Tag Archives: Passover

I Have to Admit I Like the Passover Holiday

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Boys celebrating Passover Holiday

Boys – Pre-Passover 2012. The jackets were off before the Passover Seder began.

The Passover festival begins Monday evening an hour after sundown.

However for those of us who celebrate the holiday, the thought and preparation for Passover began weeks ago.

I’m not kidding.

Passover is an all-encompassing holiday.

Of course, like most religious holidays, there is the food aspect. And food is a major factor in Passover!!! We literally get rid of all our food from the year. We either eat it, throw it away, donate it, sell it (ceremoniously) or lock it away. I’ll spare you the rules and the specifics.

I’ve been managing my food shopping the last couple of weeks so that we will have a minimal amount of food left. This takes all of my food shopping skills.

I must admit this part is fun for me.

QUICK ASIDE: I ended up bringing up some food to work this week. Why is it that people will eat anything at the work place?

This zest to rid ourselves of our food forces us to do a Spring cleaning. Now, my family and I keep a neat house. However, we have a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old. Therefore, food travels to the weirdest places. “Hey, how did that pretzel end up in the sofa cushion?”

So, add cleaning to the Passover checklist. We pay someone to clean for us every other week. On top of that, I was down on my knees on the kitchen floor. By the way, I found a pretzel there too. Mrs. MMK cleaned the cabinets and put in new contact paper. These were among other tasks.

I have to admit I do like a clean house.

Anyway, we get rid of our food. The holiday lasts eight days. Therefore, it is not a fasting holiday. So, there is food shopping to do to replace the food you are ridding your home of. This special kosher for Passover food – and it’s not just Matzah – is pricey. We have already made multiple trips to the grocery store, and I foresee another one on Monday.

Then there are clothes. There is no law that one must buy new clothes.

However, I have adopted a custom. I wear at least one new item of clothing on the first and last days of the holiday. It adds to the special nature of the Passover holiday. I can’t be the only one who is wearing new clothes in the family. So, there is clothes shopping to do for the whole family. Well, my wife takes care of herself and the boys. I simply pay for it. On that note – does anyone know of any freelance writing gigs? The bank account has taken a hit.

I have to admit I like having new clothes.

A quick note on the background of the Passover holiday.  It commemorates the Exodus of the Jewish people from their bondage in Egypt. It is a holiday that celebrates our freedom and praises G-d for what he did for us.

Ultimately, the Passover holiday is about spending time with family and friends and recalling a special time in history.

I have to admit I like spending time with family and friends.

I have to admit I like this holiday.

P.S. As part of the holiday, I am going to take a blogging break. I don’t expect to post and will not get to read the blogs of others on a regular basis over the next week and a half.

Growing Past the Plagues

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January 22. Thirty five days. Five weeks. Time is all relative. If you suffered with headache for five weeks, that would be excruciatingly long. If you’re marriage lasted five weeks that would be ridiculously short (Hollywood short).

Five weeks is how long I have been posting my blog exclusively from my website. It probably comes closer to the marriage scenario though in some ways, it has been more like the headache. Anyway, I’d like to tell you that things have gone so smoothly and just as I would have hoped. However, I would prefer to tell you the truth.

So, in honor of the upcoming holiday of Passover, here are the 10 plagues that have happened since converting to a website. To be honest, many came simply due to my ignorance about the process. You would think that being a teacher I would strive to learn and ask questions before doing something. Well, in this case you would be wrong.  Website – okay sure. I guess it is time.

I hope this list will help those of you who may be considering going to a website.

1. Only those who were having the blog come right to their email came with me on the move. That was only about one fifth of my followers. I had no idea this was going to be the case.

2. I made the announcement I was moving only after the mass majority of these followers had disappeared.

3. Comments I have made on the sites of others have not consistently appeared.

4. I only see the reply to my comments if the person is a subscriber to my blog.

5. Some people have made comments that I never saw. The only reason I know is they emailed me and asked me what’s up?

6. I am not especially photogenic. Well, I actually knew that before.

7. People like a like button. However, the like button I have is not so clear. Truthfully, I don’t even know how it works.

8. My blog posts are no longer announced on wordpress.com

9. I have gotten bombarded by spam (I don’t need Viagra, discounted, or not).

10. The water turned to blood. Actually, I made that up in honor of original plauges.

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Despite, these plagues, there has been many good things that have occurred since I have converted my blog into a website. First and foremost, I have had a chance to have a number of guests. I would like to thank my blogging friends, Kate (Did That Just Happen?), Elske (Elske Newman), Jessie (Jessie Clemence), and Penney (Authentic Life Journeys). I also would like my writing group members who provided me with guest posts – Ronit, Frank, and Rachelle and my friend Robert. I also would like to thank my wife, Sara, for her awesome post. Lastly, I’d like to thank the Academy. Uh, wrong speech.

I have learned a lot since I created the blog and have come to realize how much more I have to learn. One thing I have learned is how generous some people can be with their time. I have been truly touched by how helpful some people have been just because.

I have taught a book to my 9th graders entitled Speak by Laure Halse Anderson. The book begins on Melinda’s (protagonist) first day as a high school freshman and ends in June.  The book focuses on how she deals with the repercussions of a terrible incident that occurred in the summer (before h.s.) that caused her to be an outcast. Ultimately, she finds a way to get past the incident and become a stronger though different person. One way this is done is through the motif of a tree. The tree struggles in the winter months and even has to have some parts cut away so that the rest of the tree can survive.

I’d like to think of my blog and website as the tree. Many followers have been lost.  The tree has lost some limbs. However, the most loyal – let’s say the trunk or the roots have followed me over to the website. I have met some new people and feel there is potential to do so much more. So, as Spring is on the horizon, I am optimistic about growth. I thank you who have continued on this journey with me. I look forward to your responses, input, and sharing.

Be Free

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It’s getting closer.  I can feel it.  The countdown will soon reach 0.  Very soon, it will be ‘Houston, We have blast-off.’ In fact, by the time you read this, I might be on another planet.
Well, not quite another planet.  However, I will be on a vacation (a stay-cation technically, but that’s not the point).  As I write this, I can envision my mother’s finger wagging, “Don’t rush the time away.”  She has lectured me on this a time or fifty, and it is truly good advice, but I don’t want to hear it now.  I am sooo looking forward to my vacation. I’ll turn off the alarm clock (and be awoken by my children earlier than I would like but that’s a story I’ve told) and be lying in bed during rush hour.
However, the reason I am particularly excited is that the vacation is to celebrate a holiday, Passover.  It is an all-encompassing holiday that requires a ton of work to prepare for. In all honesty, my wife does the majority of it.  You know how sometimes you prepare for things and ultimately wonder, “Why did I bother?” This holiday is one where all the preparations are necessary and useful.
The theme of the holiday appropriately enough is independence. G-d, through Moses, led the Jews out of Egypt and slavery. The underdog goes free, the bad guys get punished. Pretty great story – almost Disneyish.  Anyway, with independence everything is possible.  The question is how do you use this newfound independence and freedom. It’s like graduating into adulthood. Many possibilities and challenges – up to each person to make the most of their chance.  So, the holiday provides a reminder to appreciate your independence, recognize your freedoms and utilize these gifts to make the most of what you have been given. Pretty great lesson, I would say.