When Is Your New Year?

In Judaism we have four new years. The big New Year celebration is in September when we finish the annual cycle of reading the Torah and prepare to start again from the beginning. It's all about atonement, forgiveness, and hoping to be written into the book of life for another year.

Some rabbis claimed it was the time of creation. How did they know? They didn't.

It is also the date on which the ancient Hebrews calculated their taxes and charitable donations for fruit and grain grown the previous year. And the date from which years of servitude and agricultural activity were calculated towards the Jubilee years when slaves were set free and fallow years for crops. It was the equivalent of the fiscal new year.

However in Leviticus 23; 23-25 God says to Moses, that they should mark the first day of the seventh month as a solemn and holy day of rest and proclaim it with a blasting of horns and a sacrifice to the Lord. The Bible does not call this day Rosh Hashanna (the Head of the Year) as we do. It is never mentioned again in the Bible and why is it referred to as the seventh month?

It's called the seventh month because the 1st of the month in which Pesach (Passover) falls, is mentioned in Exodus 12; 1-2 when God tells Moses in Egypt, two weeks before they leave, that this month shall be the beginning of months for you, it shall be for you the first month of the year.

Some Rabbis argued that this was the time of creation. See my comment above.

We have two other minor New Years. In February the New Year for Trees marks the beginning of spring, the re-awakening of nature after the cold, barren winter. We plant trees and eat fruit. The final New Year marks the cut-off date for tithing animals at the end of the summer, a month before Rosh Hashanna.

So we have two contenders for the official New Year for people. In the end we celebrate both, although the pre-Pesach one less so as it's not a holiday and it gets rolled into the Pesach celebrations.

I love this. At the end of the summer, after all the hard work of the various growing seasons and just before the final harvest of the year, we celebrate surviving another year, we reflect on our behaviour and vow to do even better next year. Then, just before Peasch, we get another chance.

If Rosh Hashanna was the month in which the creation happened (or even if it wasn't), then the Exodus was also a beginning, a re-birth, and the start of the journey into nationhood. A second chance. And what a great time for it, just after we've done all the spring cleaning, washed out the storage jars from the winter food, and aired out our homes.

Interestingly, this is also a significant time for Christians who celebrate the resurrection at this time of year. Another re-birth of sorts, and a new beginning.

Of course we all have a number of New Years besides the ubiquitous celebrations on 1st January, when the number of the year changes and Americans (and Israelis, surprisingly) have to get their tax forms in. In the UK we have the fiscal New Year on 15th April. The academic New Year is in September, everyone has a birthday (the Queen has two), and various countries celebrate their number of years of Independence. There is the Chinese New Year, every religion has its own New Year, and people have all sorts of random dates and anniversaries that they celebrate because they have personal meaning. Adoption days, surviving a dangerous situation or illness, finding religion, re-locating, changing career, becoming vegetarian or vegan, meeting your soulmate, to name but a few.

My personal favourite New Years are September (academic, Jewish and my birthday) and 1st January. But I  sort of missed 1st January this year because we had house guests and I'd not managed to plan it with enough reverence and aforethought. Also, resolutions aren't always appropriate when cooking for guests. This was doubly disappointing as it's also the start of a new decade.

In many ways 1st February is more meaningful. I think people need more time after the hectic Christmas holidays to reflect and really work out what they want for the coming year. It's also valuable to have the time to put everything in place for the big start. There's no point in resolving to give up sugar with the Christmas pudding, fancy liqueurs, and gifted chocolates leftover and tempting you. No one is going to throw these things out so you need a few weeks to clear the decks, as it were.

In Israel it really is the end of the harsh winter and although we still have another month of heating, coats, and [hopefully] umbrellas, it's the beginning of the end and spirits start to lift. And I'm all about second chances.

So for anyone who would like to join me... HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAPPY NEW DECADE! It starts today!

New Year, New Decade, New You?

I missed the New Year goals, resolutions, new start stuff this year. This is particularly upsetting as 2020 is a totally satisfying round number and it's also the start of a new decade.

My mother was visiting and we had to have proper meals and food that she likes (toast) for smaller meals, and a biscuit to have with coffee, etc... We also went out to eat at friends and I forgot about the no sugar rule when delicious carrot cake and vanilla ice-cream appeared for dessert at Sally-Ann's house. Then my nephew came so it had to be cheesy pasta for dinner. My mother isn't going to walk up and down mountains so we got taxis at times I would have walked. And of course we had to watch at least four episodes of The Crown every evening (because my mother doesn't have Netflix) so that put paid to anything productive.

The house guests left and we hosted lunch guests, one of whom was visiting from Switzerland. The beautifully wrapped gift gave no indication that it was full of exquisite chocolates so I didn't think to unwrap it and put them out for everyone to share. They're gone now though. 😋

It's lovely to have guests, but it does interfere with one's plans for a frugal, puritan, exemplary lifestyle. And when they left, it was too late. What's 06/01/2020? Nothing special, is the answer.

