Celebrating Bar Mitzvahs, New Year's, Whatever.
The seventh night of Chanukah
In what is becoming the trademark of Bain Bar Mitzvahs, the celebration rushed by in a whirlwind of family, guests, Hebrew, and food. I know that time goes fast in Israel (an article for this blog on the subject is currently in the works), and this Chanukah vacation is going quickly, but today, especially, flew by in the blink of an eye.
Friday night we prayed at the Kotel, and we even made our own minyan. David Gardner was our chazzan; after his performance, I think he should stick to his stories about his exploded matzahs. Although, in all honesty, everyone (myself included) was pushing him to do it.
We had dinner on the eleventh floor penthouse of the Dan Panorama, which has a nice view of the King David Hotel, which has a nice view of the Old City. The food was nice, though I wasn’t that hungry. As a result, I had plenty of time to talk with the people at my table, most of whom I didn’t know that well: Daniel and Jonathan Oxman, sons of Naomi and Joe Oxman of Minnesota; the Parker Brothers Daniel and Jeremy; Sandra Braun’s niece Alyssa; Mordechai Rabin; and my cousins Lisa and Rachel. I think I can safely say that, after the evening of talking while eating our tongues (literally— that was the feature dish of the buffet), we know each other not much better. I also gave a Dvar Torah, which I hope to post from the yeshiva’s computer next week.
We lined up the Sefardic synagogue Heichal Yosef for services at 10:00 a.m., a time many people consider late for Shacharit. Many people, however, don’t know our family. We actually started about 45 minutes late as a result of the early minyan there, praying the long davenning of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah. I did Shacharit and Hallel despite a sore throat, and performed the role of gabbai.
Matthew read the Torah very well. Parshat Miketz is very long, and on top of that were the readings for Rosh Chodesh and Chanukah. Yet he did very well. After he finished the maftir readings, the women attempted to shower him with candies (in the US, the candy comes after the haftarah). I say attempted for two reasons: one is because many of the little kids ate the candies before they were thrown; the other is that the women’s bad throwing arms meant that their projectiles were off by about ten feet.
The rest of the davenning proceeded without anything of note, although it may be that no-one was paying any attention after they saw what they came to see. Mussaf featured only a bloody ear and the Schmeedas “looking like ghosts,” and then we proceeded to the Kiddush. We had some sodas, some cookies, and something whose name sounded like “Lemon Cello” (as it was homemade by Susie Serenevich, there was no label). It tasted like rubbing alcohol, paint thinner, nail polish remover, and lemon-scented air freshener (hence the lemon). It had a kick like a mule, and instantly cured my throat problems… I wish (cough).
Once again, lunch was a buffet. With more people, we ate in the Rakefet Room off the hotel’s lobby. This time, I sat with people whom I knew a little better: my brother Benjy; Benjamin Epstein; Liora Pollick; Jake Gardner; Ruthie Glass and her friend Esther; Alyssa (Sandra’s niece from last night); and Mordechai Rabin. We exchanged fun stories, caught up on old times, and shared our favorite medieval Torah scholars (known as the Rishonim in yeshiva talk; my favorite is the Ibn Ezra. I mean, come on; how can you lose with an “Ibn”?).
After lunch, a bunch of the women walked to the Kotel for some kind of Women at the Kotel Lollapalooza. I took a brief nap, and when I awoke, the Sabbath was almost over. And, I realized, so was the year: 2005 was almost gone, and we were hours away from welcoming in 2006. Naturally, we walked down Ben Yehuda Street for the umpteenth time, and we counted down with the rest of the crowd as a giant falafel ball dropped from the top of the YMCA tower… not! Seriously, though, I was mildly surprised at the Israelis’ attention to the non-Jewish New Year’s, also known as “Sylvester” here. Maybe it was the Christians; maybe it was all the Americans on Ben Yehuda Street; maybe it was the restaurateurs taking advantage of a holiday that fell on Saturday night. Whatever the case, the few measly fireworks were no match for what I’m sure is happening in Paris, London, New York, and elsewhere.
I’m utterly pooped. How do you say “Auld Lang Syne” in Hebrew? Or, for that matter, in English? Whatever.
Happy Holidays, and
Happy New Year!!!
In what is becoming the trademark of Bain Bar Mitzvahs, the celebration rushed by in a whirlwind of family, guests, Hebrew, and food. I know that time goes fast in Israel (an article for this blog on the subject is currently in the works), and this Chanukah vacation is going quickly, but today, especially, flew by in the blink of an eye.
Friday night we prayed at the Kotel, and we even made our own minyan. David Gardner was our chazzan; after his performance, I think he should stick to his stories about his exploded matzahs. Although, in all honesty, everyone (myself included) was pushing him to do it.
