Fasting and Feasting and Festivals

The feasting for Jewish New Year in the autumn is celebrated with the autumn apples and sweet honey and honey cakes.

The card below has a honey cakes recipe.

Greetings cards for Jewish New Year showing honey. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The Happy new year greeting is shanah tovah, literally, Year good.

The next major calendar date is the Day of Atonement, involving a fast.

Yom Kippur - Jewish Day of Atonement

The word Yom means day in Hebrew. Adjectives follow nouns in Hebrew. 

Yom Kippur, the day of the annual fast, which comes a week after celebrating the Jewish New Year. It begins on Wednesday October 1, 2025 at sundown; ends at nightfall on Thursday October 2, 2025. 

Who is fasting and why? It is in the Hebrew bible, which Christians called the Old Testament when they selected books for the New Testament about the year 300 AD. The early mention of the Day of Atonement which is taken as the instruction is in the biblical book of Leviticus (which is the Greek word for laws).

Who is expected to fast? 

Boys from the age of 13, girls from the age of 12. 

Who is exampt from fasting

Anybody who needs water or food for medical reasons. For example, water to drink with pills or food to go with antibiotics, or food eaten at intervals because of diabetes. Or anybody with an illness such as pnemonia. If in doubt you can ask a doctor or rabbi if you are exampted.

Children under the age of nine are not expected to fast. Between 9 and 12 or 13 they can be introduced to the idea.

Non Jews are not expected to fast.

Both Jews and Muslims vary in their attitudes. Officially there is not rule about not eating in front of fasting Jews. However, you might feel more comfortable eating elsewhere.

Some Jews and Muslims have said they have no trouble not eating when others are eating. Just as I have no trouble not eating shellfish, to which I am allergic, when watching others eating it. I am not tmpted. It is not for me. 

If you are busy praying or busy doing anything, you may forget hunger. Or your body is instructed by your subconscious that mealtime has passed and wait until the next offer of food appears.

Feasting

At the end of the fast, even the simplest meal may seem like a feast.

Moon cakes

Over in China, Singapore, and all over the web, are pictures of moon cakes for the Autumn Festival. I dream of mooncakes.

Traditional cake with pastry crust, sweet solid filling offset by boiled egg

Mooncake Photos from Pixabay. Captions by Angela Lansbury.

Festival & Feast Plans

Autumn Festivals and Autumn time. September, October, November, December. What's to look forward to?

Hanukah and Christmas. 

Christmas & Kosher Xmas

December 25th, but also the 26th for Boxing Day in the UK. Restaurants all December and January. In the UK and USA, provided by the company, you used to get kosher turkey and kosher plum pudding.

Hanukah Dec 14-22nd 2025.

In January you can buy a diary in England, Singapore, or the USA, with festival dates for the UK, and/or Jewish festivals. Calendars may mark the local festivals, eg Asian/ and oriental dates.

Calendars, Clubs, Diaries

If you are running a club an planning your ear's events and holiday dates, you might like them in. Add the feast days for club parites. Note the feast and fast dates when your committee, or members, or visitors are likely to be absent or on holiday.

Passover

Passover, which Jesus celebrated, as depicted in paintings of the Last Supper,  is another 'movable feast' which falls around Easter time.

Useful Websites

Autumn/Chinese/Moon Festival

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/mid-autumn-moon-festival-traditions#:~:text=In%202025%2C%20the%20Mid%2DAutumn,traditions%20marking%20the%20ancient%20holiday.

Jewish

https://orsl.usc.edu/life/jewish-holy-days-

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/event/hanukkah-usa-2025#:~:text=When%20Is%20Hanukkah%202025%3F,and%20end%20on%20December%2022.calendar/#:~:text=Sukkot%20%E2%80%93%20Jewish&text=Begins%20October%206%2C%202025%20at,nightfall%20on%20October%2013%2C%202025.

