This past Sunday my daughter had the pleasure of attending an art and yoga workshop for ages 4 -7 here in Highland Park with Jill. Daughter made it clear she didn’t want me to leave her. I said OK, as I also wanted to watch Jill do a workshop (she’s very talented and good with kids; she teaches art to my Middle Son). And I took pictures.
One of my daughter’s friends came, so that relaxed her a bit. Jill first asked the kids to say their names and tell about what they like. My daughter was shy. Jill then did some yoga with the kids. When it came time for art, which my daughter usually loves, she came into the corner with me instead of going to the art mat. I went over to the art mat and pretended that I was going to do the art instead. Finally, she came over and did the art project. All the kids decorated funky suns.
My daughter eventually got really into the project.
You can see that she has some of her dollies with her to keep her company.
At the end, Jill taught the kids to do the sun pose. My daughter, however, was by then focused on her tummy, which was announcing that it was lunch time. So we left quickly at the end and thanked Jill on our way out.
A week ago I posted about Z., a friend of Ann who is very ill with cancer. Z.’s father regularly writes posts in a password-protected blog on the hospital website. Ann gave me access to these posts, and they are touching. And disturbing. It is clear that this is an important emotional release for Z.’s father. Z. was hospitalized so they could improve her pain medication. She will be coming home soon and receiving hospice care.
Some quotes from the letters:
I wish that I knew what Z. was thinking and feeling. We respond to her pain, try to understand her increasingly garbled speech, guess at what might make her less uncomfortable, and tell her that we love her, almost all of the time.
and
Thanks for your posts, your emails, your prayers, your love and warmth. And for our fellow Cagers and bball fans who are going to Greensboro, give a yell and clap really hard for our team. Tell them Z. sent you.
Go, Rutgers.
Love and Peace,
[Z.’s father’s name]
Finally,
As one of my friends has said right along, “no parent expects to watch his child die. It is our own personal Holocaust.”
Sometimes people mis-use the term “Holocaust”. Not here.
Unfortunately, too many families have suffered such a loss. Here’s another family’s story.
Yesterday I cleared out space on the top of my cabinets. Passover is coming, and I need to stock up on the non-perishables already available for weeks in the supermarket.
Clearing out the space was easy, because in addition to anything I had placed there for Purim, for the last few weeks I put up non-perishables that I did not need and wanted to donate to the Highland Park Food Pantry. I dropped them in the food pantry bin today in our local supermarket.
I’ve organized two Cub Scout food drives in the past for the Highland Park Food Pantry. Unfortunately, too many people in our area find it necessary to stand on line and wait their turn for food. One of my friends said her son saw a classmate standing on line. It made him feel his task was all the more important.
Passover food is expensive, too. So our area has a kosher food bank at the Jewish Family and Vocational Service.
So while we are all enjoying the spring, put a non-perishable item in your local food pantry bin.
Last week I was discussing the term Sephardi, and Little Frumhouse on the Prairie, who just posted a delicious carnival of delightful bites, suggested I blog about how we Ashkenazim came to a Sephardi shul (or should I say beit knesset…shul is yiddish).
There are a lot of Ashkenazim at Congregation Etz Ahaim. A while back, I wrote a post about Voices of Etz Ahaim, a marvelous oral history book put together by two Ashkenazi members. Many of the Ashkenazim are women married to Sephardi men, but sometimes it’s the reverse. I decided to make a list of “key ingredients” of why Ashkenazim are attracted to Etz Ahaim. Then I add my own personal note at the end.
1) food: Sephardim (the women–the men can’t locate the kitchen…so maybe I should say Sephardot?) know how to cook. Elaborate kiddushes might include dishes such as meat patties on pastry, borekas with a variety of fillings, bulghur & chickpea salad with grated carrots and parsley, and fancy cookies. A simpler kiddush has chickpeas and olives. And there’s usually a jar of herring for the Ashkenazim who need their fix.
2) International flavor: Countries represented include Turkey, Greece, Italy, Israel, Iran, Iraq, France, Morocco, Brazil, Russia. French is spoken in pockets; it’s fun to listen in on the conversations.