If I waited until the next significant date: 1st of February, or even 02/02/2020, I'll have put back all the weight I lost last summer and be feeling dumpy and depressed as well as lazy and unproductive. The new Hebrew month of Shvat doesn't even start until Monday week. What's an obsessive about numbers girl to do?

So despite the absence of a starting date, I can still plan. I read an article, I think it was in Psychologies Magazine, that said it takes a decade to really transform one's life. I like that because there's no urgency to start. Hahaha, did you spot my problem there? I actually think there's a lot of sense in this as long as we are blessed to still be around in 10 years time. Fatalistic? Moi?

On a more immediate scale, I just watched a video by ModernHealthMonk (I don't think that's his real name) called: How to Design Your Life. He suggests you sit down and write one thing... what would be the coolest thing to happen this year? It's a gem of a way to pinpoint what you really want. As he says, "there's no point getting to the top of the ladder of success only to find you climbed the wrong ladder." He suggests that you do this three times. I agree, no one likes a single-minded zealot and three goals are manageable.

Then for each goal, you write three daily or weekly habits that will bring you closer to realising the goal. Keep a record. Nine things a day to tick off on a 3x3 grid or however you choose to plot your progress.

I'm so doing this. It's 18.00 on 18/01/2020 and that's good enough.

Yom Kippur In Israel

May all your roads to happiness be clear. (Acre, August 2019)

I've been AWOL on the blog due to traveling and then having to catch up with real life, and a bit of apathy tbh. I keep composing great blog posts in my head and never getting round to typing them  up and publishing. Oh well. This is how it goes in Israel... July and August are the long summer break for schools, and then when you get back to normality, the Jewish festivals kick in. These festivals (New Year, Day of Atonement, Sukkot) last over three weeks with regular days in between during which you have no idea what day it is as every other day seems to be a weekend. Nothing really starts until after the festivals.

This year the festivals are late due to an extra leap-month back in the spring. Instead of falling during September as usual, they only started on October 2nd. All this to say, don't expect any sort of routine from me until the end of October.

Luckily my friend Leonie Lachmish wrote this lovely description of what it's like celebrating Yom Kippur (Atonement) in Israel. I am copying it here with her permission.

Yom Kippur in Israel

By Leonie Lachmish

Every Erev Yom Kippur, while we were bringing up young children, I'd make sure the radio was on for the 2pm news so we could all hear the announcement that Israel's National Airport, Ben Gurion Airport (that functions 24/7) was closing down until after Yom Kippur (around 30 hours later) and then that all the radio stations were ceasing their broadcasts until after Yom Kippur. Every year it thrilled me (and still does) that a modern industrialized high-tech country, shuts down for the holiest of days , Yom Kippur. I don't know of any phenomenon like it anywhere else in the world.

Having been away for Israel during the Ten Days of Repentance over the past 10 years, it was a joy today, two days before Yom Kippur, to hear the radio channels broadcasting songs for Yom Kippur, and discussions about repentance and starting over and saying sorry and being forgiving and changing one's life - from different viewpoints, religious, secular and over the whole spectrum. And all in Hebrew, the language of the Bible, the language of the ancient Yom Kippur prayers.

In the Gemara , it is asserted that a Jew should always live in the Land of Israel, even if surrounded by pagans , rather than outside the Land of Israel even if surrounded by Jews.

I'd add: especially in our modern-day State of Israel, where the Jewish festivals are national holidays and you can know which festival is approaching just from the ads on TV, where the sights, sounds and smells reflect which festival we're at. There is also a spirituality or form of Jewishness in Israel where thousands, even millions, of Israelis who don't count themselves as religious, are nonetheless strongly connected to and in love with their roots, their language, culture and tradition and the land of Israel.

Tomorrow, for the duration of Yom Kippur, there is no law against driving your car but practically nobody does. In Jewish areas , the only cars will be emergency vehicles and ambulances taking medical staff to their hospital shifts. Children on scooters and bikes take over the roads.

Within minutes of the end of Yom Kippur on Wednesday night, after people have broken their fast, maybe just a drink and a slice of cake for those who can't wait to perform the next mitzva, all over the country we'll hear the sound of hammers and nails as Succot (Tabernacles) booths start to be erected in gardens, on balconies, outside restaurants, etc. By Sunday, they will be complete, decorated with children's drawings and colourful pictures and Sunday evening begins our 7-day Succot Festival.
May we all be sealed in the Book of Life ! צום קל וחתימה טובה

And from me: I wish everyone a good year, a successful academic year, a fulfilling twelve months, happy, healthy and full of joy. May you be written in the book of life. 

Happy New Year Trees! - R2BC

I think they should have closed the schools!

Remember this?

Whether the weather be hot, 
Or whether the weather be not,
We'll weather the weather, 
Whatever the weather.
Whether we like it or not.

Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week are almost all weather related. I'm joining the R2BC linky over at Becky's Lakes Single Mum.

1. It's my Eight Year Blogiversary. 19/1/2011 was the first the blog post. That's it really, who knew that eight years later I'd still be at it.

