Seahawks and Synagogue: I am the 12th Man!

Football fervor for the Seattle Seahawks is extraordinary to witness. In Australia there were so many different teams supported locally, sports failed to produce ‘hometown camaraderie’.  

My favorite aspect of the Seattle Seahawks is the ‘12^th man’. It is not one singular player on the team which causes their success.  It is not the eleven men on the field which brings the win. The Hawks claim to be unable to prevail without their fan base. It is you, each of you supporters, who tips the scale to bring about their victory. The twelfth man isn't one person, but an enumerable mass, needed for triumph. 

This made me think about the twelve ‘men’ needed to comprise a more important group, far away from CenturyLinkField and even further from the MetLife Stadium.  Minyan! Twelve for a minyan? Of course, only ten men are needed, right?  When ten men are assembled for prayer, they automatically bring an 11^th. According to rabbinic literature, when ten men form a minyan, the Divine Presence rests upon them. Their unity brings God’s presence.

Now we have a team of eleven in prayer, just like the eleven on the field.  Of course a football team is much larger than eleven, and every man plays an important role in the game. In prayer, everyone is equal and there is no delineation of which ten men in the room are the minyan.

Where is number 12? I am proud to be one of the enumerable mass of the 12^th man. I cheer my husband on to attend daily minyan. I watch the children without him, forfeit time together, and encourage him to go. Three times a day he wins. He wins for himself, but he couldn’t do it without me, and the other men in synagogue. The 12^th man is all of the women supporting their husbands and sons in attending daily prayer. 

I am never going to count for a minyan. The Seahawks are never going to draft me. It isn't sexist. I am proud to be the 12^th man.

Eshet Hayil 2&3

If you want something not related directly to children, here are summaries from my Eshet Hayil class.

Each week I give a class on the woman of Tanach which midrash connects to a line of Eshet Hayil. Here are the first two lines, for the wife of Noah and Sarah, respectively. 

I will try to post each week, as we journey through the lives of these valorous women and how we can harness their special attributes. 

Enjoy!

Mishpatim- The way to live your life

Parashat Mishpatim is heavily laden with mitzvot with an impressive 53 (although the most mitzvot per parasha [mpp] is parashat Ki Teztei).  Last year we discussed some of the specific mitzvot and made a bowling set with it.

This year we looked more at the themes. Following the 10 Commandments [Utterances] in last weeks parasha, this week seems like a let down. But really it is the details of how we live our lives. The ins and outs of daily life. Not every day is the Torah given on Mt. Sinai. But every day we still go through important and seemingly unimportant actions. It is in parashat Mishpatim that the people utter the words,נעשה ונשמה "naaseh v'nishma" "We will do an we will listen."

The daily details and accepting them without asking are just what my family needs to start focusing on. We are getting organized!

First the girls and I sat down and discussed what needs to be accomplished during the week (ie putting away laundry) and what must be done on or by certain days (ie homework due on Thursday).
Collectively we decided what would be done when.
Then I had the job of typing the schedule for each day. Print, laminate, and post in kitchen and bedroom.

Here is the system I used: A=Abba, E=Ema, and so forth.
This is how Monday looks:

So far they are enthusiastic about it and seem to have more free time, as they finish without complaining.

There is also more 'naaseh v'nishma' and less, "but WHY do I have to brush my teeth every night!?!"

Picking out clothes for school is a big deal for Cohava. She said that one of the things she misses most about Australia is wearing a school uniform. "Everyone was the same!" she declared. Choosing her clothes each day now is a laborious process.

At first they would choose their clothes and drop them on the floor.

Then I gave them each a pretty, small, reusable shopping bag (thank you post x-mas sale) and showed them how to put all the non-hanger items in the bag. Finally, hang clothes on special hook in their room.

They are really taking pride in their new, more structured daily routine. We need mitzvot and we need routine to thrive.

What does your family do to stay organized?

Shabbat Shalom!

45,000 X Fruitful!!!

This post is dedicated to Amanda. You opened my eyes (and mouth) to the true glory of fruit and trees. [This is the same Amanda who taught me to pickle olives, and countless other things.

Happy birthday trees! 
This week we celebrate Tu b'Shvat, commonly known as 'the birthday of the trees'. To read more about Tu b'Shvat, read my husband, Rabbi Ben Hassan's blog, here.

This year, this holiday means even more to me because of my new and improved appreciation of the bounty from trees.  

