Despite having only seven players, the Northwest Yeshiva High School girls’ basketball team is in the Washington state tournament for the first time. But one of the games is scheduled for the fast of Esther tomorrow. If the yeshiva team ends up playing, they’ve decided to forfeit.
It would be expected that I would think about my mother, as my daughter and I sat down for Kol Nidrei. From my seat I could see the daughters of the woman who died last Rosh Hashanah, the wife and daughters of another shul member who died a few months ago, and behind me were the wife, daughters and granddaughters of the Holocaust survivor whose eerie, yet moving, funeral we attended at 11:30 PM the previous night. And the next morning we would say the Yizkor prayer for deceased relatives.
(The title is the literal translation by one of my children of shaon choref, otherwise known as standard time.)
Yom Kippur begins this afternoon (Sunday), with candle-lighting at 4:52. Last night we changed the clocks to standard time. After much wrangling and never knowing when the clocks would change until the last minute, a compromise was worked out in the Knesset to change before Yom Kippur every year. In most years, we will change them back in time for the Passover seder. Changing it last night was a dumb idea for several reasons:
Southern Lyctus Beetle Commonly Infecting S'chach
Yated Neeman has a letter from Rabbi Moshe Wye on a little-discussed halachic issue for Sukkot: Insects falling from your s’chach into your food. [See note below.] The Hebrew text appears on the Jerusalem Kosher News blog. I summarized the most important points below:
Read more on Insects Keep Falling on My Head (on Sukkot, that is)…
Tonight is Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish year 5770. Storms are predicted for tomorrow evening. I can’t ever recall storms on Rosh Hashanah, just intense heat. Likely we’ll get both. 
Was it the freezer last year? Yes, it was.
For years I’ve enjoyed my Hagaz, a type of timer for gas stoves that allows you to cook on Yom Tov. On certain weekday holidays, one may light a stove from an existing flame but not put it out. Newer models of stoves are equipped with a sensor that turns off the gas as soon as the flame goes out, preventing gas leaks, but the stove still heats up the house and leads to a waste of gas (and a high bill). Many people I know use an electric hotplate to warm up food, but that doesn’t work for soup and I like to have the option of cooking. I can manage without if I have to, but will need to adjust my menu in a serious way.
Congratulations to new immigrant Kate, who won the Oh Nuts! Rosh Hashanah gift basket.
I picked comment #15 using the random number generator at Random.Org.
Thanks to everyone who participated.
I’ve collected posts on preparing in honor of Rosh Hashanah, which begins on Friday evening, September 18 and ends after dark on September 20.
My husband and I host guests regularly and have received our share of appreciative gifts. I do not invite guests in expectation of any gift, and as long as you make an effort to be pleasant, to the best of your ability, you are welcome in my house. If you don’t know what to bring, don’t have time to shop, or are short on funds please don’t worry about it.
I’m offering another kosher gift basket from Oh Nuts! to one lucky reader. The basket can be delivered in Israel or the United States.
To enter, choose your favorite from the Oh Nuts! Rosh Hashanah Gift page and leave a comment below your choice. I’ll choose the winner randomly on September 10.
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