2. On Wednesday night we had snow. If the snow sticks and is still visible at 7 am, even the tiniest bit which we all know will be gone by 08.30, school is cancelled. They were expecting it and all schools closed at 3 pm on Wednesday afternoon. (Thanks for nothing - most Primary schools finish at 3 or even 2.30. Remember that we start at 8 am.) DD's class were in a frenzy of whatsapping on Wednesday evening. Reports coming in from all the surrounding areas about whether it was real snow or just hail. We live half way up the valley so we didn't quite believe that there was actually snow. By Thursday morning the storm had passed and the the ground was wet but clear. All over Jerusalem pupils and teachers dragged themselves out into the cold, wet, grey morning. Their hopes of a snow day at home dashed. Apparently there was snow on the higher grounds and I saw some of it malingering on my way to my school. Seriously, I think that patch warranted a day at home but no one asked me.

3. So on Wednesday evening, DD and I settled down on the sofa, under blankets, and binge watched Heartland on Netflix. We saw about five episodes. Yes that's five hours of TV but it was punctuated by rushing to the window every few minutes to see the lightning and count until the thunder to find out how near the storm was. And we had to assess the snow/hail/sleet/graupel situation in order to contribute to the whatsapping. It's very sweet that this group has rules that the kids are very strict about. A previous class group got silly and sometimes nasty so they set up this new official group. One of the rules is no messaging after 8 pm. So at the height of excitement about the weather, at 8 pm it suddenly went quiet. I was very proud of them.

4. On Monday is Tu B'Shvat (the 15th of the Jewish month of Shvat) which is the New Year for Trees. I think it's supposed to be the official start of spring. The traditional song is all about the sun shining, almond blossom appearing and the birds singing from the rooftops. Seems a bit ridiculous  for the middle of January but every festival has been early this year. (It's a leap year in the Jewish calendar which means we have an extra month next month so while Tu B'Shvat was early, Purim and Passover will be late.) Still, the sun is shining, we are forecast temperatures in the teens all next week, and it feels like the end of the winter might possibly be nigh.

Happy New Year dear trees! I'm not planning to go out and plant a tree, which is one of the Tu B'Shvat customs, but I'll definitely give one or two of them a hug.

After The Fast - Dedicated To Ari Fuld z"l

Today was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day like on no other day of the year, the whole country shuts down. All places of work (except for hospitals and the military) and entertainment are closed. The airport is closed. The streets are clear except for the occasional police patrol or an ambulance. Children who are not synagogue-goers take advantage of the lack of traffic and ride their bikes on the roads. I've written about it before.

After a long day of introspection, prayer, and atonement, we put the old year to rest. We contemplate how we can improve ourselves and our behaviour in the coming year.

There was a lot to think about today. Last week there was a tragic terrorist attack in a community nearby. Almost all my friends either knew Ari Fuld, a 45 year old father of four children, personally or knew someone close to him. For a while many years ago I was in a women's group with his mother. Jerusalem and indeed Israel, is like that. We are all connected.

Many of my friends said it made them appreciate the present. Ari's close friends urged everyone to be like Ari - a man of action, a doer. He was outspoken, yes, but for the truth. He was a teacher, a soldier, and a leader. CCTV footage shows that after he was stabbed and before collapsing, Ari ran after the terrorist and shot him as he was chasing his next victim, thereby saving her life and potentially more lives after that. His daughter quoted Ari at the funeral: "If your life is too comfortable you're doing it wrong."

There was much outpouring of grief. Facebook and newspaper comments inevitably got political. Some comments, both from the extreme left and the extreme right, were way out of order, imo. Emotions ran high. Moderates, in the middle of the road, tried to keep things calm and civil. Well if you can't stand in the middle of the road on Yom Kippur when can you?

At just after 7pm today the shofar (a hollowed out ram's horn) is blown for the last time and we finish introspecting and have to start doing. Of course we have to break our fast first. And then we should start as we mean to go on.

The first deed after Yom Kippur is traditionally to build your sukkah - a temporary booth in which to sleep and eat for the upcoming seven-day festival of Sukkot. As I sat at my computer tonight I could hear the bang bang bang of many hammers as a number of sukkot were being erected in the garden behind my building. 

I was at the computer and finished grading all my Summer Course papers to date. DD prepared her school bag for tomorrow, showered and washed her hair, and read a chapter of her book all without prompting, to show that she was already making good changes.

I will try to be more of a doer. I will stand up for the truth as I believe it. Neither agreeing with those on the extreme right nor the extreme left of most political and religious issues, but finding the middle road with the best possible outcome for the most people. I will continue to support strict security measures and harsh punishments for terrorists whilst not blaming every member of their race or religion.

In keeping with the words of Rabbi Zushya, I can never be an Ari Fuld, but I will try to be a better Rachel Selby.

The First R2BC Of 2018

This was England (not all of it) in the snow a month ago.
Of course January also brings us in Jerusalem the hope of a few snow days.
Snow days are when there's 1mm of snow, school is canceled and it melts by 9 am.
So that's actually another R2BC - 4!

Here we are back again for another year of Reasons 2B Cheerful. Just call me Pollyanna. The linky is back with Mich at Mummy from the Heart for January. I'm joining in as usual with my upbeat buddies.