We had dinner on the eleventh floor penthouse of the Dan Panorama, which has a nice view of the King David Hotel, which has a nice view of the Old City. The food was nice, though I wasn’t that hungry. As a result, I had plenty of time to talk with the people at my table, most of whom I didn’t know that well: Daniel and Jonathan Oxman, sons of Naomi and Joe Oxman of Minnesota; the Parker Brothers Daniel and Jeremy; Sandra Braun’s niece Alyssa; Mordechai Rabin; and my cousins Lisa and Rachel. I think I can safely say that, after the evening of talking while eating our tongues (literally— that was the feature dish of the buffet), we know each other not much better. I also gave a Dvar Torah, which I hope to post from the yeshiva’s computer next week.
We lined up the Sefardic synagogue Heichal Yosef for services at 10:00 a.m., a time many people consider late for Shacharit. Many people, however, don’t know our family. We actually started about 45 minutes late as a result of the early minyan there, praying the long davenning of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah. I did Shacharit and Hallel despite a sore throat, and performed the role of gabbai.
Matthew read the Torah very well. Parshat Miketz is very long, and on top of that were the readings for Rosh Chodesh and Chanukah. Yet he did very well. After he finished the maftir readings, the women attempted to shower him with candies (in the US, the candy comes after the haftarah). I say attempted for two reasons: one is because many of the little kids ate the candies before they were thrown; the other is that the women’s bad throwing arms meant that their projectiles were off by about ten feet.
The rest of the davenning proceeded without anything of note, although it may be that no-one was paying any attention after they saw what they came to see. Mussaf featured only a bloody ear and the Schmeedas “looking like ghosts,” and then we proceeded to the Kiddush. We had some sodas, some cookies, and something whose name sounded like “Lemon Cello” (as it was homemade by Susie Serenevich, there was no label). It tasted like rubbing alcohol, paint thinner, nail polish remover, and lemon-scented air freshener (hence the lemon). It had a kick like a mule, and instantly cured my throat problems… I wish (cough).
Once again, lunch was a buffet. With more people, we ate in the Rakefet Room off the hotel’s lobby. This time, I sat with people whom I knew a little better: my brother Benjy; Benjamin Epstein; Liora Pollick; Jake Gardner; Ruthie Glass and her friend Esther; Alyssa (Sandra’s niece from last night); and Mordechai Rabin. We exchanged fun stories, caught up on old times, and shared our favorite medieval Torah scholars (known as the Rishonim in yeshiva talk; my favorite is the Ibn Ezra. I mean, come on; how can you lose with an “Ibn”?).
After lunch, a bunch of the women walked to the Kotel for some kind of Women at the Kotel Lollapalooza. I took a brief nap, and when I awoke, the Sabbath was almost over. And, I realized, so was the year: 2005 was almost gone, and we were hours away from welcoming in 2006. Naturally, we walked down Ben Yehuda Street for the umpteenth time, and we counted down with the rest of the crowd as a giant falafel ball dropped from the top of the YMCA tower… not! Seriously, though, I was mildly surprised at the Israelis’ attention to the non-Jewish New Year’s, also known as “Sylvester” here. Maybe it was the Christians; maybe it was all the Americans on Ben Yehuda Street; maybe it was the restaurateurs taking advantage of a holiday that fell on Saturday night. Whatever the case, the few measly fireworks were no match for what I’m sure is happening in Paris, London, New York, and elsewhere.
I’m utterly pooped. How do you say “Auld Lang Syne” in Hebrew? Or, for that matter, in English? Whatever.
Happy Holidays, and
Happy New Year!!!
posted by Yoni Bain | 8:41 AM
4 Comments:
Welcome back!! Mazel tov again on your brother's bar mitzvah--I heard it was wonderful. Going back to the chinna (?) which is actually henna--as the offspring of a Moroccan mother, my husband and I had our engagement party, appropriately called THE "henna". Everyone was in Moroccan garb, of course, and there was much hollering, as sephardics tend to do, and dancing. As the evening wore on, a belly dancer dressed in red sparkly garb, completed with veils and jeweled headbands emerged and danced to her hearts' delight. It was fabulous until my husband informed me the next day that the belly dancer was me...I am glad you've had a taste of Sephardim--visit us next summer and I'll return you to your parents with a host of new and fun traditions! Hope you are feeling better and wishing you a secular healthy, happy new year. Tina PS--If you see Benjamin, would you please have him clean his glasses...
yoni just in case that david parker reads the blog ill point out that you have made an error in names.
GONG XI FA CAI! (that's "Happy New Year" in Chinese)
Yoni
My recollections of the week's events differ only slightly from yours. Saw some photos that your dad took which were fabulous. It was a lot of fun spending time with you and your family and I hope to be at the next simcha.
Maure & David
PS We love reading your blog--keep writing. I suppose that this will lead to dinner in the Big Apple some time in 2006...
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