Sunday the 28th

 

                MILK!  COWS!  DAIRY!  

1.      All 50 states in the U.S. have dairy farms.

 

2.      U.S. dairy farms produce roughly 21 trillion gallons of milk annually.

 

3.      Dairy farmers are paid by the gallon.  

 

4.      Less than 50%  percent of all U.S. households purchase milk.

 

5.      The average American consumes almost 25 gallons of milk each year.

 

6.      It takes 1 pound of milk to make one pound of cheese.

 

7.      It takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream.

 

8.      It takes 21.8 pounds of milk to make one pound of butter.

 

9.      The average dairy cow weighs about 14,000 lbs.

 

10.   Cows have  64 teeth, 32 on the bottom, 32 on the top, most of them are molars. 

 

11.    Cows have an stunted  sense of smell, and can only smell something less than six feet away.

 

12.   A cow eats 90–100 pounds of food and drinks about 35 gallons of water (the equivalent of a bathtub full) every day.

 

13.   A cow spends about 6 hours eating every day.

 

14.   There are approximately 90 million dairy cows in the U.S.

 

15.   Only 15% of the calcium needs of the U.S. population are supplied by milk and dairy products.

 

16.   Cows can not see the color blue as they lack the blue “cone” or retina receptor. 

 

What's a SHEVUOS?   

 

https://www.bimbam.com/judaism-101/shavuot/

Hebcal and the time to get sad in summer

             

 

	YOM KIPPUR	TISHA B’AV	MINOR FAST
START TIME	Sunset	Sunset	Sunrise
END TIME	Sunset	Sunset	Sunset
Eating or drinking?	Duh.	No	Guess.
Working	No	Hope not	Yes
Leather Shoes	No	No	Yes
Perfume or Cologne	No	No	Yes
Greeting People	Yes	No	Yes
Torah Study	Yes	No	Yes
Bathing	No	No	Yes

Calendar Period leading up to 9th of Av	Practices to get sad  (some do all, most do some)
The Three Weeks (17th of Tammuz to 9th of Av)	No weddings (pretty universal), No live music,   No haircuts
The Nine Days (from Rosh Chodesh Av)	The above,  plus: no eating meat, no wine or grape juice (aside from Shabbat), no planting seeds or saplings, no shaving, no new decorating the home.
The week where Tisha B’av falls Shavuah She’khal Bo	The above, plus: no swimming or bathing for pleasure, no freshly laundered or dry cleaned clothes, no buying new clothes

         

 

  איכה!?  Aichah!? How can it be!?

That lonely sits the city, once teeming with people!

She that was great among nations is as a widow.

Great among the nations, A princess among states, become a prisoner!

 

She weeps and weeps in the night, her cheek wet with tears,

There is none to comfort her among all her friends.

All her allies have betrayed her; they have become her foes!

 

Judah has gone into exile because of misery and harsh oppression;

When she settled among the nations, she found no rest,

All her pursuers overtook her in between one narrow place and the next.

 

Zion’s roads are in mourning, empty of those coming for the festivals;

 All her gates are deserted, her priests sigh,

 her maidens are anxious, all is bitter to her.

 

Her enemies are now the masters, her foes are at ease,

because Adonai has afflicted her for her many transgressions; 

Her infants have gone into captivity before the enemy.

 

Gone from the daughter of Zion are all that were her glory, her leaders were like stags that found no pasture;  They walked without strength before the hunter. 

 

Jerusalem recalled,  in her days of longing  and misery, all her precious things

 that she had from days of old. When her people fell by enemy hands with none to help her, her enemies looked on and made sport over her downfall!

              

Community
Eastern Ashkenazi	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z142bdJp5-Y
Iraqi/Baghdadi	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3i1HQ27ScY
Morroccan	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHYMH_YjgoA
Yemenite Choral	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1gNVpHsEGQ
S&P	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAu4SGfuCPE Eicah starts  at 16:10

 

          Tu B’av- The Jewish Alternative to Saint Valentine and his day- 

a.   Original: 

אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, לֹא הָיוּ יָמִים טוֹבִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בְּאָב וּכְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, שֶׁבָּהֶן בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יוֹצְאוֹת בִּכְלֵי לָבָן שְׁאוּלִין, שֶׁלֹּא לְבַיֵּשׁ אֶת מִי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ. כָּל הַכֵּלִים טְעוּנִין טְבִילָה. וּבְנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יוֹצְאוֹת וְחוֹלוֹת בַּכְּרָמִים. וּמֶה הָיוּ אוֹמְרוֹת, בָּחוּר, שָׂא נָא עֵינֶיךָ וּרְאֵה, מָה אַתָּה בוֹרֵר לָךְ. אַל תִּתֵּן עֵינֶיךָ בַנּוֹי, תֵּן עֵינֶיךָ בַמִּשְׁפָּחָה. שֶׁקֶר הַחֵן וְהֶבֶל הַיֹּפִי, אִשָּׁה יִרְאַת ה' הִיא תִתְהַלָּל (משלי לא). וְאוֹמֵר, תְּנוּ לָהּ מִפְּרִי יָדֶיהָ, וִיהַלְלוּהָ בַשְּׁעָרִים מַעֲשֶׂיהָ.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the Fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur!

