Homeshuling

Last week I bought a beautiful bracelet on Etsy for my mother for her birthday, with the words Eshet Chayil spelled out in silver beads. It prompted me to finish a post I started a long time ago about this traditional shabbat song. 

My father never sang Eshet Chayil to my mother. Although my mother was certainly worthy of his praises, ours was not a traditional household. We did not gather around a shabbat table each week reciting blessings and singing zemirot, Shabbat songs. Also, my father did not know enough Hebrew to navigate this very long, complicated excerpt from Proverbs 31. (He did love to sing, however. Kris Kristofferson songs in particular.)

Eshet Chayil defines a woman of valor by enumerating a long (and exhausting) list of her fine qualities. An ancient text which has been criticized by some as sexist or hypcritical, Eshet Chayil’s depiction of the ideal woman is actually surprisingly broad. While she rises before dawn to prepare food for her family, she also buys a field and plants a vineyard. Not only does she clothe her family in crimson, she also girds her loins in strength and makes her arms strong.

Some say the song is a metaphor for Torah or God. Others consider it a description of many different women, rather than one individual wonder woman. No matter the interpretation (and you can read some excellent ones in this issue of the JOFA journal), singing praises of strong, accomplished women to the matriarch seated the Shabbat table is a custom I wish were part of my family’s Friday nights. (Heck, I’d like it if they’d just say thank-you for dinner once in a while.) But while my family does gather around the table every Friday night, we also don’t sing zemirot. My non-Jewish husband knows even less Hebrew than my father did, and doesn’t even like to sing Kirs Kirstofferson songs.

Since we aren’t a zemirot-singing family, but we do use electronics on Shabbat, I’ve considered playing a recording of the song at the shabbat table. While this might not feel as warm and fuzzy as having my husband serenade me, it would place the song on my daughters’ radar and make gratitude (to me!) part of our weekly ritual. But, somehow it feels kind of like making a birthday card for myself. A little lame.

If  I did want to try to convince my husband to sing a version of Eshet Chayil at our table, it would definitely be this one. Not only is it in English, but it’s superbly cool. And it was written by my friend Alicia Rabins, of Girls in Trouble fame, who played violin at our wedding.

Alicia (whom I like to call Morah Chana) has graciously offered a 10% discount on downloads from the Girls in Trouble store for the month of February. Simply enter the code HOMESHUL at checkout. Enjoy! (In case you are wondering, I tried to get a coupon code for the Etsy store where I got the bracelet, but to no avail.)

Does your family sing Eshet Chayil or some other song praising the woman and/or man at the head of the table? I’d love to hear about it.

Shabbat Shalom!

Recognizing that it can be hard to find meaningful ways to celebrate trees in the middle (or, depending on the Groundhog’s prediction, almost-the-end of) winter. Last year I posted 15 Other Things to Do for Tu B’shevat. I don’t have 15 more, but I do have a few, just in time for the holiday, which starts on Tuesday night.

Do you remember learning “Ha-shkeydiah Poracahat” in Hebrew school? It’s sort of the Tu B’shevat anthem. The song celebrates the almond trees, which are the first trees to bloom in Israel are typically covered in pink blossoms this time of year. (By the way, did you learn to sing it with the terribly unfortunate English translation – “Tu B’shevat is here, the Jewish Arbor Day”?)

Nothing is blooming right now in Western Massachsuetts. But, the song gave me the idea to plant something that would bloom at Tu B’shevat with my kindergarten class. So, two weeks ago we planted paperwhite bulbs in our window sill. By the end of this week our class was filled with white flowers and the smell (oh, that smell…) of spring. Or soap. So, forcing bulbs is idea #1. Just make sure you can tolerate their fragrance.

Second, I have a new favorite book for Tu B’Shevat. We Planted A Tree, by Diane Muldrow and illustrated by Bob Staake is a simple poem which tells the story of families around the world planting trees. It describes the many ways trees benefit our earth without ever becoming dull or didactic, and the illustrations are just lovely. You can get a taste of this sweet book from its book trailer, but if you’re anything like me you’ll be distracted by the fact that the narrator really needs to blow his nose.

Last year I didn’t get this craft link up until after Tu B’shevat, so I’m repeating it as #3. Faux almond trees, thanks to Creative Jewish Mom, an awesome resource for all things Jewish and crafty.

Looking for more information on the basics of Tu B’shevat? Check out my February post on Hilltown Families for a brief summary and links to more resources.

One of the few consistent parts of our family’s observance of shabbat is to have at least one delicious challah on our dinner table. Before I went back to working full time, it was relatively easy to whip up freshly baked challah every week. Now that I’m on teacher-mom-writer schedule, it’s not.

Usually, I make the dough in a bread machine the night before, and put the braided loaves in the refrigerator Thursday night for a slow, overnight rise. I take it out on Friday after school and bake it in time for dinner.

Over Rosh Hashanah, I wrote about experimenting with no-knead challah dough to churn out the massive amounts of challah needed for a three-day yom-tov/shabbat and plenty of company.

Last week, I made a batch of the no-knead dough and used about half of it for our Shabbat dinner. I left the rest of the dough in a covered tupperware and forgot all about it.

Last night, as I was preparing to load up the bread machine, I found the dough. Would it still rise? Would it still be good after a whole week in the fridge?

Based on appearances, I’d say yes.

I’ll let you know after shabbat how it came out. We could be onto something here.

Shabbat Shalom.

And if you are wondering why I’m back when I said I wouldn’t be…stay tuned and I’ll fill you in on some of the details.