On May 19 and 20 we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot (one day in Israel). Why do Jews eat dairy on Shavuot? For standard answers see seven reasons behind this popular custom.
However, customs vary. For example, a friend writes that her Hungarian grandfather ate the blintzes her grandmother made then they waited a bit and had a meat meal. That’s basically how one brother-in-law handles the holiday. My vegan friends are eating neither dairy nor meat. For myself, I will limit the amount of dairy I eat, as my body just doesn’t do well with dairy (I am lactose-intolerant and beyond).
On Facebook, I asked: “Looking for funny, historical, hysterical or creative reasons why Jews eat dairy on Shavuot.” Some of the responses:
You’re milking this for all it’s worth. We’d butter not fool around. (She also came up with the title of this post).
A naturalist answer: It’s approximately the time when goats wean their kids and the mothers have additional milk that’s not being used otherwise.
Because you may go to a shiur where real ice cream is served. There ought to be one Jewish holiday in honor of cheesecake.
From a vegetarian: You meat-eaters get ALL the holidays. It’s OUR TURN, people. 🙂
What kind of world would it be if we didn’t have license to eat cheesecake guilt-free at least once a year?!
I’ll conclude with a joke:
Upon Mt. Sinai, Moses is receiving the Torah.
God proclaims through the burning bush “THOU SHALT NOT SEETHE THE KID IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK.”
Moses is a bit confused. “What does that mean, Lord? We should not cook meat in milk?”
God repeats “THOU SHALT NOT SEETHE THE KID IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK.”
Moses responds “But what do you mean, Lord? We should never serve meat and dairy in the same meal?”
Again, God repeats “THOU SHALT NOT SEETHE THE KID IN ITS MOTHER’S MILK.”
Moses continues “Do you mean that we should have two completely separate sets of ovens and cookware? One for meat and one for milk?”
Finally God agrees, “OK, Moses, have it your way.”
One more joke:
Elijah the Prophet resurfaces on Planet Earth in New York City right before Chanukah. He gets very excited when he sees Chanukah decorations, Chanukah parties and Chanukah cards and hears Chanukah music. He declares: if this is what Jews do for Chanukah, I can only imagine what they do for Shavuot!
I “met” Lisa when she friended me on Facebook. I took a look at her art both on Facebook and on her blog, and I thought, these are wonderful paintings! What a treasure to find in New Jersey. Here are a few questions she graciously answered for this blog:
1) When did you realize you wanted to be an artist?
When I was 9 yrs old. I went to my first summer art camp program at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Oh I remember it so vividly. I overheard my teacher tell my mother not to worry because when I am older I will be able to “see” more. (I was the youngest in the class). That day, I forced myself to “see” more and painted a house with every detailed shingle on the roof. That painting won an award at the end of the summer. The president of RISD approached my mother to purchase the painting, but she declined. To this day, I challenge myself to look more than I think I know. I challenge myself everyday to paint better than yesterday. Little did I know at nine I “caught the creative bug” that has since fueled me for 44 years!
Thankfully, I have the painting on my bedroom wall. Every morning, it reminds me why I am an artist.
2) How have you used social media (Facebook, blog, Twitter) to promote your art?
I post on blog, twitter and facebook regularly so I can keep my collectors and followers current on new paintings (sometimes still wet on the easel), news and upcoming exhibitions. Also, it’s a great way for followers to join in on the conversation, especially on Facebook. Posting my next exhibition, 9th annual Spring Open Studio on Facebook helps spread the word virally. I still send out postcards to my list and press releases to periodicals. It all works together!
3) What advice would you give to other artists about marketing?
Network.
4) What is your favorite part of being an artist?
Seeing magic happen.
5) Where do you look for inspiration?
Flowers and gardens. I think I was a fairy in my past life. :0)
cardinal in watercolor on paper
Yesterday, when it was warmer and almost spring-like, I saw many birds on my block, including a hawk flying low. Today there are big, white fluffy flakes coming day outside my window. By necessity (I need to pick my kids soon, early dismissal due to the weather), this will be a short post. Note the bill and the plume of the head (thanks, Michelle and Lorri).
On a related note, it is a custom to feed the birds the week of Parshat B’Shalach. Of course, the birds might want to be fed other weeks as well. Cardinals like sunflower seeds.
Purim is a holiday in which we read the Book of Esther (twice, once at night, once during the day), give charity to the poor, share food baskets with friends, wear costumes (at least many of the kids do and a few brave adults) and eat a feast in the afternoon. My daughter made this drawing yesterday to put on oatmeal containers that will be given to her friends (see last year’s decorated containers).
Can you name any of the characters in her drawing? Here is the Book of Esther.
For more posts with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
If you have a camera, why would you want to draw or paint a bird? With a camera you can capture all the details you need. Why learn how to draw?
When you are drawing, you concentrate on every detail of what you are looking at – the colors, the texture, the shapes, the depth, the values. And when I drew the bird (it’s going to be a cardinal – wait until I apply the paint), I learned about how the head, body, tail and feet are shaped. And I had to think about how to present the textures of the feathers.
Look forward to showing you the finished painting. Oh, and another reason to draw is your daughter (or son) might then take out her own piece of paper and draw her own bird. I just might show you the bird that my daughter drew as well.
My daughter did this painting about two weeks ago, after our winter vacation. What do you see?
Note: When I photographed it, the painting was curled; my daughter didn’t paint it with the curl at the top. Maybe I could have taped it down before photographing it. Next time.
I would greatly enjoying reading which of these images strikes your fancy. Thank you!
Upcoming on Thursday: A Selection of Nature Notes Posts from around the Nature-Loving
Blogosphere. Nature Notes is a meme brought to us by Rambling Woods. Here are some of her favorite images of 2009.
