.






On Erev Shabbat, the Menorah is lit before the Shabbat candles. Here, we have turned on the purely decorative window Menorah in the late afternoon, to enjoy it as we prepare the Shabbat Table.

We moved the table that we use for the Menorot from the great room to the dining room, so that we can enjoy the Hannukah lights while we eat the Shabbat meal.




After lighting the kosher Menorot and singing the blessings, the Boychick opens a present.
Although gift-giving is actually more of a Purim custom, in the United States, small gifts are usually given for Hannukah. It is an example of the many ways Jews have borrowed from the cultures they have lived among.

The as yet unlit Shabbat candles are in the foreground. Once they are lit, no other light will be kindled.

In the foreground, the Shabbat table is set, the Kiddush* wine has been poured in goblets and in the silver Kiddush cup, and we are getting ready for the transition from lighting the Hannukah lights to celebrating Shabbat.

*Kiddush, from the Hebrew word for holiness--literally 'Separation'--is the blessing said over a cup of wine that marks the transition from ordinary time into holy time. The wine is a symbol of joy and abundance. Jews tend to sanctify time rather than space.

I have laid the table on my special 'Hannukah-Winter" tablecloth, and I have put silver and blue garland decorated with dreidls and Stars of David on the chandelier above. Although there is no specific decor for Hannukah, it is customary to Hiddur Mitzvah, beautify the commandment, for any Jewish observance. Blue and white for Hannukah is a modern custom, tying the victory of the Maccabees to the hard-earned miracle of the modern State of Israel by using the colors of the Israeli flag.

The storm ended in the night last night, and as the stars came out, the temperature dropped precipitously and the winds became very strong, blowing snow into drifts everywhere.

The golden sunshine is deceiving in this picture, as the temperature was 9 degrees F.

Our morning walk was frigid, though the dogs were happy to go out, and we had to stop frequently to remove packed snow from between canine toes!

We are a little tired of being snowbound, so we are waiting for the snowplow. A few hours away this evening would be a nice diversion!

Heresy: A Little Dennis Music

Normally on Friday afternoons, we get ready for Shabbat and have a late dinner at home.
And we would attend services on Saturday morning with some regularity.
Sometimes, we would go to Friday night services, though that was less common.

Since N.'s Bar Mitzvah year ended last summer, and his classmates have all finished up, we have not been going to synagogue services with much regularity at all.
Oh, I chair the Women's Torah Study once a month.
We take N. to Machon on Wednesdays or make sure he gets there--it's rather complicated this term! But when I pick the East Mountain boys up, I arrive just in time to get them.

The truth is that we are feeling uneasy about some things that have happened at the synagogue, and we just do not enjoy the services very much. A beloved pre-school teacher there nearly 25 years was fired suddenly 6 months before retirement.
She taught the Chemistry Geek Princess and N. both. CGP now refuses to go there for any reason at all. She says, "It just doesn't feel Jewish."

I suppose if we lived in town, we would likely still go more often, but it's really hard to justify driving 30 miles for services that feel just sort of lackluster. And yet it also has the quality of being a performance instead of prayer. Maybe. I can't come up with the word I want here. There is a forced quality about it, and I feel like every move I make while praying is scrutinized for correct davening technique. Anyway.
We don't go anymore.

And then there's N. If we decided to go into services, we'd have to leave him alone on Shabbat. He will not step into the sanctuary with one particular synagogue employee unless forced. He says he puts up with this person once a week during Machon and on High Holy Days, and that's all we can ask.

But I also found that I was missing the singing. I mean the singing when we were allowed to sing along. The feeling of peace when I could be lost in singing and sometimes just close my eyes and listen to whatever was behind that singing. There is something about that part, which created a sense of transcendance. But that has not been happening recently. It's hard to transcend on command.

And really, I have not really known what was missing. Or that anything really was missing.
There was just some slight sense of a piece being out of place.

