The horn story

This story about a horn was told by a rabbi who was visiting our community from Israel. I embellished some of the details.

Once upon a time a man from Chelm visited China. There he saw a man get up on a wall, blow a horn, and, as if by magic, a fire in the distance would disappear. The Chelm citizen thought to himself, wow, what a wonderful object, if you blow it, it will put out a fire! He finds out where he can buy the horn and brings it back to Chelm.

Back in Chelm, he tells the other villagers of the magical horn that puts out fires. Everyone is excited to learn of this special horn. A few weeks later a fire erupts, and the Chelm citizen who visited China jumps up on the nearest wall and blows the horn. The fire continues to rage. He blows a little harder. Still the fire grows. The villagers are disillusioned – the horn doesn’t work. He got a bum horn. They hurriedly put out the fire.

Later a visitor from another town volunteers a reason why the horn did not work. He says: I have been to China. When the man blows the horn on the wall, the villagers use it as a sign to come and put out the fire. It just a way to wake up the villagers.

• • •

The shofar story

This past week we listened to the shofar being blown in the synagogue. On Yom Kippur we will listen to one final blowing of the shofar at the end of the day. Are we waiting for the magic of the shofar? Or should we wake up like the villagers and put out the flames – what are the flames?

dates in front of palm tree, watercolor on paper, 2011 by Leora Wenger

Here’s what one says on the siman (symbol) of the date:

May it be your will, LORD our God and God of our fathers,
that those who hate us be ended (yitamu – from tamar, dates in Aramaic)

Would you go on a date with a girl named Tamar? Tamar is the Hebrew word for date, so you can play with words and come up with some funny phrases.

If you are getting ready for Rosh Hashana, you may want to read this post:
Symbols for Sweet New Year – the Simanim to double check if you got everything you need.

Cooking Out of the Box hosted Kosher Cooking Carnival – the Holidays are Coming. Some links are Rosh Hashana recipes. I’m drawn to Hannah’s Rosh Hashanah Tips and Recipes, and I see one for stuffed cabbage. Maybe for Sukkot.

Here’s a link to Flamingo Musings’ brisket. She soaks hers in coffee. I’ve done wine in the past. My kids don’t like when I use a lot of cloves. Hers has no cloves. It does have garlic cloves. That would work for them.

I’m planning to make a Moroccan carrot salad – the kind where you steam the carrots briefly, then add the spices and bits of parsley at the end. My middle son said he is mostly likely to eat the simanim for carrots if the carrots are cooked, so I’ll leave some unspiced in the hopes our children will join us for this one.

I saw a recipe for quinoa salad among Rosh Hashana recipes in a local paper – it had pomegranate seeds and nuts. I will skip the nuts, as it is our family custom not to eat nuts on Rosh Hashana. Do you eschew nuts for this holiday, or are you like some of my friends who poo poo this custom as superstition or plain false?

Zucchini (or squash or gourds) are one of the simanim. Ordinarily, I would cook the zucchini (we have some new baby zucchini growing in front of our house, just in time for the holiday) with onions, but it seems more appropriate to skip the onions for the simanim dish. I will add some spices to some sauteed zucchini. No point in trying to get my kids to eat zucchini unless disguised in a cake.

More side dish ideas: as a friend who is a vegetarian will come one of the days (when I am serving meat), I will consider making kasha with mushrooms and onions. Maybe potato salad, too – that could be a side dish at any meal.

Honey cake seems like a natural for this holiday. I printed Ilana-Davita’s honey cake and Jewaicious Honey Cake.

Finally, I might try Mrs. S.’s blondies. At first, I was tempted in my mind to add blueberries (before carefully reading the recipe and realizing this would be a vulgar addition). But as this is really for my kids, chocolate chips will remain the only flavoring.

So, what’s cooking at your house?

Mums with pink buds at a farm in New Jersey

On My Blog

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Mirjam Weiss talks about how her mother inspired her on Life in the Married Lane. And her is Miriyummy’s response on her own blog.
• G6 writes about visiting the 9-11 memorial.
• Ruth Almon writes about a healing diet called the GAPS diet. Fermented foods are featured on this diet.
• Pragmatic Attic (Laura) linked to Rosh Hashana links about simanim. And cake links, too.
• Batya posts hidden paths in Jerusalem and a visit to the Israel museum.
• Happy to read that Felisol’s mom is doing better.
• Before Ilana-Davita trekked off with students to Sweden, she posted a fun list of questions about the U.S.

Elul: Shofar, ram's horn blown during Elul and on Rosh Hashana and at Yom Kippur's end

Shofar in Elul

One does not have have to wait for Rosh Hashana to hear the shofar. Every morning (except on Shabbat) it is blown in the synagogue. If you are fortunate to attend a Jewish day school, you may hear it blown in school. In Elul shofar is an important reminder and symbol.

Repentance in Elul

Elul is known as a month of repentance (in Hebrew: tshuva – more explanation of tshuva would require a whole book). Introspection and reconciliation are themes of this period. For example, I like how the family of Ima 2 Seven is using this as a time to be kind (one would hope the trait will continue beyond Elul).

