Friday, July 07, 2006

Shabbat Shalom

It’s not that I’m crazy religious. Far from it. Sometimes I think that if my kids knew what I ate, they would never let me kiss the babies again.

But Shabbat in Jerusalem is not just another ordinary day.

Before we moved into our ‘new house’ twenty years ago…oy…I had decided that I would keep a kosher kitchen with two sets of everything. Keeping kosher in Israel is so easy anyway and I never wanted anyone to have trouble coming to my house for a meal. In the old place we were kosher with glass everything which could double up…but never mind, I sometimes think that whenever God gets bored He comes to watch me in my kitchen.

And I don’t cook on Shabbat. I love having one day a week when I’m not in the kitchen.

And then when my oldest turned twelve, he started getting religious. Knitted kippa religious. That was fine with me. The kid is a Sagittarius and from a very young age I would either find him downstairs playing soccer or sitting by himself in one of the many shuls we had in the neighbourhood. Nice.

My other two kids aren’t religious.

My babies are. My oldest, the four year old, loves going with his Daddy to shul. I was at their house a few months ago and suddenly we heard firecrackers. Must have been a wedding or something…don’t ask. They shoot off five minutes of firecrackers and all the neighbours run for cover until they see the colourful explosions above their houses. We are still shell-shocked from the intifada.

Anyway, where was I? Ahhh, yes. Firecrackers. So my sweetsie tootsie grabbed my hand and we started running from window to window to see if we could see the fireworks in the sky. But we couldn’t.

My little grandson looked up at me and said,

“Bubbie, I know exactly what that is.”
“You do?”
“Yes. It’s a party in the sky for the Lubovicher Rabbi.”

I looked down at my little grandson and grabbed him and hugged him close so he couldn’t see the tears rolling down my face.

So anytime you hear fireworks and can’t see anything, you'll know 'exactly' what it is.

A party in the sky for the Lubovicher Rabbi!

Oh my! Shabbat shalom.

Have a great day…stay safe…and thanks for dropping in.

1 Comments:

At 3:53 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Last week, the annual International Fireworks Display lit up the sky for 40 minutes. Every year, in honour of Canada Day on July 1st, and the American 4th of July celebration, we, here in the Windsor/Detroit area, are treated to the largest fireworks show in North America. The fireworks are shot off three barges that are anchored off shore. Millions of people line the banks on both sides of the Detroit River to watch this pyrotechnic SPECTACULAR. There are also millions more, who, for one reason or another, choose to stay home. These people can't actually see the display, but they CAN indeed hear the booms from miles and miles away.

Years ago, Hudson's Department Store, located in Michigan, paid for this extravaganza. Target Department Store, also located in Michigan, has been the gracious host for the last five years or so.

That Lubovicher Rabbi sure has friends in high places !! I wonder if HaShem sponsors fireworks universally, or if it only applies to Israel and environs ?

If it IS an international phenomena, I wonder, if the high mucky-mucks at Target's ( And before them, the movers and shakers at Hudson's ) know that spending millions of dollars each year is superfluous? They could mount a campaign, convince the masses that it is not important to SEE the fireworks, that LISTENING to them is just as exciting, sit back and let Ha Shem do his thing, and then simply rest on their laurels. Which leaves me with another question: Who exactly is going to tell the two million Gentiles in this area, who are listening to the exploding sounds, that they are actually celebrating the Lubovicher Rabbi's birthday, and NOT the birthdays of two North American nations?


The Guv

 

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