4

You say Pesach (פֶּסַח), I say Passover

Pesach / Passover is one of the major festivals in the Jewish calendar.

So what’s it all about? Pesach is the festival that remembers the Jewish people’s escape from slavery in Egypt.

Moses tried to talk some sense into Mr. Pharaoh but he was having none of it… G-d then unleashed a series of plagues on the people of Egypt.

There were:

1. The water of River Nile turned into blood.
2. Frogs.
3. Lice (vermin).
4. Wild Beasts (flies).
5. Blight (Cattle Disease).
6. Boils.
7. Hail.
8. Locusts.
9. Darkness.
10. Slaying of the First Born.

After each plague, Moses repeated his plea to Pharaoh… G-d ordered Moses to have the Hebrew slaves to mark their doors with blood of a sacrificed lamb as an indication to G-d to “pass over” their houses while he was slaying the first born males of the Egyptians.

Following the 10th plague Pharaoh, released the Israelites immdeidately and allowed their passage to freedom. Pesach means passing over or protection in Hebrew.

Wine & Matzah

At Peasch we eat unleavened bread, Matzah, to commemorate when the Israelites were granted their freedom they didn’t even wait for their dough to rise, instead they took raw dough to bake in the hot dessert’s sun as hard crackers.

Pharaoh wasn’t happy at releasing the Jews into the dessert, and as they reached the Red Sea, his army, who had been sent in after them caught up… Moses called upon G-d once again and this is when the Red Sea’s waters parted and allowed the Israelites to safely pass to the other side. As the waves closed over Pharaoh’s army were completely drowned at once.

So apart from eating Matzah what else do Jewish families do for Passover… we have a huge family meal called the Seder, which means ‘order’ in Hebrew. At the Seder, we read the story of the journey of the Israelites from a book known as the Haggadah. The Haggadah not only tells the story of Passover, but also gives procedures for conducting the Seder.

There is also a Seder Plate which has on it Maror (bitter herbs), Charoset (brown mix using Maror), Karpas (parsley or similar herb), Z’roa (lamb shank bone), Beitzah, (hard boiled egg).

Seder Plate

The Maror symbolises the bitterness and the hardship our ancestors went through, Chorset to dip the  Maror in to, Karpas to dip into salt water which represents tears, Z’roa for the Peasch sacrifice and Beitzah for the festival sacrifice.

The youngest member of the family sings / reads a song called Ma Nishtana, מה נשתנה, it is basically asking four questions about the Sedar night, why is it different from every other night? Unfortunately for me… I am still the youngest at my family’s Sedar table so it’s me who has to say Ma Nishtana.

Pesach lasts for 8 days, during this time we are not allowed eat any Chametz, bread, grains, pasta and any leavened products. Most foods we can eat are specifically Kosher for Passover.

I remember as I child I was playing in my non Jewish friend’s house one Pesach and I  accidentally ate an Opal Fruit / Starburst and ran home to my Mum all upset. Oh how times have changed!!!

For the past two years my parents have been away for Passover. I have been going to Seder’s at my cousin’s house which was great but I really am looking forward to our Seder on Monday night in my family home. After dinner there is a big singsong, all the tunes my Grandpa, Dad and Uncles have taught me over the years.

This year Brian will experience his first Seder and it means a lot to me I didn’t even have to bribe him with the four glasses of wine you have to drink during the meal!

I really enjoyed writing this post, I hope you enjoy reading it and learning about Judaism

Mwah

01

Eilat, Israel

Last June, Mum won complimentary flights to Tel Aviv with BMI through a Jewish Woman’s Week Lunch. Daddy K wasn’t interested in a visit to the Holy Land so never one to turn down a free holiday, I jumped on the bandwagon! We decided a week of sunshine in January in Eilat couldn’t hurt.

Mum booked the hotel and internal flight however it wasn’t all plain sailing. BMI were recently bought out by Lufthansa and proceeded to cancel the London Heathrow - Tel Aviv route. Right up to Christmas we had no idea if we would actually be going on the trip, we thought we might be sent through Frankfurt instead of London but just before New Year we got confirmation we were being transferred to an El Al flight.