Music in Elul

What would a Jewish month be without some music to accompany the spirituality and preparation? Mrs. S. has some music for the soul. If you want to get ready for Rosh Hashana, enjoy Oked HaNe’kad. Rabbi Phyllis has a Debbie Friedman song and a Baal Shem Tov story as part of #BlogElul.

Prayer in Elul

Psalm 27 is added to daily prayers, as written in Gear Up for Tishri: Read Psalm 27, Psalm 27: the Beginnning, Psalm 27 and Evil-Doers and Psalm 27 and Responsibility by Ilana-Davita.

Mrs. S. reminds us: “Sephardim begin reciting Slichot (the penitential prayers) at the start of the month. Ashkenazim wait until closer to Rosh Hashanah.”

Food in Elul

Ah, finally, you say. Some are already prepping for the holidays ahead (see challot by G6). I’m trying to remember the simanim or symbolic foods to display on the Rosh Hashana table:

  
  
    need a post on dates!

I see I am missing dates. Painting project for the upcoming weeks?

What do you think of as signifying Elul?

Lincoln Memorial in August 2010

On My Blog

Last year: Sephardi Piyut of Rosh Hashana
Remembering: September 11, 2008

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• September 11 Remembered: A Day To Remember (Annie); Elinka shares online memorials; and see Baila’s post 9/11.
• Rosh Hashana: Ilana-Davita’s review has recent posts for the holiday; Jew Wishes talks of Pomegranates, Tashlich and Tzedakah;Mimi posted a Honey Chiffon Cake recipe.
• A friend starts a blog: Modern Orthodox Stay At Home Mom
• Review by Hannah Katsman: A Fading Art: Understanding Breastfeeding in the Middle East (Part I)

Simanim for Rosh Hashana

Some people use the head of a lamb (that we be like the head and not as the tail). I now have a post on dates. And I may put out celery, for a raise in salary. Past post of simanim details here.

Here is a post from G6 of new fruit for the 2nd night of Rosh Hashana. I bought a sabra, a papaya, some fresh figs and a starfruit. The idea is you need a fruit that you haven’t eaten all year, so you can make the blessing called “shehiyanu.”

Did you get everything you need?

See more of my Rosh Hashana posts, including my list of the simanim. Still planning to redo the list in a prettier format.

If you are looking for recipes, here is my chicken soup recipe, which will happily take a leek. Feel free to post a link to a leek recipe in the comments.

On My Blog

  
  
- Agnon, Joyce, Woolf and Kafka
- What Happens When You Raise Taxes

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Jew Wishes reviewed Izzy’s Fire, a book about a Catholic family who saves Jewish families in Lithuania during the Holocaust.
• Ilana-Davita wrote part one of Jewish History in Hamburg. She also has a fascinating photo of a kosher dining room, where Jewish passengers ate before traveling to America in the early 20th century.
• Cooking Manager has some delightful recipes for black-eyed peas, one of the simanim for Rosh Hashana.
• James took some fascinating shots of Philadelphia through a fountain. My daughter wants to go to the Philadelphia Art Museum, because we got a pamphlet about a Renoir exhibit.

I read Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – she has led a difficult life, and what she has to say is not easy to hear, but she is a good writer and her story is gripping. I read the book in only two days. I can’t say I agree with her conclusions, but her story of growing up in Somalia, Kenya and Saudi Arabia, then running away to Holland because she doesn’t want to marry the man her father has chosen for her is quite a tale. I amazed that she has made it as far as she has in life (at one point, she was a member of Dutch Parliament; now she is a fellow at American Enterprise Institute).

Ingredients:

• 6 cups vegetable stock (I used water – I’m not one to make stock for a stew)
• 12-16 baby carrots (or 6 big carrots, cut up)
• 1 large onion, sauteed (the original recipe says 3 onions and doesn’t say sautee)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 stick of cinnamon (original recipe said 3)
• 1 Tbsp. turmeric (the original recipe said only 1/2 teaspoon)
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up into pieces (or use butternut squash)
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley or cilantro
• 2 turnips, peeled and quartered (they look like potatoes in the finished dish)
• 3 zucchini, cut into chunks
• 2 cups cooked beans (original recipe said chickpeas – I used white Northern beans)

If you use dried beans, soak the beans overnight the night before you prepare the recipe. If you use a can of beans, add the can towards the end of the recipe. Cook the beans in your crockpot for a few hours until soft. Add carrots, sauteed onions, sweet potatoes and turnips and cook for another hour in the crockpot. Add spices, the zucchini and cooked beans (if you used canned beans – if you started with dried beans, they should already be in their cooking). Cook until zucchini is tender, about twenty minutes. Sprinkle the parsley on top at the end.

The original recipe says serve on couscous, but I served it on brown rice. Drizzle the liquid on top like it’s gravy.

Gil Marks suggests this stew as a dish to serve on Rosh Hashana (yes, the Jewish New Year is the next holiday on the Jewish calendar, unless you count Tu B’Av). I think of it as a summer stew, because you can get delightful fresh garden vegetables to include in the stew at this time of year.