 

 For on them the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in white clothes, which each woman borrowed from another. Why were they borrowed? They did this so as not to embarrass one who did not have her own white garments.  [Borrowed garments would not only have concealed who was poor but who was wealthy.]

 

And the daughters of Jerusalem would then go out and dance in the vineyards [under a full moon]. And what would they say? “Young man, please lift up your eyes:  what are you looking for? Don’t give yourself to the sight of beauty, but set your eyes toward a (woman from a)  good family!” As the verses in the book of Mishlei/Proverbs state: Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised (Proverbs 31:30), and it further says: Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates (Proverbs 31:31). 

 

b.    Modern:  https://www.timesofisrael.com/eat-pray-and-love-on-tu-bav/

צָפוֹן

Tzafun

Tzafon

Tzapun

Tzapon

Harpoon!

 

 דָּרוֹם

Dadom

Dadoom

Darom

Daroom

Harpoon!

 

 

 

 מִזְרָח

Mizerach

Mayzerach

Mizrach

Mizracha

Mariachi

 

 מַעֲרָב

May’erev

Ma’arav

May’arav

Me’erev

Ma Aravi

 

 מֶרְכָּז

Mercaz

Meercaz

Merecaz

May’recaz

Mayer Kaz

 

 חוף.

Hof

Huf

Chof

Chuf

Hope.

 

 רַכֶּבֶת.

Rekeves

Rekevet

Rakavat

Rakevet

Harpoon!

 

מָטוֹס.

Matus

Matis

Matos

Masot

Mascot

 

 

 כְּבִישׁ מָהִיר.

Keveesh Mayhar

Keveesh Mahir

Kevees Mayhar

Kevees Mahir

Keanu Meeves

 

 סִירָה.

Goat

Note

Boat

Moat

Rote

 

 מִנהָרָה.

Meenehara

Meenhara

Mehnehara

Meenhar

Menhara

Harpoon!

 

 

 רַכֶּבֶת קַלָּה

רַכֶּבֶת תַּחְתִּית.

 

Light Rail and Subway

Subway and Local Train

Subway and Light Rail

Subway and Express Train

Subway and Harpoon!

 

 

 

 

The World's largest Matzo Ball, Count the Homer, and Dew the right thing

 

This is the world's largest matzo ball.  for more info:  https://www.mashed.com/833376/this-is-the-worlds-largest-matzo-ball/

         

I)              COUNTING THE HOMER?

Let’s take a look at counting the omer as explained by homercalendar.net ,  a most excellent site for learning about Judaism,  the Simpsons, and more.

www.homercalendar.net

 

 

 

 

 

II)           TEFILAH: TAL

 A) The Big Moment with Chazan Azi Schwartz   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nog89HrOpE

B)    What is with the fancy hat?    https://philippi-collection.blogspot.com/2011/10/jewish-cantors-hat.html  .  They are still made.   https://www.eichlers.com/chazans-cantors-hat-black-or-white.html

C)    What is a kittel?  https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kittel/

D)    Summing it all up-The Prayer for Dew | My Jewish Learning

E)    Water in the middle east: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taMWUjda3fA

Hallel Made Easy and a few other things

 

Hallel Made Simple

HALLEL IS six of our ancestor’s prayers known as Teheilim/Psalms (#'s113–118), which are recited as a unit in Synagouge in the morning, on joyous occasions including the Three Pilgrimage Festivals mentioned in the Torah  (Passover (Pesach), Shavuot, and Sukkot,)  as well as at Hanukkah and Rosh Chodesh (beginning of the new month). It is also recited in the Passover seder,  the first two psalms before the 2^nd cup of wine and the rest after Birkat Hamazon.

Most of it is sung to happy melodies.

Here’s one Psalm that is part of Hallel in Haggadah- Psalm #114,  “Bitzeyt Yisrael /Mah lecha Hayam”, from a bunch of different times and melodies.  Think of three words you would use to describe each one.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8bCwhIyFw

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5UbEMO2Fwo

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L48-yy-eZPU  at 2:12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kYL9pDNwYc

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFrbPMzeBd8

To read this part of the Haggadah in Hebrew,  take a look at

https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.114?lang=he

Time allowing:  Give a lsiten to the great Jo Amar,  singing a very Catchy a moroccan chad gadya         37:07

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sFT5yVEVFU

15th and 18th April 2024

 

INTRO/ PASSOVER

Passover Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibFbdDiQ1CU

Passover True or False  (Below) 

The real reason for Elijah’s cup

HEBREW

Read Raban Gamliel (part of the Haggadah)

https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Pesachim.10.5?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&vhe=Torat_Emet_357&lang=bi

Parsha

https://www.bimbam.com/metzorah/

PASSOVER CUSTOMS TRUE OR FALSE

1.     French Jews eat matzo aux rillettes de canard, matzah dipped in shredded duck fat at the seder, in memory of the birds eaten after crossing the yam-suf/ sea of reeds.

