Fun Food, Cards and Blessings at Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah

 

Cards for Rosh Hashanah, New Year. Symbols for the sweet New Year are apples and honey. Photo of cards by Angela Lansbury.

Rosh Hashanah means Head (Rosh), (of), The (ha), Shanah (New year).  The lunar calendar date for Rosh Hashanah 2021 is from Sundown Monday Sept 6 to sundown  Wednesday Sept 8. In Israel most holidays are celebrated for one day. However, because other countries further away overlap by two days, to be sure of celebrating the whole holiday and the right time, two celebrations are held. If relatives cannot attend because they are holding their own celebrations, they can come to you on the second night. Alternatively, the hostess on the first night can give a daughter or sister or sister in law the leftovers of food and tableware to make it easier for the other person to hold a second celebration of the holiday on the second night.

You can see and buy Jewish New Year greeting cards online such as on Amazon and in newsagents and stationery shops.

We arrived early. We were asked to arrive at 7.15. We wondered whether that was arrive earlier for a prompt start at 7.15, or Jewish time, any time after 7.15.

We checked the time of sunset. We set off and arrived early enough to sit in the garden drinking kosher blush wine. Because of the baby grandchild, who does not yet have any sense of time, we started late.

Our meal started with the pre-meal blessing over wine, known as the kiddush. I was impressed by the wine dispenser which I have shown in an earlier post. 

The first blessing was over wine, the second over bread or fruits of the earth. the blessing starts with the word for bless and ends with the word for wine. (I listen for ha - the gafem - drinkwine? or eretz/aitz - land adom/adam/adum - earth.)

The meal started with the apples and honey which you see on many cards. We dipped apples slices in honey and then sesame seeds.

A good time was had by all.

Useful websites

Transliteration of blessings from Hebrew to English

https://18doors.org/blessings_over_bread_and_wine/#:~:text=Kiddush%20(Blessing%20over%20wine)&text=of%20the%20vine.-,Phonetic%20Hebrew%20transliteration%3A,%2Day%20peri%20ha%2Dgafen.

Jewish greeting cards

https://www.moonpig.com/uk/personalised-cards/p/shanah-tovah-hand-and-floral-card/dvr089-sq/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4eaJBhDMARIsANhrQAAxVYLDRBx8RAJOn2Q5MGGtRsOgh7xDYQrHy7kiGr9SfiP4VaR3aN4aAspEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&size=13&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google

Silver Kiddush Wine Fountain with 6 Cups, Jerusalem Design, 21cm

What is a kiddush, a blessing over wine and bread or crackers, usually before a meal. For example on shabbat (Hebrew for sabbath, meaning Friday night) and on festivals.

Useful Websites

Silver Kiddush Wine Fountain with 6 Cups, Jerusalem Design, 21cm: Silver metal Kiddush wine fountain. Includes wine divider, 6 small Kiddush cups and 1 large Kiddush cup. Large Kiddush Cup - Height: 8.2cm. Small Kiddush Cups - Height: 5cm. Height: 21cm, Width: 17.3cm.

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  Phone:
  01323832863

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  Email:
  support@rimmonjudaica.com

Insect bites, swelling, shape and size, cause and calming - Identified and treated - helpful advice from the UK, USA, Singapore and Australia - Worst case scenario - scorpions!

 

Stingose. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I have an itchy swelling on my arm from an insect bite or bites. I was out in the garden before a family meal.

I woke in the night with swelling.

I have read the online advice from a US website and the UK NHS website. It seems I don't need medical intervention unless it is around the face, or I can't breathe, or vomit, which is not the case.

I am not in trouble until the swelling is more than 10 cm. I measured it. It is currently 5 cm.

Stingose, a small spray which comes from Australia, usually helps a lot. Not this time.

When the shops open I shall ask for calamine in the pharmacist. I could buy calamine cheaper in the supermarket but I want the pharmacist's advice and I am willing to buy from them as a thank you. Much cheaper and quicker than going to a doctor.

I have taken a photo of the swelling so I can send it. Also to keep a record of whether it is increasing in size and over what time.

A friend warns me to watch out for a circle around a spot. Watch out for lyme disease.

What is the worst case scenario? Analyphylactic shock. Mosquitos and malaria or dengue fever. Scorpions.

Scorpions

Another friend was bitten by a scorpion in Singapore. The scorpion was inside a plasti-wrapped fruit.

She saved the scorpion in a plastic box to show the hospital. She instinctively sucked out the poison and spat it out and washed out her mouth. the hospital doctor told her she had done the right thing.

Her son and daughters-in-law drove her to the hospital. Later the young ladies insisted on releasing the baby scorpion by the reservoir. (Now we know where not to walk!)