For most of my life, if you asked me to name fruits off the top of my head, the list would be something like, 'apples, oranges, pears, and bananas'. If I thought about it some more, 'berries, melons, pineapples, and pomegranates' would be added to the list.  And how many types of apples are there? I would have said something like, "Red, green, and yellow." It wasn't until very recently I discovered the incredible diversity of apples. 

There are over 7,500 types of apples! 7,500!!! They are each different, with their own tastes, purposes, and strengths. Wow! One type of apple would be enough. The enormous multitude of apples are there for us to enjoy. Each apple is a gift from Hashem. One apple is delicious- the variety of deliciousness is mind-blowing! 

Biting into a fresh apple is one wonderful way to enjoy an apple, crisp- wet and delicious, but not the only way. I am an avid food dehydrator. Dehydrated apples are crunchy and taste complete different to fresh one. Of course there is also, baked, juiced, frozen or stewed apples. 

As a lead-in to Tub'Shvat, the family will sample 6 different ways to enjoy one apple. 7500 X 6 = 45,000 ways to enjoy an apple without adding any ingredients! One type of fruit and 45,000 different ways to enjoy it! And apples are one of thousands of different types of fruit. The incredible diversity of food from trees exists for your palate to savor! It might be the tree's birthday, but the gifts are for you!

In addition to our apple party, during my weekly preschool program, we will also have a different type of Tu B'shvat celebration.

The children will be decorating these templates and folding them into party hats. 

Additionally, I was thrilled to discover that mid-January in Seattle is the ideal time to plant pomegranate seeds. We will be trying that as well.




And reading: 

 

Eshet Hayil

I teach a weekly women's class on the text of Eshet Hayil. Here is a summary of the first class.
I will try to post a summary each week for people who cannot be there in person.

Manna!

 This morning I successfully laid hot cinnamon buns on the floor, without the children seeing.

"Ema, breakfast is on the floor," Cohava announced.
"Yup!"
"Because...?" she was confused but by now she knows it must be Torah related. "Umm, because Moshe, umm. I don't know the reason. But these taste incredible!" 

"You found incredible tasting food on the ground and..." 
"It is man! But, you actually put it on the floor. So really, you are like Datan and Aviram," Cohava concluded and returned to her pastry.

A few minutes later Gabi entered the kitchen and screamed, "Why did Ruti throw my breakfast on the floor?" 

Eventually she was placated and the girls were eating happily. I realized that although called 'manna' in English, the Hebrew is 'man' or 'mon', coming from the phrase "mon hu?" "what is this?" 

More importantly, it is 'Nom' backwards. As in Cookie Monster is yelling mon backwards whenever he eats.

Shabbat Shalom! Nom nom nom
mon mon mon

Beshalach- Split over it!

Parashat Beshalach is another action packed Torah portion. Last year we lived it up, acting out the story of the crossing of Yam Suf and tried foods which may have tastes like maan.


This year we discussed the the sea in more depth (pun intended).

After learning the parasha, we read Nachshon Who Was Afraid to Swim. This is a lovely retelling of the midrash which recounts Nachshon ben Aminadav's faith and action of stepping into the water, when everyone else stood still. This tale adds its own idea, that Nachshon is aqua-phobic and overcomes his fears to do the right thing and be a great leader. Obviously this led to a lovely discussion. [I love the vast number of Jewish children's books available in America. It is high on my list of 'things I love about being back in the US'.]

Then the girls tried to see how water could be split.

Cohava attempted taping the water with a log, hoping for miraculous intervention. 
Needless to say, it didn't work. Gabi suggested if they got lots of sticks, maybe they could split the water in two. I thought it was a good plan, Cohava was skeptical, and Ruti was eager to assist in getting more logs.


Cohava was quite please with herself when the mission failed.

I was relieved that none of them thought that stepping into the water would make it split in two. 




After being used as prop and chew toy for a few weeks, the Pharoh toy was really dirty. When I bought him, the intent was Pesach, so he really needed a good clean before I put him in storage. And that is when I realized: drowning in the Yam Suf is just like going in the washing machine! 


Thank you, Judy, for letting us watch Pharoh spin around in your front loader.
The girls were captivated by his water plight, without it being too morbid.





As for manna, tomorrow, if I wake up early enough, I plan to make cinnamon buns and leave them on the floor (on a plate, in the kitchen) for the girls to find. Cinnamon buns taste like "cake fried in honey", right? 

In the world of food, someone once told me about a family which makes a special pasta dish for parashat beshalach. It required the wheel shapes pastas (for the chariot wheels) and bits of hot dog, but I can't remember anything else about it. I don't plan on making it, but does anyone have suggestions for special food for this parasha?

Shabbat Shalom!