Where to try and make Noah's Pudding - An Old New Fruit Porridge Dessert Dish From Turkey

 

 When I visited Sofra Turkish restaurant in Singapore in July 2012 I was momentarily disappointed to see that Noah's pudding, one of many intriguing dishes on their extensive menu, was not available. I had known about Noah's pudding for a long time. I came across it when writing a post on the various places in the world where you could see reproductions of Noah's Ark, buy Noah's Ark toys, and see mountain tops where the ark was claimed to have landed.

After we returned home from the restaurant, I discussed the recipe with the family. I looked up recipes online for one we could make at home, supervised by my husband, who is the cook in our family and made comments on the ingredients. 

Noah's pudding is essentially an elaboration on fruit salad. You could copy it Noah style by making from leftovers. 

We compared several recipes. The fruits vary. They seem to float on top of a liquid, which is thickened with additions such as beans, barley or chickpeas. 

Beans, barley or chickpeas! That sounds like a savoury dish. Is it a savoury dish? 

No. The addition of rose water makes it a dessert. However, it is different to and superior your usual fruit salad as an after dinner dessert or breakfast.

We devised a recover from cancer diet with breakfast starting with fruits and nuts in yogurt and milk with the bulky sustaining cereal of porridge , or muesli made from soaked oats. When in a hurry to travel we occasionally add a naughty, hasty half a Weetabix (which spoils our virtuous supposedly all natural breakfast by being factory made and adding a fearsome list of ingredients.

the fruit already contained a sugar called fructose, fruit sugar. We try not to add any more. Anything from a packet is scanned by our suspicious eyes. We check for our taboo, sugar. (I had to cut out sugar in fruit salad for five years, cooking for my widowed late father had late onset diabetes.

More recently, all this year and most of last year, I have been on a diet to lose weight because I was overweight at the start of 2020. being overweight is a vulnerability factor in Covid-19 times. I can't change my age, but I can change and check my diet.

Rose water? Rose water syrup?  We cannot be over-generous with the rose water. Nonetheless, we plan to make a version of home made Noah's pudding soon and will show you the photos.

We visited Sofra before the recent shut down of indoor dining in Singapore. Maybe one day we will go back to Sofra to try their Noah's pudding.

Noah's pudding from the Bible, has reached Christians and Muslims as a festival dish and one to be shared with neighbours of all religions and none.

Turkish Muslims make it in the tenth month. Christian Armenians make it for Christmas or New Year. If you cannot find a recipe you like under the words Noah's pudding, keep searching under the words Ashura meaning tenth, or Asure from the Persian for mixing.

It is also served by Greeks at funerals and as a pre-Lent dish like the UK's pancake day.

The mixture can be thickened so that it sets. Using cornstarch or another starch.

You start by boiling up the grains the night before, or at least 6 hours ahead.

You can add flavourings such as cinnamon. Or ginger.

After the mixture has been boiled up, and left to set for a while, you add the topping. A favourite topping is the red pomegranate seeds which counteract any sugariness. The red of the pomegrante seeds can contrast with the green of chopped pistaccios which makes a nice stripe in an individual portion in a small bowl if you are making lots of individual pots. This is visually appealing.  However, I prefer to have the toppings all mixed up for the flavouring.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashure

http://balkon3.com/en/the-istanbullu-greek-asure-an-example-of-cultural-exchange/

https://deliveroo.com.sg/

https://ozlemsturkishtable.com/2010/12/asure-noahs-dessert/

You tube video

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

About the Author 

Eating On The Move And Providing Food For Club Visitors

I went to a lunch time Toastmasters Meeting at a Financial group in the downtown area. They provided a choice of meats or fish or vegetarian food with a rice pack and vegetables, different for each person. We all chose from a choice of five or six meals. I had chicken, rice, mushrooms and a green vegetable.

Most lunch time meetings I have been to feature heavily on pizzas with vegetarian pizzas.

The evening meetings vary. Some places provide a proper meal, with noodles and meats. Some even have a casserole or two, often sponsored by a member who is in business. Some clubs provide bananas and grapes.