Interestingly the UK website warns against going barefoot outdoors. I have always thought that was a bad idea, as I once stepped on a nail which went through my shoe.

Anyway, the best painkiller was distraction from being online!

Why cover a bite?

To prevent yourself from scratching.

Why not scratch?

Because you expose the skin underneath to infection.

Because the blood will stain a white blouse or shirt sleeve - or the bed's sheet or pillor.

The pharmacy checked it was a bite, no visible sting, and sold me antihistamine.

I now have a plaster over it to stop the cream rubbing off on my sleeve. I must go sleeveless.

Useful Websites (By country)

AUSTRALIA

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments

SINGAPORE

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/dos-and-donts/animal-advisories/bees-,-a-,-wasps

https://www.facebook.com/sgredcross/posts/insect-stings-from-a-bee-wasp-or-hornet-can-be-painful-but-are-usually-not-dange/1423731844351935/

http://www.betterfamilyhealth.org/insect-bites.html

UK

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insect-bites-and-stings/prevention/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insect-bites-and-stings/symptoms/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lumps/

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/conditions/insect-bites-and-stings

USA

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bee-stings/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20353874#:~:text=Apply%20hydrocortisone%20cream%20or%20calamine,increase%20your%20risk%20of%20infection.

WIKI

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

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

See my later post with more information.

Best and Worst of Costa In Watford - Coffee and Bakewell Tart

The best and worst in one picture. The best is Costa's excellent coffee. The worst was the tart, overloaded icing, too much sugar, and not enough protein. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

If you are looking for a gift, a metal straw. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

 Why visit Costa under the arches by B & Q in Watford? Why not? A good place to stop if it's tea time.

The Best - My Most Favourite

The Seating

Wide choice, arm chairs, stools, banquettes. My husband chose to sit by a bright window. You could also sit outdoors.

The Coffee with cream.

My husband says Costa is his favourite coffee bar chain. He is a coffee connoisseur. When travelling, since Covid-19, when returning to Singapore and quarantine, we pack a suitcase to leave behind with friends to be sent on to our hotel by courier, and in it we take our own coffee maker.

We order capsules from Nespresso and try their multi-packs of many flavours, the strongest and mildest. He is a frequent visitor Costa, and his second choice is Starbucks and failing these any other coffee bar. 

Before leaving, I looked at what the Watford coffee bar was selling. I noticed the metal straws.

The Worst - My Least Favourite

The Bakewell Tart

Note to self. Never order this again. 

Too much icing. 

Jam with no flavour. 

No almond flavour at all. 

We were considering a chocolate dessert but I thought Bakewell tart, which normally contains nuts is better. i was wrong. No noticeable nuts in sight. If you want a delicious Bakewell with almonds and coconut, try the wrapped biscuits in the brand Mrs Crimble.

Costa had some chocolate offerings, and cheesecake, and lemon dessert. I shall try those next time.

What to order

The Coffee

Our favourite is double espressoj can panne. (Double espresso with cream.)

Covidi precautions provided

Hand sanitiser at the entrance.

Toilets?

At the side of Costa, inside. Not enough. With one person ahead of me in the queue, I decided to wait until I got home.

Useful Websites

Costa

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/18422704.costa-drive-thru-watford-back-open/

https://www.costa.co.uk/locations/store-locator

Food and Fun At the Jewish Harvest Festival - Fruit-Filled Canopy for Sukkoth Sept 20-27, 2021

 

This photo shows the traditionally bearded chief rabbi of Jerusalem in a sukkah. On the table are bottled juices and sweetmeats. The cloth walls have been decorated with paintings and streamers.

Another view of a sukkah shows the fabric wall, the wooden ceiling open to the sky, suspended electric lights, coloured lanterns, pictures of grapes, hanging and green fronds and paper chains.

Jewish Sukkoth - UK

Also following the lunar calendar, the Jewish festival of Sukkoth, celebrated at homes and synagogues in Israel, Jewish northwest London (where Anne Frank's father retired post WW2) and the USA. Some neighbours and synagogues will invite nearby communities to see and join in, welcoming all comers of all religions. 

I went to a Sukkah ceremony held at the back of Northwood & Pinner synagogue in Northwood. They had invited members of the next door church. 

I also visited a sukkah at the back of the home of neighbours in Hatch End, Pinner. 

Sukkah in London, England, built in the back garden against the house wall, with real greenery which has taken hours to install, a base of flowers, and citrus fruit and etrug. Photo by Angela Lansbury. 

Later in 2020 I was invited to a dinner in the Sukkah of a house in Finchley.

The sukkah is just like the booths you see built in India where a guardian sleep to watch over the gathered in crops.

See Sukkahs in Israel

A Sukkah on a rooftop in Jerusalem. Photo from Gilabrand in Wikipedia under Sukkah.