I would guess El Al are the safest airline to fly, you may laugh but after 20 questions by security, practically, what did you have for breakfast Monday 3 weeks ago? It’s funny, El Al don’t bother with the liquid checks like other airlines however there’s not a hope of any B words getting onboard!

After 3 flights, and 4 airports we made it to the lovely Royal Beach, Eilat. We were upgraded to a Royal Room with jacuzzi bath, funky, if I wasn’t there with my Mum!

The hotel was lovely, the breakfasts filled with fresh fruit, omelettes, eggs etc cooked how you like them, pastries, donuts, pancakes, and anything you can imagine. It was also situated right on the beach and within walking distance of the Mall and market stalls.

Eilat itself is more like a resort which could be in any country as opposed to Israel, the Holy Land however while in the country I wanted to get some Jewish supplies for our house As agreed with Mr Bkenny I was allowed get a Chanukiah (please see my previous post)  & a Mezuzah.

Chanukiah

A Mezuzah is a piece of parchment inscribed with the prayer The Shema. The Mezuzah is fixed to the front door post of Jewish houses to fulfil the Mitzvah (good deed). Mezuzot are meant to be on each door way of the home except bathrooms and really small rooms however most people just have the one outside the front door. The parchment is rolled up and placed inside the Mezuzah.

Mezuzah & Parchment

Although the weather on our trip wasn’t great, we did manage to fit in swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Reef and snorkeling off Coral Beach.

Dolphin Reef 1

Dolphin Reef 2

Can’t believe  I’m posting these but here goes! I actually made it into a wet suit! Please excuse quality, I had to scan the originals.

Mummy K & I

Underwater Lee

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So after a week of relaxation and a lot of travelling I’m back to reality & back to work.

I am going to do a separate post with my other Israeli purchases so stay tuned

Lilah Tov (goodnight)  -לילה טוב

Mwah

2

Chrismukkah

As the holiday season is well upon us, I’ve been reminiscing on Chanukah’s & Christmas’s past.

Growing up as a Jewish girl in Ireland my family have always celebrated both Chanukah and Christmas which is commonly referred to as Chrismukkah.

Chanukah is the “Festival of Lights”; it starts on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev and lasts for eight days.

A long time ago, in the land of Judea, the Syrian king, Antiochus ordered the Jewish people to reject their G-d, traditions and customs and start to worship the Greek gods. Judah Maccabee and his four brothers refused to give up their faith and set up an army later to be known as The Maccabees. After 3 years of fighting the Maccabees drove the Syrians out of Israel and reclaimed the Temple.

The festival is to celebrate the miracle that the small amount of oil left in the Temple that should have lit the candles for only one day but remarkably lasted for eight days.

Chanukiah

There are a number of traditions for Chanukah however the most well known is the lighting of the Chanukiah.

Different Style Chanukiah

As you can see from both images one candle holder is positioned higher than the others, this is called the Shamash. The Shamash candle is placed first. Then that night’s candles are placed in the Menorah from right to left. The Shamash is also the first candle lit and used to light the night’s candles from left to right. A blessing is made over the candles and we sing Maoz Tzur.

Other traditions including receiving gifts, sometimes one for every day of the festival, Chanukah gelt (money), eating greasy foods such as donuts and latkas (potato cakes).

Growing up I always had Santa come to visit but we never had a Christmas tree or decorated the house. We used to get pillow cases full of goodies instead of stockings Christmas Day was a family meal with turkey (no ham!), crackers and the likes.

Now that I am older and have my own home with my boyfriend Brian we are celebrating Chrismukkah. Although Chanukah came up on us very suddenly this year we weren’t prepared, we do not own a Menorah yet but I hope to pick one up for next year when I’m in Israel with my Mum in January (fingers crossed, if BMI /Lufthansa sort out our flights). We did buy a bag of donuts in M&S yesterday, lol

Our Tree

We have our tree up and looking pretty. This year we will spend Christmas Eve with Brian’s family, I will go to my sister’s for Christmas Day lunch and we will have a Kutner Chrismukkah celebration on the 27th.

Hope you enjoyed this little post as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Mwah

2

Yom Kippur - יום כיפור- Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur is the High Holy Day. It occurs on every year on 10th of Tishri, which this year corresponds to Sunday 27th and Monday 28th September.