1
New Year
Not that I'm flogging this New Year business like a dead horse but seriously, it's the New Year. That's a wonderful reason 2B cheerful in itself. Even if I didn't have anything to be cheerful about I'd be cheerful just because it's the New Year and I'm dreaming of all the opportunities it's going to present us with 2B cheerful over the next 12 months.

2
Blogging
After a couple of years of writing 90 blog posts, last year I set myself the challenge of 120 blog posts or an average of 10 posts per month. I managed 130. It was also the year that I came down from beyond the 1,000 rank on TOTS100 and back to a more comfortable rank in the 500s. This was nothing to do with my blogging but only because they changed the calculation variables back to something similar to what they were last time I was in the top 500. I'm still tantalizingly close to being in the top 500 but not quite there, so that is my blogging goal for the coming year.

3
Sick
I know that's a strange R2BC but I'm not actually in pain. I have a bad cough and couldn't possibly teach. In fact I can't do anything except sit and suck Strepsils. The moment I speak or do anything physical I am hit by a coughing fit. So of course I had to stay home from school for two days. And whilst home, I made big headway on my freelance writing job. This has taken loads of pressure off and it contributes to my January project. Win-win-win-lose. (The lose is the school, my pupils, and the poor teachers who had to cover for me - sorry guys.)

4
Possibility Of Snow
See the photo caption above.

Minus 1
Somats Gotta Give
That's it for cheerful things. Unfortunately I'm missing a birthday party this evening that I really wanted to go to. And of course I won't get paid for the days I missed at school (except that I will get paid for the other work... except I was supposed to do both... except you have to pace yourself and you can't do everything... here endeth the first lesson of 2018.)

2018 Celebrations And Projects

Over the past few years people I know, especially bloggers and vloggers, have been looking to tackle the new year in a more effective or meaningful way than the old fashioned resolutions. I've seen intentions, goals, an inspirational word for the year, affirmations, and anti-resolutions, to name a few.

I'm not going to lie, I have New Year's Resolutions and some of them will stick and some won't. Some of them will appear again another year and some won't bother. However, I also needed a more structured way to tackle the year ahead. So for each month of 2018 I'm going to celebrate something and undertake a project.

January is the New Year for plans and preparations. I have school  reports to write for the end of the semester, an exam to give and then mark for my college students, I have a study full of age old photo-copies that it would be a shame to just chuck without making use of them, and other old records of taxes, pension plans, and national insurance that need scanning. I have also taken on a freelance writing job that is due to finish, including all the requested changes and edits, by the end of January. It would be nice to have next semester all planned and prepared too.

Thus the celebration for January is "Planning And Preparing" and the project is "Paperwork!" Tadah! I'll let you know how that goes.

About This New Year

From 'A Year of Amazingness' by Rachel Bright

Not only was it a new year yesterday, but it's an even numbered one! Odd numbers, even for birthdays, are less exciting. Odd numbers are almost like half years in my opinion. Often they turn out a bit crap, maybe because I don't expect much from them. Really I should start thinking in two-year cycles. I think this might work better for me. I'll consider it for next year. However, this year it's a nice round 2018 and I'm psyched.

Going to work on New Year's Day is as hard as having to work on Christmas Day but for different reasons. I love New Year. I'm full of hope and resolutions, etc. There is so much I want to do and achieve that it's frustrating to be spending the day at work when I just want to get started on being amazingly fabulous. I know there is a weekend coming but by Friday some of the magic has worn off already.

So I went to work yesterday, even though I was genuinely sick with a bad cough. If you read the post about what it's like trying to get a sick day organised you'll understand that it was easier to go in.

Our staff room is a warm friendly place  (as opposed to the rest of the school which is freezing cold). As I went in yesterday morning one of the other teachers held up a plate of cakes and offered me one. I was taken aback. "Cake for breakfast on the 1st of January? Are you kidding?" She laughed but seriously, what was she thinking? I was almost derailed before 9 am on the first day.

There's a very annoying notion in Israel that if you celebrate New Year's Day, you are worshiping Saint Sylvester. This was a very effective PR move by ultra-orthodox rabbis who were horrified that a. we might celebrate a day that is not connected to the Jewish calendar and b. we might have a party and enjoy ourselves by mixed dancing and, heaven forbid, give each other a kiss or a hug. Thus they made out that New Year's Day was somehow a Catholic holiday.

I seriously had to explain to even some of the teachers that there are a bunch of Saints for every day of the year so any celebration on any day could be called Saint worship. There is no connection between New Year's Day and any religious festival of any religion (except maybe Paganism?). In fact, in communist Russia when all religious practice was outlawed, the one day they were allowed to keep that was not a nationalistic holiday like May Day, was New Year's Day which they celebrated as passing the Winter Solstice and New Year.

The irony is that only Jews in Israel even know that December 31st is Saint Sylvester's Day (except for the Pope maybe or if you are a religious Catholic called Sylvester). Now I've got that off my chest, I'll move on to the rest of the day.