Ladino is part of the service. Bendicho su nombre is sung when the Torah is taken out. Ain Kelokeinu is also half Hebrew, half Ladino: non come estro Dio (there is none like our God).
3) Community: It is the only synagogue in Highland Park that isn’t over-crowded and bursting at the seams. We remember “losing” our boys as toddlers in the the large kiddushes of the our previous synagogue. And at Etz Ahaim friendliness comes with the territory.
4) Rabbi Bassous: Our rabbi is both learned and kind, a natural teacher. One can learn from him no matter what your level of Jewish education.
Did I mention the food?
On a more personal note, I like the way the misheberachs (prayer for the sick) are done at Etz Ahaim. When my mother z”l (may her memory be a blessing) was very sick with cancer, the misheberach was very important to me. I didn’t care to say it “quietly to oneself” as was done in the Ashkenazi shul we attended. At Etz Ahaim the women can stand at the mechitza (the separation between men and women) with their requests, and the Rabbi says each name loudly and clearly. I started attending Etz Ahaim on my own, in part so I could hear my mother’s name said out loud. My oldest son soon joined me, as his best friend was at Etz Ahaim. His younger brother soon followed (at that age they went to the groups).
We eventually pulled in my husband (my daughter was born later). Now my husband is on the Executive Board, he’s the treasurer, he keeps track of the aliyot donations, he finds someone to do the haftorah each week, he finds lainers (men who recite Torah) and speech givers when the Rabbi goes away in the summer; they caught him!
Do you like nature? Do you like photographs? Do you like hearing about good things being done in a small town?
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Arnold Clayton Henderson, a wonderful writer and naturalist, since 2001(?) on the Environmental Commission website. Way back in 2002, about the time my daughter was born, the Environmental Commission submitted the website for an award, and we won! (yes, that little baby is now almost six years old).
This winter I switched the Environmental news site to Word Press. On Friday Arnold took the plunge into what he calls the “brave new world” of Word Press, and there are three new articles up: a plan of the Scentennial Garden, a photo of a seal by Bill Bonner (another talented local–an award-winning photographer), and news of the latest Backyard Bird Count. He also sent me that great photo of a deer running through a forest that is now in the header. Enjoy!
The Highland Park First Aid Squad, a group of dedicated volunteers who give of their own time, often answering calls at all hours of the night, needs your help. The First Aid Squad has been accepted as a possible recipient of up to $15,000 to be used towards a new ambulance by a project called “My Hometown Helper” sponsored by Hamburger Helper.
This post is dedicated to all those people who are wondering what in the world do those terms mean! Let’s start with two: Hasid vs. Litvak. When you hear Litvak, think Lithuania. Think the Vilna Gaon. Lots of Talmud study. Emphasis on who’s the smartest. My family is basically Litvak (except for those who married into a hasidic branch or married yekkes or one who married a Yemenite or one who married an Ethiopian). Another term used is misnagdim, meaning those who oppose Hassidim(the ‘im” makes Hasid plural in Hebrew).
In the late 18th Century the Ba’al Shem Tov started Hassidism in what is now the Ukraine. It was in response to the emphasis on Talmud study of the Litvaks. Instead, the emphasis is on prayer, joy, spirituality. Hassidim follow a rebbe. So today you have the Belzer Rebbe, the Gerrer Rebbe, the Satmar Rebbe (disputed leadership). Chabad or Lubavitch is also Hassidic.
There is a tiny branch of the Bostoner Rebbe here in Highland Park. The Bostoner is the only Hasidic branch named after an American city. All the other Hasidic branches are named after towns in Eastern Europe.
Yekkes are German Jews. Yekkes are known for being very punctual. This is as opposed to general “Jewish time” (an event that starts later than it is called for). The term “Yekke” comes from jacket, and it refers to the shorter, more Westernized jackets worn by German Jews, as opposed to the longer coats of Eastern European Jews.