In Israel you can see the balconies of apartment blocks have a sukkoth. The only regulation being that the temporary structure must be open to the sky. That means if your balcony is immediately under another, you can't have a sukkah.

A place with lots of apartment blocks with balconies is Tel Aviv which has wonderful Bauhaus buildings - German fore-runner of art deco in the UK, France, and Italy.

What is a Sukkah?

The sukkah is a lattice with suspended fruits and ferns and greenery and nowadays plastic baubles like a Christmas tree. Expect a drink of fruit juice or wine, some fruits and or food and a quick prayer or blessing as you stand around or an entire service over a dinner table. 

The structure are called a sukkah. The festival is sukkot (Hebrew), or sukkas (Yiddish which is North and East European, German with a few words of Hebrew or Russian or Polish or the ancestor's language.

You can buy a sukkah kit. Ask or pay somebody to build you one. Build it yourself. Look in newspapers and on local websites to find an event. Ask friends and family.

Useful Websites

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/uk/sukkot

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

About the author

Learning Spanish from Household Products - 20 words for you to recognize

 I looked at a tube of metal polish and learned some new words in Spanish.

Spanish - English

aplicar - apply

bronce - bronze

como - such as

crema - cream

cristal - crystal

de - of

del - of the

esta - this

excelente - excellent

excepto - except

fibrar de cristal

frotar - rub

instructionnes - instructions

las (feminine)/los - the (plural as in the US place name Los Angeles which means the angels)

metal - metal

Miracle - miracle

no - do not/don't

para - for

protege - protects

seco - dry

todo - all

un - a/an

y - and

English - Spanish

all - todo (plural todos)

a/an - un

and - y

apply - aplicar

cream - crema

crystal - cristal

dry - seco

excellent - excelente

except - excepto

for - para

instructions - instructionnes

of - de

of the - del 

metal - metal

Miracle - miracle

protects - protege

rub - frotar

such as - como

the - el, los, las (feminine plural)

this - esta

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

facebook polyglots group to ask questions and discuss

https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/

memrise.com

translate google

WORDS WRITTEN THE SAME IN BOTH LANGUAGES (Pronunciation and meaning could be different)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English%E2%80%93Spanish_interlingual_homographs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-ing#-ing_words_in_other_languages

Angela Lansbury is VP PR of Braddell Heights Advanced club and Tampines Changkat Advanced club.

https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/00009689-braddell-heights-advanced-club

https://www.facebook.com/tampineschangkatadvTMC/

Food and Fun At Autumn Harvest Festivals - Chinese Chewy Mooncakes, Jewish Fruit-Filled Canopy for Sukkoth

 Autumn is the time to gather in the summer fruits. The apples are falling from the trees in gardens in England. When I was a child I could not see the point of the harvest festival with the tins of food piled in the school assembly and given to charity. Now I can understand it, relating it to history worldwide.

In England, France and Europe the grapes are being picked and the new wine, Beaujolais Nouveau will be sent from France across the Channel to England with great fanfare.

Chinese Mooncakes

In Chinatowns in England and the USA, as well as in China, Singapore, Taiwan and countries all over Asia get ready for the Autumn harvest festival or Chinese Autumn Festival to make or budget to buy sweet or savoury salted egg mooncakes in supermarkets,shops, delis, foyers and online. i love the sweet mooncakes. They are highly calorific. You can cut up one muffin size mooncake to give a teeny slice to a dozen people. That's not being mean. It's being sensible. It's the correct thing to do.

Jewish Sukkoth

Also following the lunar calendar, the Jewish festival of Sukkoth, celebrated at homes and synagogues in Israel, Jewish northwest London (where Anne Frank's father retired post WW2) and the USA. Some neighbours and synagogues will invite nearby communities to see and join in, welcoming all comers of all religions. 

I went to a Sukkah ceremony held at the back of Northwood & Pinner synagogue in Northwood. They had invited members of the next door church. 

I also visited a sukkah at the back of the home of neighbours in Hatch End, Pinner. Later i was invited to a dinner in the Sukkah of a house in Finchley.

The sukkah is just like the booths you see built in India where a guardian sleep to watch over the gathered in crops. In Israel you can see the balconies of apartment blocks have a sukkoth, the only regulation being that the temporary structure must be open to the sky. The sukkah is a lattice with suspended fruits and ferns and greenery and nowadays plastic baubles like a Christmas tree. Expect a drink of fruit juice or wine, some fruits and or food and a quick prayer or blessing as you stand around or an entire service over a dinner table. 

The festival and the structure are called sukkah, sukkot (Hebrew), or sukkas (Yiddish which is North and East European, German with a few words of Hebrew or Russian or Polish or the ancestor's language.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

About the Author