Until Friday night.
Last Friday night we found out, quite by accident, that my teacher and
our friend Dennis was playing at our local Borders Books.
Dennis is a talented musician. He plays guitar, he sings, and he composes.
But Dennis is not a performer. I mean he plays, he cuts CDs. But somehow he is a vessel for the music. It's almost like the music is playing him.
And yet it's definitely his way with the music.

He doesn't tell you what the music means.
He doesn't force you to sing along at certain points.
He doesn't try to orchestrate your reaction to the music.

But he also doesn't mind if you do sing along if the spirit so moves you.
In fact, I'm not sure he notices. He gives you the music, shares it with you in a way that lets you have your own private moment of transcendence.
It's not a performance, and yet it's what performance ought to be all about.

So, since it is now light 'til late, we could have our music and Shabbat at home, too.
And so we went. And I sat down in the leather chair, no book in hand, just a cup of carmel tea, and put my legs over the arm, and closed my eyes.
And Dennis played.
We heard Dan Fogelberg, Beatles songs, Dennis' own compositions, and Paul Stookey.
1930's blues, U2's "40." The Wedding Song.

And I felt it. It was back. That sense of peace and oneness.
Transcendence.

Then we went home and I lit the candles.
It was Shabbat. Complete as always.
But more so.

He plays there once a month on a Friday.

I think I've found a different kind of Shabbat service.
No sermon. No lecture on when to bow. No forced explanation of what it all should mean.
Just. Music.
The words stand for themselves.
The music without words is just what it is.
And like Pippa, I sense that "...and all's right with the world.'

I guess I just needed a little Dennis music.

Nice Day

Shabbat Shalom!
Winter is loosening the grip, and Spring is wooing us, even if prematurely.

It is a nice day.

You know, one of the first days on which we can open the windows, and smell the fresh air, coming to us on the south winds.

The sky has taken on that spring-like robin's egg blue, so that we know the real eggs are not too far in the offing now.

It's a strange contrast of a day.

One on which it's good to be outside, and the sun feels warm on the rock, but the snow lingers in patches, not quite worn out from the warmth.

The solar angle is rising,

so that the length of the shadows and the length of the day fortell the coming of real Spring, and beyond.

It's a good day.

A day to sit out on the porch and read for the first time this year, and listen to the breeze, so recently cold and hard, but now warm and soft, as it sweeps through the tree tops.

But it's early yet. A body still needs a wool shirt to protect against just a bit of chill on that south wind.

It's a nice day!

I wish I could post the smell and feel of the wind, and the warmth of the sun.

But all I can post are these pictures,

tantalizing hints of the Spring to come, though they are, they do not completely convey the niceness of this day.

It's a really, really nice day! Sixty degrees, soft winds, golden sun, blue sky.

We might say that March is coming in to 2008 like a lamb.

Except it's supposed to snow tomorrow night.

So it's just a bit too early to say that Spring has sprung!

But it does seem as if Spring is tensing the coils, gathering the energy, and demonstrating her potential to Spring out fully, later.

Shabbat Walk in the High Meadow

We have been so very busy lately!

Because we had a major holy day this week, we packed a lot project planning and shopping into Friday afternoon.

We have three major projects planned for the summer. We are going to purchase and install--yes, we will install--hardwood floors in the dining room, hallways, living room and the offices. We are going purchase and have carpet installed in the two master suites. And I am planning a rock slope and steps for the hill at the edge of the side garden.

Today it was nice to take a Shabbat walk in the high meadow south of our house. This meadow will eventually be developed and we are hoping to buy a lot on its edge. In the meantime, it has such a beautiful view of the Sandia Mountain Fault Thrust.


Looking to the north, we can look down at our house--ours is the green roof that has the Ponderosa Pine growing in front of it. Our elevation (about 7300 feet) is the higher part of the Pinyon Juniper Woodland ecological zone. Since it is close to the ecotone (transition) with the higher Ponderosa Pine ecological zone, a few Poderosas tower about the rest of the trees. We have a living laboratory here for learning about the ecological zones and how they change with elevation from High Desert Shortgrass Prairie (in Albuquerque) all the way through to the Spruce-Fir Woodland at the top of the Sandias. At a little over 2 miles in elevation, at our latitude, the Sandias are not quite high enough to have an Alpine Tundra zone.