One club as a matter of principle has only 'healthy' food, fruit and nuts, hardly any biscuits and cakes. Bukit Timah Toastmasters.

Singapore is a country with a high rate of diabetes. I am not surprised.  Cakes, biscuits and sweets.

Student groups, supposedly those who are educated, were the worst, all chocolates and biscuits. It's not as if they can't get proper savoury food. Every Community Club has a McDonalds or even an entire food court underneath.

Admittedly, there's a huge amount on the internet condemning processed food. However, even fried chicken seems healthier to me that endless sticky buns and jelly-like sweets and pandan cake.

If you are catering, please provide some fresh fruit, and something which is not all fat, cereal and sugar.

I went to a club last Christmas for a so-called Xmas party. They had lots of Xmas songs and Xmas costumes and Xmas theme speeches. But the breaktime was just tea and coffee and packets of dry biscuits. I and another visitor muttered to each other and rolled our eyes. She was more forthright than I was. I have never been back.

Bananas are cheap and filling.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Special Meals on airlines - should you order them? What you get - or don't get!

Problem
I often forget to order a special meal.

Solution
On my most recent flight I ordered a special meal. That was a mistake.

Special Meals
I had ordered a special meal, no fish. I won't do that again. I don't eat crustaceans nor molluscs. But I love smoked salmon. Once I ordered the no fish meal and was denied a meal with a smoked salmon starter!

Another year went past. I didn't order a special meal again. However, every now and then I'm on a flight where everybody gets prawns in the starter, and sometimes shellfish in the main course too. So I think, I must remember to book a special meal.

What's the advantage? You can be sure of getting what you need if you have an allergy.

Your meal should come up slightly quicker!

On the other hand, you have only one set meal. If you stick with the regular menus you have a choice of two or three main courses, and two types of breakfasts.

What was wrong this time (November 2017)? I had chicken plus a spicy sauce or puree vegetable. Hey, man, woman, chef, those of us who are allergic to shellfish are sensitive types. We are likely to be sensitive to spicy food as well.

The rest of the passengers, the uncomplaining, easygoing no-fuss passengers, who accepted regular meals, were offered the opportunity of Chicken Kiev - my favourite!

Luckily I was travelling as one of a couple, so I did a bit of nifty shifting, food swapping. I said, "I'll give you half my food, which is early, if I can have half of yours later?"

What was good? My special meal ended with a fruit salad. I have become a fruitarian. Fresh fruit. When I was a child I considered that dull. Now, I'm careful, after two members of my family have been on special diets. One late relative was on a diet to combat late-onset diabetes, no sugar in desserts. Another relative is in remission from cancer, no processed foods.

Speaking of which, as a mid-flight snack, I was offered crisps, pastrami - which is a processed meat. No chocolate or cereal bar. No piece of fresh fruit.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Instant Malay - more than 30 words

Problem
How to remember Malay?

Answer
Start with the easy words.

Story
I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. So I spent an hour reading a little tex book on the Malay language. I was far too tired to remember anything except the words which sounded nearly the same as English. Next day over breakfast, I asked a companion for the words which they recognised and remembered as being nearly the same.

Tips
SAME/SIMILAR WORDS
Malay - English
a l e r g i - allergy
a m b u l a n s - ambulance
a p r i l - April
aspirin - aspirin
a s m a - asthma
a p o t e k - (apothecary was the old word) pharmacy / chemist (Americans would say drug store)
c e k - check (as in travellers checks)
d o k t e r - doctor
diabetes - diabetes
donor - donor (as in blood donor)
guru - teacher


English - Malay
allergy - a l e r g i
ambulance - a m b u l a n s
April - a p r i l
aspirin - aspirin
asthma - a s m a
cheque (Americans spell it check which is a verb in British English) - c e k
chemist / drug store / pharmacy - a p o t e k
diabetes - diabetes
doctor - d o k t e r
donor - donor
teacher - guru

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker and teacher of English and languages.