I arrived home after a full school day as usual, tired and in no mood to do any of the things on my list of resolutions. I spoke to a friend who said, "you have to pace yourself and this means with work as well." I'd already realized that working full time five days a week plus extra remote writing assignments, plus looking after Deeds and cleaning and cooking and other household business was too much if I wanted to do  anything for myself. As a teacher I'm locked into this schedule until the end of June. I'm always in awe of teachers who resign mid-way through the year but I'd feel too bad doing that.

Thus the new year didn't get off to a great start but I did go to bed early and I didn't feel like eating anything because of the bad cough. I gleefully ticked off the achievements of getting enough sleep and not overeating. And the scales were down a bit this morning. I don't know how I'm going to handle being healthy though.

I wish you a happy, healthy and successful year. May all  your dreams, hopes and ambitions come true. May we all be granted the gift of regrouping back here (or on facebook) in 12 months time with big smiles on our faces and queuing up for pats on back for a year well done.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Proud And Prepared - Final R2BC Of 2017

It's the last R2BC of 2017. I missed a couple of weeks because we were away (sorry Becky) but now I'm back on the blog and gearing up for the New Year. Here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful. I've also linked up o the Host Post (her words but I liked it) at Becky's Lakes Single Mum, as usual (except for the past two weeks).

1
Parents' Evening
DD's was on Tuesday. This is my second attempt at writing this section because I decided that too much bragging in not becoming on a blog. Surffice to say that DD has made amazing progress since two years ago when we had a crisis about her weak Hebrew. Her English is excellent (obviously), her maths is very good, and even her Hebrew is now at a good level. These are the three subjects I care about. Well not so much Hebrew but she needs it to get through school.

We chose our teachers carefully. After getting rave reports from the class teacher and the librarian who gives Hebrew enrichment classes twice a week to a small group who need it, we decided to give the music teacher a miss and visit the art teacher for a friendly chat. We knew that was the safer choice. Likewise we didn't bother the science teacher, the drama teacher or the sports teacher.

Most important of all were the lovely comments about good behaviour, respect, and attitude to her work. I've said it before, but I have noticed a big jump in maturity this year. We came home proud and happy.

2
Year of Amazingness
I'm gearing up for the New Year. It's an even number, 2018. The even numbers are so much bigger and better and full of hope in my opinion. (Odd numbered years are sort of half-years and I can't muster up much enthusiasm for them - I  know, I'm mad.)

Inspired by my R2BC posts, my cousin gave me a 2018 year planner for Hanukkah. I always look longingly at them in the shops but then I remember that my weeks need to start on a Sunday, I need Sunday to be a full day, and I need all the Hebrew dates and holidays. But this diary caught my imagination.

Firstly, 2018 starts on a Monday so it's just the weeks of the year from the beginning. Sundays have equal space to the other six days. And most importantly I suddenly realized that this does not have to be my diary. It's my planner for projects and goals. It will be for far loftier things than appointments and when DD has a birthday party to attend.

There are all sorts of exciting pages to fill - notes and lists, whole month views, weeks on a page, and fun quotes from the creator, Rachel Bright. I am going to thoroughly enjoy 2018. And change my life, recreate myself, etc... of course.

Merry Christmas Said Nobody

Here's one enormous Christmas tree we saw in London (Kew Gardens)

The Irony is that I live not more than 10 minutes drive from Bethlehem. I've got used to the working week starting on a Sunday although I can't pretend to like it.

Anyhoo, I will never ever get used to having to go to work on Christmas Day. Never. Even if my celebrations are just watching the telly, including the Queen's speech and a good film or two, and drinking a glass of wine. I just watched the Queen on You Tube but it's not the same after a day at work and work again tomorrow.

I know that many people work on Christmas Day even in the UK, but the workers who have to work, bring the Christmas spirit with them. We flew back from London yesterday on Christmas Eve and the Easyjet cabin crew were all wearing Christmas jumpers. It made me smile.

Then we landed in Tel Aviv, took a shared taxi back to Jerusalem, went to bed by 7 pm as we'd been up since 3 am, and ne'er a thought to Santa, stockings hanging over an open radiator, mince pies or nuffing! I did get a Whatsapp invitation to a carol service but we were already on our way to bed. There is Christmas in Jerusalem but you have to know where to find it and make the effort to go there. It's not everywhere like it is in other places.

This morning it was raining with big gray clouds promising more of the same all day. I went to my religiously Jewish school to teach. I quietly wished one of the other English teachers a Merry Christmas and she took it to be a joke. It was of course a joke, but I wished it weren't.

It was hard leaving all that Christmas festivity behind in London. It's silly really as we had a week of equally festive lights, songs, parties and  presents only the week before for Hanukkah. But going to work on Christmas Day just feels wrong and I don't like it.

Next year I'm doing it! We won't be travelling back from London the day before so I'll have more time to plan it. Of course it'll be a Yuletide celebration with the decorated tree symbolizing the rebirth of nature after the winter solstice, or something. And I might have to take a day off, possibly a sick day. Or maybe we can do it next week for the New Year. Woops, I think I've just blown the sick day option. I'll have to sleep on this one and get back to you.

