This Rosh Hashanah marks the end of the shmittah year in Israel. During the sabbatical year the land is supposed to be left fallow, and whatever grows by itself in the field and on the trees is “hefker,” or free for the taking. At the end of the sabbatical year, the Torah requires lenders to forgive debts. (In practice, methods have been developed to circumvent many of these laws, with varying levels of support in the religious community.) Relinquishing ownership of produce and cancellation of debts are ways of mitigating societal inequalities. At the end of 5768, events in the financial world illustrated how economic certainties can change in an instant.
May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life and blessed with a year of peace, prosperity, and happiness. As we look forward to a peaceful and stable 5769, I want to thank all of you who participate in this blog community. I especially thank Leora for the beautiful blog design. Thanks also to Robin, Rafi, Melissa, RivkA, Baila, Lion of Zion, Jameel, Abbi, Regular Anon, Anon Reader, Orthonomics, Tamiri, Trilcat, TherapyDoc, ALN, Liza, Juggling Frogs, Raanana Ramblings, Mimi, Klara, Annie, Miriam, Frum Satire, Ariella, Raggedy Mom, BB, Ilana-Davita, Super Raizy, Sylvia-Rachel, Batya, “Zippo,” my brother and sister, and the many others who read, comment, link, send news, and provide corrections and constructive criticism.
Bli neder, we’ll meet again next year.
On Rosh Hashanah we eat four festive meals. Here’s how I organized the cooking.
I prefer not to cook in advance, as I like meat to be freshly cooked. Also, food that has been cooked and defrosted shouldn’t be refrozen, so pre-freezing causes a problem with leftovers.
Last week I baked and froze the honey cake and challah. I found that wrapping frozen challah in foil ensures that it stays crisp during defrosting. Naturally, I reuse the foil. We also shopped. I used up the honey in the baking, and my friend offered me an extra jar she got as a gift from work.
Last night I asked my kids to peel a large quantity of carrots and onions. I had already washed and dried parsley and celery. This morning I made meatballs (recipe below), matzah balls (we don’t eat them on Pesach, but like them for Rosh Hashanah because of their shape), beet salad, and rice. This afternoon we’ll polish the silver and make apple cake because my kids like those jobs, especially coring the apples. I’ll make pancakes for supper, with some cooked nectarines that needed to be used up.
Tomorrow, the morning before Rosh Hashanah, I plan to make fish, chicken, potatoes, chicken soup, carrot salad, coleslaw, and sweet potatoes. It sounds like a lot, but they are all simple recipes. If I get ambitious, I’ll make a potato kugel. I decided to do the soup tomorrow afternoon so I won’t have to worry about storing it until I have more room in the refrigerator. Since it’s yom tov and not Shabbat, I have a later deadline. In the meantime the freezer repairman says he’ll come “batzaharayim,” which means between 12 and 4 PM. Update #1: He arrived at 3PM.
My tentative menu is below. At each meal we also have wine, challah with honey, and cake.
We have guests on Monday evening, so I’ll serve more items than usual:
Tuesday lunch:
Tuesday evening I would prefer to serve a dairy meal, but that means extra work and planning. Here is my compromise:
Wednesday lunch:
If I still have soup and matzah balls, I’ll serve it. If I see on Tuesday evening that the meat is dwindling, I can pull something out of the freezer to cook in the morning. This has never happened. I also serve out the foods that are running low in order to make room in the refrigerator.
My meatball recipe follows. It’s flexible so feel free to experiment.
Ingredients:
Batter:
In a dry food processor, chop parsley using steel knife, add carrot and chop finely. Add ground meat, eggs, crumbs, and mustard. Mix well.
Sauce:
Chop onions in food processor. I made the batter in a separate bowl because my processor is pareve, so I didn’t need to wash the processor bowl in between. Saute the onions for about five minutes, then add the tomato paste and whatever seasoning you like. I added some beet juice from the cooked beets–don’t tell my kids. You will probably want to dilute the sauce some; it shouldn’t be thick or sticky, nor should it be watery. I also added some cumin seeds and oregano.
When the sauce is boiling, form meatballs from the batter and drop them into the sauce. Don’t worry if some balls are above the level of the sauce, as the sauce increases during cooking, and the meatballs will cook either way. Lower the flame and cook for 30-40 minutes. To check for doneness, cut a meatball in half and check that the juices run clear.
Update #2: The repairman said the motor needed to cool off, so he will return later. He left his gauge as an eravon (guarantee).
That’s the only sound heard from my stand-alone freezer, which decided to stop working yesterday, on Shabbat. The problem with living in a Jewish country is that repairmen also observe the holiday, but I left a desperate message for the one who replaced the motor only six weeks ago.
I’ve managed to stick most things in my refrigerator/freezer, but am running out of room fast. If he doesn’t come I’ll manage somehow–I love a challenge, remember? At least it didn’t happen tomorrow, or on Rosh Hashanah itself.
My friend says that it’s no coincidence when things break so close to the new year. On Rosh Hashanah, God determines how much each person will earn. So if a person didn’t give enough charity during the year, He makes sure things even out before the following Rosh Hashanah . . . whether through buying new appliances or paying for repairs. Israeli repairmen must give a lot of tzedakah during the year.
And if you are trying to get organized, check out my Rosh Hashanah Survival Guide. Last year Rosh Hashanah was followed by Shabbat, but most suggestions still apply.
——————————-advertisement———————————————-
The United States presidential election is taking place this Novemeber. All Americans living in Israel have the right to vote, and should make their voices heard on issues that affect us such as Middle-Eastern diplomacy, US-Israel relations, the economy, tax law, and more.
Vote from Israel is a non-partisan, non-profit organization whose goal is to register Americans in Israel to vote. The registration deadline is Monday, October 6, ten days from today.
Vote from Israel has made the process as easy as possible. Just follow these instructions:
Maybe you aren’t sure who you want to vote for yet. But if you haven’t registered by next week, you won’t have a chance at all. Do it today.
Mike Cohen of Galilean Word is asking for help to save the life of baby Gili.
Check Mike’s blog for updates. Donations are tax-deductible both in Israel and the US.
Twitter links powered by Tweet This v1.7, a WordPress plugin for Twitter.