This year, the wildflowers are coming out early, and are quite spectacular.

We took a nice picture of some Indian Paintbrush--a flower we usually see blooming later in the summer when the monsoon rains come in.

There are a lot of purple peaflowers and purple "pinks" growing the meadows around here, too. We can see the sunflowers coming up, but they won't be blooming for a while. N. was interested to learn that New Mexico has its very own sunflower, Helianthus neomexicanus, that blooms along our roadsides in mid-to-late summer.





I know I have said this a great many times, but look at how green our meadow is! We are just thrilled with the rains we have gotten here in central New Mexico this spring! It is so green that we actually got chlorophyll stains on our shoes and jeans! The fire danger is only moderate this year. Last year at this time it was extreme!


Zoey and Lily had a great time sniffing among the gopher holes in the meadow. No gophers in sight, though. They are smart enough to stay inside when they hear us walking the dogs above!

It's with great gratitude that we took a peaceful Shabbat walk on the meadow this morning.
Tonight, Bruce is the co-host for the first of the summer Star Parties at Oak Flat Picnic Ground further south in the Sandias. He is loading his telescope in the truck as we speak.

Tomorrow it's back to project planning and prep! I am hoping to get the slope on the small hill in the side garden. Bruce will be working on getting his garage workshop ready for hardwood floor project. He will also be determining the area to be floored and the number of boxes of Brazilian Cherry we'll need. N. will have a great opportunity to put his math into practice with both of us!

Sweet Shabbat

What a beautiful sunset! There is nothing like a beautiful sunset on a Friday night at the beginning of spring break! This was a beautiful beginning to a very sweet Shabbat.
Mid-terms are over, and I think I did well on both of them.

Last night, after watching the sunset, we got ready for Shabbat. The chicken had been roasting in the oven, the food was prepared. The table set, the wine poured. The challah warmed.

Shabbat evening is always a sweet, peaceful time. Everybody bathed, everybody dressed in clean clothes.

When the candles are finally lit, the peace of entering holy time settles upon us. We make the blessing over the candles, over the children, over the wine and bread. We talk, we laugh, we eat.

This week was especially relaxing for me, as it came at the end of a busy week of studying and writing exams. When Shabbat comes at the end of a particularly long and intense week, it feels really wonderful to let go of cares and concerns and step into the freedom of Shabbat. No work or worry for twenty-four hours. Rest.

I used to think it was redundant to be commanded to rest. I thought it was like being commanded to eat. Who needs to be commanded to do such a basic thing?

In these days of 24/7 everything, I see the wisdom of the commandment. Free people can stop one day in seven and spend some time human being instead of human doing.

Today, we took a nice walk with the dogs.
We went to the very special Bar Mitzvah of a friend and the son of friends.

There was time to spend outside in the afternoon.

Notice something funny about the picture? Yes--he's barefoot. Yes that's snow! It was 65 degrees when the picture was taken, but we still have a good deal of snow leftover from the many snowstorms. Our hill is a north-facing hill. So N. spent some time barefoot because of the warm weather.

He thinks he's a hobbit!

This evening, we ended Shabbat with the simple but beautiful ceremony Havdalah--which means separation.

In havdalah we say good-by to Shabbat with wine, sweet smelling spices and fire.

Here are some of our hands, as we look at the reflection of our nails in the flame.

The spices are in the little pomegranate that hangs on the candlabra.

Here is N., surprised by the camera, as he got ready to extinguish the flame in the sweet wine.

I don't know why he was startled, exactly, because these pictures were taken after we had actually concluded havdalah. We just lit the candle again for pictures when Shabbat was actually over.

Good-by sweet Shabbat!

"May the One that separates the holy from the ordinary make our children, our wealth, as plentiful as the sands on the seashore, as the stars in the heavens."

Tomorrow, I will start my normal spring break ritual.

It is time to start cleaning the house for Passover!

Next week, Shabbat will be a welcome rest from real physical labor.

Each Shabbat is different!