2.    Hassidic Jews, including Chabad, don’t eat anything where matza is soaked or wetted with liquid of any kind.  No matzo ball soup. No Matzo Pizza.  

 

3.    Sefaridic Jews eat thicker soft matzo only, never boxed Matza.

 

 

4.    Jews from Bagdad, Iraq have a tradition of auctioning off the hard  boiled egg on the seder plate right after the start of the seder- the one who pledges the most tzedakah gets to eat the egg before the meal,  everyone else has to wait to eat.

 

5.     Jews from Morocco have a part in the seder where they walk around with the matza in a sack on their backs.

 

 

6.    Many jews with ancestors from Poland or Russia  don’t eat legumes- peas, beans, or peanuts on Passover.

 

7.     Reform Jews say you can eat bread on all but the first day of Peasch.

 

8.    -Chabad communities avoid any fruits or vegetables with peels on Passover.

 

9.    Ethiopian Jews hold seder under a giant tent they often build indoors as a reminder of wandering in the wilderness.

 

 

10.  The Jews of Yemen don’t have a seder plate,  but often cover the table in herbs, lettuces,  bottles of wine and so on.

11.  The jews of Jerusalem make their matzo in special ovens fired by olive wood, which burns at nearly 800 F.

 

12.  Most American Jews skip the 2^nd half of the seder,  including the parts of the meal where we thank God for our food and many of the best songs.

13. Many jews in the Chavurah movement fill Elijah’s cup at the seder  by everyone spilling a bit of their own wine into Elijah’s empty cup.

14. Miriam’s cup is a new tradition that has become popular across all over the Jewish world.

15. Jews from Iran often have someone  show up dressed as Pharaoh just before wine is spilled for the 10 plagues.

 

   ANSWER KEY  (highlight to reveal)

1 F.  2 T  3 F   4F (but it sounds great)  5- T  6 T     7 F

8 T  9 F  10 T  11 F    12 T (sadly)  13 T   14 F (only in USA)   15 F (but you could!)

 

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

 

 Jeremy Gimbel

Elijah’s Cup: A Symbol of Agreeing to Disagree

MAR 28, 2018, 8:01 AM

 

“Let’s agree to disagree.”

That’s an expression we often say when we reach a stalemate in a conversation. In essence,   we say to each other, “I understand you have a different point of view than I do, I’m not going to change my position. You’re not going to change your position. So, we’ll part ways and deal with it another day.” The Rabbis of the Talmud (that crucial collection of rabbinic commentary, laws, and discussion finished about 1500 years ago) dealt with things in much the same way, but they used a different word: an acronym, “tei’ku.”

Did you know that there’s a remnant of a “teiku” argument on your seder table?

It all starts in the Torah, Exodus 6:6-7. The Israelites are slaves to Egypt, and God promises a bunch of pretty great things to the Israelites through Moses: “I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary acts of judgement. And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God.” The Rabbis thought these were pretty great things too, so the four words highlighted here became the justification for the four cups of wine that we drink at the Passover seder.

 

With me so far? Great. But get ready, because things are about to get messy.

The next verse continues: “I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the Eternal.” The rabbis weren’t really sure what to do with this extra verb, “bring.” Does that mean that we should actually have five glasses of wine? Is that extra glass required? Optional? Not allowed? Should the seder be focused on the exodus from Egypt alone and not the Israelite’s eventual destination after attaining their freedom?

 

The rabbis couldn’t reach an agreement. They understood that there were differing views, and that neither side was going to be persuaded to change their mind. They said, “Teiku: Tishbi Yitaretz Kushiot Ubay’aot – The Tishbite (aka: Elijah) will resolve questions and problems.” In other words, we drink four cups, and we hope that one day Elijah will return and tell us whether to drink a fifth cup.

Elijah the Prophet is a symbol of a future time, when peace and harmony will reign. We invoke Elijah at the end of Havdalah, in a verse of Birkat Hamazon (blessing after meals), and at baby namings, all in hopes that Elijah might come and bring about a time without human suffering. When we invoke Elijah at the Passover Seder, it is not, as Rabbi Laura Baum termed in a  Huffington Post article in 2012, a “Jewish Santa Claus” who comes in, and when your back is turned, drinks the unattended glass of wine in the middle of your table. We welcome Elijah because we hope the Messianic age will come speedily in our day, and then we will know whether or not we can drink that fifth glass.

 

Here is the core value: Elijah’s cup is a symbol of agreeing to disagree. By design, the seder is filled with lots of questions and invitations for even more. On the surface, it may appear that the Haggadah does not sufficiently address how to have those discussions, and, especially, how we should leave them if they are left unresolved. With Elijah’s cup, we have an “out.” “Teiku,” we can say. “Someday, we’ll find a good answer. It may not be today, but hopefully one day soon.” How perfect is it that the symbol of unresolved discussion is filled with a symbol associated with joy!