Meanwhile, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and made the Yuletide gay, and that from now on your troubles will be on their way. (I didn't make that up, I heard it from Judy Garland during a past and altogether more festive Christmas.)

Rosh Hashana So Far So Good - R2BC

Today is the first day of Rosh Hashana which started at sundown last night. DD and I continued with our new (from one year ago) tradition of doing tashlich with soap bubbles. We sat on the balcony and blew away our sins and bad habits from last year and we promised to try harder for better habits this year.


DD: I'm going to try to not lose my temper and scream at you. (Me: thank you.)
Me: I'm going to try to go to bed earlier and get up earlier. (I got up this morning at 10 but it's a process.)
DD: I'm going to do important things like homework and shower, before television.
Me: I'm going to do the dishes in the sink and prep my lessons for the next day, in the evening and before social media time. (I did the dishes last night.)

And so we went on....

I tried to capture the bubble blowing on camera but Rubbish Photographer struck again. Then we did some selfies which were equally rubbish but I posted a few on the right sidebar because DD is almost nine, not four as she was in the previous thumbnail.

We ate some of the Rosh Hashana menu with symbols - salmon for a year of being sameah (happy); peas and sweet potato (afuna  and batata for akuna matata) to have no worries, fruit salad for dessert for a sweet year, and we drank our apple juice spritzers through the last two straws (the shop didn't have any at 1.30pm and no time to go to another shop) for a suck-cessful year. I wanted to make a salad out of a whole head of lettuce for the head of the year but the shop had also run out of lettuce.

We played Taki, Set and Kalooki until far too late. We have established another tradition that Friday night is games night. (I know it wasn't Friday yesterday but Festival evenings are similar to Friday nights.)

We got up late this morning - I felt bad about not going to synagogue as it's a small community which only exists because enough people do make the effort to go. We will go tomorrow as we're going to friends for lunch afterwards. And we heard the shofar blown (all 100 blasts) as the next door neighbours had private blowing on their patio. Then, throughout the morning as men came home from synagogue and blew the shofar for their womenfolk who had stayed at home - I''m guessing but there are shofars blowing all over the neighbourhood atm. I think we're covered.

Friends are coming here for an early dinner tonight. I took a big white fish out of the freezer and I want to make some sort of baked fish dish. I've never baked fish before (except for salmon) so I'm off to find a recipe.

So far, and 18 hours in, it's been a good year. :~D

I'm linking up with Michelle's Reasons 2B Cheerful on Mummy From The Heart.

Fourth Grade!

Hello 4th Grade!

September 1st is the day all the schools go back in Israel. My facebook feed will soon be full of first day of school pictures. At DD's school this morning there was a lot of kissing and hugging and wishing each other a good year - the parents and the children.

DD still thinks it's the law that you have to have your photo taken on the first day of school. "But why Mummy?" I could actually think of a few reasons why it's a good idea but I didn't voice them.

I met DD's new teacher - she's young and beautiful and speaks fluent English. DD will love her. This is great as she's loved all her teachers so far, since the first nursery teacher at 19 months old. And so have I.

There is a new girl from South Africa in DD's class and I told DD to look out for her. I met the mother outside and she said DD was lovely, she had the girl sitting next to her and told her that everything will be fine. (I'm waiting to see how fine it's going to be when DD's best friend comes back from holiday next Wednesday :~P. But they are all great kids so I'm sure they'll work it out.)

Now is it just me, or does the weather feel cooler today? I swear it happens every year. August 31st is unbearably hot and September 1st is cool. I think this may be just me.

Just for fun - this was the first day of 1st Grade

We did a lot of some English and maths over the holiday but no Hebrew. I'm praying that DD will be able to keep up with all the reading. One of the reasons she is in the afternoon programme is because the teacher there helps them with their homework. Third Grade Hebrew was just about my level. Now I'm out of my depth.

It's 8.30 am and I've now got to do all the things on my own schedule that I promised I'd stick to from September 1st. I didn't write blogging for this slot but flexibility is also a virtue, no? I start at my school on Sunday so I'd better get going.

Wishing all those going back to school this week, and their parents, a happy, healthy and successful school year. xxx

(A friend just called - she's meeting another friend for coffee and would I like to join them? Well yeah! Sorry my new schedule - laters.)

Shopping In My Closet And Other Simple Pleasures - R2BC

"We are more interested in making others believe we are happy than in trying to be happy ourselves." Francois VI Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac (Paris, 1613 - 1680)

Can you believe that this was written almost 400 years ago? I don't need to explain it to you but if I were to comment, the words Face Book, Instagram and social media would feature heavily.

Becky on Lakes Single Mum, who's hosting the Reasons 2B Cheerful linky this month, wrote a low key post celebrating the simple joys of a summer break with no pressure and luxurious time to organize your life. I was inspired and relieved as we've done a lot of nothing this past week and I was hard pushed to know what to write about.

As Catherine from Escape with the Family (about recently moving to live in France), beautifully expressed it last month, "It was another simple day but these are the type we enjoy and we have nothing to prove and nobody to impress."