Sephardi refers to Jews who were kicked out of Spain in 1492. However, it has come to refer also to Jews from Iraq, Iran, India or Yemen who never had ancestors who lived in Spain. That’s why in Israel they are called ‘Edot HaMizrach’ or congregations of the East. Sephardim are from countries like Morroco, Italy, Turkey, Greece (especially Salonika), Libya, Tunisia. Many have moved from those countries to France. We belong to a Sephardi congregation in Highland Park, Congregation Etz Ahaim. Why two thorough-bred Ashkenazim and children joined a Sephardi synagogue is a subject for another post. But we are not the only Ashkenazim there! (Ashkenaz = Germany and has come to mean any Jew from Europe).
I haven’t even begun to cover the history of religious Zionism here or how various Hasidic or Sephardic groups have responded to the modern State of Israel.
FYI, it was Gail‘s comment on this post that prompted the above post. So, folks, if you like what you are reading or if you are confused by what you are reading, let me know by commenting, and I’ll elaborate in a new post!
We live in a tiny little borough. You can walk from Cleveland Avenue on the North side to Donaldson Park on the South side in about twenty minutes. We pay a lot of taxes to live here. A lot of those taxes go toward the school budget.
The taxpaying in Highland Park is a little lopsided. Many of the people who own larger homes here, some of whom pay 22K in local taxes, do not send their children to public school. There are two yeshivas in this area, as well as a Solomon Schecter school in East Brunswick. On the South side, there are a lot of rental units and tinier homes (as well as some more large and many medium-size homes). Many renters do send their children to the public schools. Because there are few ratables in this town, businesses that pay property taxes, the bulk of the local taxes must come from the homeowners.
One more note: as the Jewish day schools have limited resources for special needs, many of the frum public students are special needs. This is one more pressure on the budget, as special needs are expensive.
It’s Highland Park School Budget time again, and I got the following in my Yahoo local group: (I edited out the private homes and any names…contact me if you live in Highland Park and need the names).
Please join members of the Board of Education and the Budget Task
Force for discussions to be held at the following:
* Tuesday, March 18, @ 7:30 p.m., Irving School Cafeteria
* Thursday, March 20, @ 7:30 p.m., private home
* Thursday, March 27, @ 7:30 p.m., private home
* Sunday, March 30, @ 4:00 p.m., private home
* Thursday, April 3, @ 7:30 p.m., private home
* Monday, April 7, @ 7:30 p.m., River Ridge, 30 S. Adelaide Avenue
* Wednesday, April 9, @ 7:00 p.m., Reformed Church, 19-21 South Second
Avenue in “the Cave”
Bring your questions!
Board of Education Hearing of Final Budget, March 25, 2008, 7:30 p.m.,
Bartle School cafeteria
Vote on the Budget and School Board Elections will be held April 15, 2008.
My intention had been to write about every day anger and how various people handle it. However, a horrific tragedy gave me pause to focusing at present on the every day. I feel fortunate to have wonderful neighbors here in Highland Park of many different backgrounds. But the close neighbors of Sderot, Israel, where people have been under daily rocket threats, celebrated yesterday’s massacre. CELEBRATED! How could one not get angry?
What I would call a “rabbinic” approach by Therapydoc. Listen up, kids, she seems to say. Consider this as another school killing. Let me tell you a story about angels singing at the death of the Egyptians…
A great way to deal with anger… tell a joke. Maybe then someone out there will get it?!!
Finally, getting back to Highland Park, as I originally meant this to be a blog about Highland Park, I just want to mention with sadness and some anger that Michelle Reasso will be leaving the Highland Park Public Library. At whom do I direct the anger? It can’t be at Mayor Meryl Frank; she gave the library a large donation recently. And not at the other librarians. And not at the taxpayers of Highland Park, we pay too much already. So I’ll direct it at the ridiculous politicians of Trenton who messed up the State budget. Michelle deserves her own post, so I’ll write one soon.
A week ago I 
Yesterday I cleared out space on the top of my cabinets. Passover is coming, and I need to stock up on the non-perishables already available for weeks in the supermarket.
Last week I was discussing the term 
We live in a tiny little borough. You can walk from Cleveland Avenue on the North side to Donaldson Park on the South side in about twenty minutes. We pay a lot of taxes to live here. A lot of those taxes go toward the school budget. 
Yesterday, I started posting about