Yom Kippur is tough work; you are required to fast for 25 hours which includes not even water passing your lips. In fact you are not meant to shower, brush your teeth or wear make up! Fat chance of that happening in my house…

No work of any kind is allowed, a bit like the Shabbath, which means no driving or using electricity. We are not permitted to engage in sexual relations on Yom Kippur, and also wear leather shoes; most orthodox people will wear canvas runners with their suits (Fashion people should head for the direction of Terenure on Monday!!).

Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur people are to seek forgiveness for your sins of the previous year and get ready to change your behaviour for the forthcoming year.

The festival starts on the evening before with a service in the synagogue called Kol Nidre - כל נדרי.  Kol Nidre is also known as name for the (erev) night before Yom Kippur as well as the service. Before Kol Nidre no matter how much time you leave to prepare the meal before the fast, there is always a rush to the synagogue. I believe most families fast on a light meal, sometimes an egg on toast but in my family my Dad insists on a big slap up meal! I think I would prefer something lighter personally, if I stuff my face lets say on a lazy Sunday, and then I wake up on the Monday morning STARVING!

Torah in the Ark

The day is officially spent in the synagogue for a full day of prayer. The Ark which is the closet that holds the Torah (five books of Moses) is open for most of the service which means the congregation must stand, its not easy to do at the best of times never mind being so hungry.

Children don’t take part in the fasting until they are of Bar Mitzvah / Bat Mitzvah age, which would be 13 for boys and 12 for girls as they mature faster than boys!

At the end of the long service the Shofar is blown with the note, tekiah gedolah, so everyone knows it’s the end.

My fondest memory of Yom Kippur is when my Great Uncle David from New Jersey would come to Dublin for the festival season and just after the Shofar blowing I would always meet him outside the synagogue, (FYI: men and women sit separate in the synagogue) and we would eat a stash of jellies, fruit pastilles I think, to break our fast together in his car before going to my family home for a big feast that my Mum would have had to prepare whilst fasting. Not easy I’m sure.

And just for a giggle; I remember coming home from school one day and watching MTV Select with Richard Blackwood in Leicester Square, he was saying loads of the “Yo Momma”, jokes and this one made me and Mummy Kutner LOL!

Yo Momma’s so thick, she though TuPac Shakur was a Jewish holiday!!!

On that note, I better get back to workies, lunchtime is over!

To all my readers, I would like to wish everyone Happy New Year and well over the fast.

Mwah

5

Happy New Year - Rosh Hasanah - שָׁנָה טוֹבָה

Happy New Year!!!!

Ok so I haven’t completely lost the plot or skipped over a few months and Christmas. Tonight is the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah written in Hebrew as ראש השנה literally translates as Head of the Year.

I am not the most religious person by any means however I do celebrate the big festivals: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur Chanukah, and Pesach (Passover).  Like all Jewish holidays, they start at night fall the day before the date reason being Jewish days start from nightfall until the following sunset or when three medium sized stars appear in the sky.

Each festival has its own traditions, but as usual,  we sit down to a big family meal on Rosh Hashanah.

Round Challah

The table is set and along with the traditional wine, there is two round challahs (round twists of bread) to usher in a year of good judgements and to represent the circle of life and the circle of the year.

The meal begins with apple dipped in honey to symbolise a sweet new year. Prayers are said and the rest of the meal is pretty standard

On the both mornings of the festival you’re meant to go to synagogue however one morning will be enough for me!

Shofar

Another major part of Rosh Hashanah is the Shofar: a horn made out of a  ram’s horn, it has three different notes tekiya, shevarim, teruah and these are blown as part of the service in the synagogue unless however the festival falls on Shabbat as it does this year which will mean that the Shofar will only be blown on the second day which is Sunday. It is considered a great mitzvah (good deed) to hear the Shofar being blown.

The other time the Shofar is blown is to symbolise the end of Yom Kippur but (if you’re interested) I’ll cover that in a few weeks when it’s on.

As I was explaining to work colleagues today, the finial digit of the year always corresponds with the upcoming year in the Christian calendar, so we are entering the year 5770.

I have actually taken the day off work today so I can help Mummy K prepare for the meal tonight better get going…

I know this isn’t my usual subject to write about but my religion is a pretty big party of my life and I decided to share it, hope you enjoyed reading it.

Mwah