New diary and pencil case for me

1
New Diary
It's that time of year again when I search for the perfect diary. A whole year full of promise and hope in one little book. As an extra bonus, it starts on August 27th as that's the Sunday before September 1st. Two weeks, two days, I can hardly wait to get started. Except that I'll have to go back to work. Remember that our New Year is in September, which is very convenient for the academic year and makes a lot of sense. 

Last year I made my own diary. I had loads of fun drawing and colouring in and making my own designer pages but I abandoned it when I realised that I do in fact need to know the Hebrew dates, Shabbat beginning and ending times, and whole host of other information that's much easier to have printed for you than to copy out yourself. Not to worry, that creative activity kept me out of the fridge for a few hours.

DD already told me that she wasn't coming with me for the great diary hunt. So while she was riding her bike in the park with a friend, I found this. It's actually very similar to the diary I ended up with last year. A full year spread, each month as a one page table, and each week on a two-page spread, with room in all sorts of spaces for additional notes and lists.

2
New Pencil Case
My old pencil case, bought in WH Smith about 15 years ago, finally fell apart. This new one is in fact a make-up bag that came with a tote that someone gave me once. The tote is long gone but I found the make-up bag in my collection of toilet bags and small pouches that I sorted, decluttered, and partially repurposed. I believe it's called shopping in my closet. I won't be able to do this once I'm a true minimalist but meanwhile I love the surprises at no cost. Did you notice how it perfectly matches my new diary? I'm so ready for this year. 

New school bag for DD

3
The Spudy
Following my successful declutter and organisation of all my lotions, potions, and other bathroom and dressing table stuff, this week I tackled the spudy. So successful was this that a large chest of drawers was emptied and removed and replaced by a small three-drawer cabinet. It's a small room and the difference makes it a much more comfortable space. 

4
School Backpack
We found a new school backpack for DD with a matching pencil case, for 99 nis. Those of you who know about school bags in Israel will know that this is a great price as the discount stores are selling them for not less than 199 nis and the chain stores in the malls have school bags for over 200 nis only. (Israelis - the shop is Griffin on King George St, in Jerusalem, a few doors down from The Bell Center).

In the great bag reshuffle, I gave one of our two carry-on cases to my nephew to help take all his gap-year stuff back to London with instructions to throw it out on arrival as the zips were all broken and the pull out handle didn't. I've commandeered DD's school backpack from last year which I bought because it was also on sale for 99 nis but was actually far too big. This will now be our second carry-on bag (the one we don't offer to check in). Because I tend to choose red, all our luggage now matches. Very pish posh even if we're only going on Easyjet to Luton Airport. (How many of you thought of Lorraine Chase? Naaah, Lu'on Ehpawt. LOL)

5
Marathon Paydate
DD's friend asked if she could come over in the morning as her mum had to go to work. She came at 8.30 am and left, reluctantly, at 7.15 pm. I think you could call that a successful play date.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, You're Always A Day Away

We made it to the 8th night with presents every night and not a few doughnuts.

It all started about 10 days ago on a Wednesday evening when I was planning how I would come home from work on Thursday and get the apartment ready for my Mum's visit. There I was sitting in a complete mess, pans and dishes left over from a pancake supper all over the kitchen, DD's room would need clearing out and the sheets changed for Mum, the bathrooms needed cleaning, my grading and both our school books were all over the living room. I'd let things slide for a couple of weeks in the manic run up to the end of term at school with parents' meetings (mine and DD's), school concerts and Hanukkah parties.

I was zonked, there was no way I was going to make a start on that Wednesday evening. I reckoned I would have a good four hours to blitz the place after school on Thursday. And then the phone rang. It was the driver I'd booked to meet Mum at the airport. He told me she'd just rung to say she had landed. Rather than wait for him to drive from Jerusalem to pick her up, she said she'd just take a taxi from the airport. I called my nephew in London to check that the information was correct. It was. I had got the day wrong.

I had one hour. DD helped me tidy, dust, sweep and change the sheets in her bedroom. She kept saying, "look at your face Mummy, you look like you're in shock!" I cleaned the toilets, wiped over the basins and mirrors with a wet-wipe, and swept the bathroom floors before going over them with a damp cloth. I was half way through the kitchen detritus when she called to say she was downstairs. (Lucky we booked the taxi that she didn't take or we'd have had no notice at all!)

And here I am on January 1st 2017 still not with the programme. We've had a busy 10 days and it's not over yet. We went to a Christmas concert in the Old City, we went to friends for a Hanukkah party, we had a dinner party here for some friends from London that Mum knows, we had another party here for DD's birthday, we went to the theatre to see Annie, and we went out for dinner on Shabbat. There are only eight days of Hanukkah and we were exhausted by the end.

My not eating sugar went out the window and I had big plans to start again with the New Year. But Mum is still here and the fridge is still full of leftovers. School starts again tomorrow and I've not done any of the projects I'd planned for this holiday - sorting out my photos, sorting and filing great piles of papers, clearing and cleaning the balcony, organizing and decluttering in the hope of getting rid of some more bulky furniture that we shouldn't need, etc, etc, etc....

I've been reading posts on other blogs with the theme of 'bring it on 2017, I'm ready for you!' Well not me. Not quite. Tomorrow maybe. For tonight I'm finishing off the wine and doughnuts and wishing we had another few days of holiday.

Written In The Book Of Life

In Israel and in the Jewish calendar the new year begins on September 1st in the solar calendar (schools go back) and Tshrei 1st in the lunar calendar (Rosh Hashanna). The Hebrew new year starts three weeks of intensive festivals marking the new year, days of repentance, atonement, finishing the annual cycle of reading the Torah, and the sealing of the book of life and death.

Rosh Hashana can fall any time from September 5th to October 5th. and this year was almost the latest it ever gets. There has been loads of synagogue time, eating with friends and family, holidays from work and school, street festivals, days out, etc... However, it's also a time of retrospection, repentance, and atonement.

Tonight was the final sealing of the book of life or death for the coming year. We hope we have been written in the book of life, but of course there's no way of knowing. Did we do enough praying, apologising and forgiving during the past three weeks? I probably didn't.

What I did do was a lot of introspecting (is that a word?), declutterng, preparing coursework for the coming year, and mental revving up for the duration.

For months no one has been motivated to get much done as there is no real routine. No sooner do we go back to school than we have three weeks of holidays and holy days. The phrase, 'after the festivals,' is ubiquitously used as an excuse for not really getting stuck in to anything after the long summer until the end of the festival period.

Well it starts tomorrow folks! No more excuses. Yesterday I was actually cold enough to put on socks and long sleeves. New Year, I'm ready for you! I'm written in the book of readiness and good intentions, this much I know.

Downton And Discipline

You'll recall that my 'word' for 2015 is Discipline. One of the things I specifically mentioned in relation to discipline is that I am going to bed too late.

The talk in Jerusalem since last week has been all about the snow. Last year we had a particularly severe storm and were snowed in for five days! Hahahahaha, not Alaskan blizzards, about 10cm tops but Jerusalem grinds to a halt at the mere mention of snow. We're not set up for it because in the past it only happened once every three years so it's more worth it to shut down for a couple of days than invest in snow ploughs, etc. However, after last year's snowpocolypse they weren't taking any chances.

Snow was forecast for 2 pm this afternoon (it actually started early at 1.20 pm) so they announced no kindergartens, no school, no colleges or university for two days. LOL, I know, I know.

DD went to bed when she felt like it last night (although we did get all her homework done and it was double the amount because of the impending siege). I didn't get any work done as I was too busy discussing the weather, which hadn't even started yet, on fb. Then I decided it was about time I watched the first episode of season 1 of Downton Abbey.

I knew I'd love it as I grew up on Upstairs Downstairs (the tv series not the real thing). But I wasn't prepared for this. I posted on fb:

Rachel Selby

17 hrs ·

So 4 1/4 years late I finally watched the 1st episode of the 1st season of Downton Abbey. I loved it and when he announced they were at war at the end, I burst into tears. I think I can say I am well and truly hooked. No school/work tomorrow luckily, hee hee hee.

So I started to watch episode 2 because it would have been rude not to. On fb:

Rachel Selby It's a bit silly that episode 1 showed the end of the storylines from season 1, unless I accidently watched the last episode first. What's the point of knowing what's going to happen at the end?

14 hrs · Like

No one picked up on that so on I went: 

Rachel Selby I may watch episode 3 now as it's only 1.20 am. 

15 hrs · Like

The rest of the evening went like this: 

Rachel Selby 3 am. I could watch episode 5 and still be in bed by 4. Don't have to get up in the morning, right?

2 mins · Edited · Like

Rachel Selby 6

13 hrs · Like

Rachel Selby 4.30am. I really really really should go to bed. ............ 7

4 hrs · Edited · Like

Rachel Selby 7 is the last one in season 1. I'm such an idiot.

12 hrs · Like

Rachel Selby OH FFS!!!! I watched episode 7 first when I thought I was watching 1! I THOUGHT it was weird that they showed the end of all the story lines in the first episode and then went back four years. Oooof. I'll watch episode 1 tomorrow. I'm such a moron!

12 hrs · Like · 3

I watched the real episode 1 this morning. 

My lovely friend Timna was kind to enough to remind me about my 'word' at around 1 am. At that point I couldn't even remember what discipline meant let alone how to implement it. 

I even dreamt about Downton last night (well early this morning actually). A bit crazy as dreams usually are. I had Sybil and Matthew running off to Manchester in the manner of Hodel and Perchik running off to Siberia. It should have been the chauffeur but come on, be real.

I noted that Chavaleh isn't everybody's favourite in this film but I was still sorry she didn't get her man. 

And that Tseitl is no Tseitl I can tell you, even if she too is determined to choose her own husband. I thought of the meme: Remember dear, Karma's only a bitch if you are. 

I have serious work to do tonight and yet I can hear the dainty clink of crystal wine glasses, the clip-clop of the horses preparing for the hunt, the bustle of life below stairs, ........ *sighs*