Sukkah 2008; painting of grapes in the corner
Batya has done three blog carnivals this month, and her final one is the 46th edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Some of the highlights include Zwetschgenkuchen, the relationship between solet and semolina, and whether it is better to have insects and or insecticides (I’ll take the bugs, thank you very much – no insecticide for me – soap sometimes can drown aphids, that’s as far as I get). We mostly get bees in our sukkah; I think the nastier bugs have gone South by the time Sukkot comes.
As this coming week is Sukkot, I suspect many of you celebrating this upcoming holiday are (again) meal planning and cooking? What’s on the menu? I’m hoping to make an apple pie, and I also plan to make strawberry cashew pudding (another recipe from Klara). The pudding, if all goes well, will become a post, too.
A new Torah was dedicated on Sunday at Congregation Etz Ahaim, a Sephardi Orthodox synagogue in Highland Park, New Jersey. Sephardim read the Torah with the Torah scroll in an upright position, whereas Ashkenazim read the Torah scrolls placed flat on the bimah (raised platform). So the Torah cases of the Sephardim are made out of fancy metal, and the Ashkenaz ones are typically embroidered cloth.
The happy occasion was in honor of a bat-mitzvah; the bat-mitzvah girl conducted the dedication, along with her grandmother. It was a lovely community affair, and children were in attendance, including some who got rather sleepy (such as my daughter) because the ceremony was happening at their bedtimes. When they brought out all the Torah scrolls, the children woke up, with all the lively singing and dancing.
Pomegranate, watercolor on paper, 2008
This is a re-post of my pomegranate painting I did last year. The pomegranate has many seeds; some say there are as many seeds in a pomegranate as there are mitzvot in the Torah (613). Well, years ago, my brother and I counted the seeds of a pomegranate one afternoon. We put the seeds in bowls spread across the table. Then I reported back to the teacher that indeed this pomegranate had way more than 613 seeds. His response: “Did the pomegranate grown in the Land of Israel?” I responded no, as it probably grew in California. Anyway, it is customary to eat a pomegranate on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. You can read more about the symbols for Rosh Hashana in last year’s post.
For more images with a little red or a little of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
Three Squash, watercolor on paper
This coming week is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and it is traditional to put certain symbolic foods on the table (see my post from last year about the simanim). Yesterday I did this watercolor of three squashes (or simply ‘squash’ – looks like the plural can be with or without the ‘es’).
What to do with squash? One of my friends said she will make my squash into a delicious squash soup. Will she share the recipe? Hmm. I could chop up the zucchini and saute it with onions, fresh garden basil and a bit of tomato. The little pumpkin, I told my son, is too tiny for a jack o’ lantern, but I told him we could buy a bigger one for that purpose for Sukkot (holiday in three weeks). I will probably make a stuffed squash for Friday night.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my new “Websites for Small Biz” blog project. This morning I tried to put a fancy magazine theme on the new blog; the fancy shmancy theme crashed the blog, so I had to delete it. I will be experimenting with themes for a while on that blog. There are lots of details to fine tune on a new blog.
I am excited to have another guest blogger that I interviewed. She is from New Jersey, and she writes about: playgrounds! Come back on Wednesday to learn more.
Rosh Hashana is coming next week – for the Jewish New Year, Jews around the world are (supposed to be) preparing themselves spiritually for the day. I approach the upcoming holiday by exploring the simanim, the food symbols that we put on the table. Beets, pictured in the above watercolor, are one siman. More on the simanim next week.
Chalfonte Hotel, Cape May, New Jersey (built in 1876)
While I am waiting patiently for Mary to post her Ruby Tuesday Mr. Linky,
Batya posted the next edition of JPIX (the Blog Carnival of Jewish Photo Bloggers). So enjoy that while you are waiting! The next one will be in December, and I will be hosting, so, Jewish photo bloggers, please photograph upcoming Jewish holiday preparations, especially your sukkah.
I happily award James and James – both are posting beautiful photos.
The first James has recently posted he is thinking of changing his blog name to something that reflects his current interest in walking (“Views from my Walking Shoes”?).
The second James lives in nearby Newtown, Pennsylvania, and I greatly enjoy his collection of photos of familiar and less familiar locations.
There is an upcoming Jewish Bloggers Convention in Israel on September 13, 2009. I would like to nominate two bloggers for the convention: Soccer Dad and Baila.
I am nominating Soccer Dad for many of the reasons Batya wrote on this post. Besides founding Haveil Havalim, he has participated in the other two Jewish blog carnivals, JPIX and Kosher Cooking Carnival (which he has also hosted). I see from this post many others agree with this nomination.
As to Baila, she writes it well herself: “Two years ago my family and I arrived in Israel on the same NBN flight–the last one of the summer. I was in shell-shock. We had just come off a really tough time with Liat being so ill that year. I was numb throughout the flight and have since said, I wish I could do it again without all the “baggage”–so to speak. This would be my chance.” Who else of the Jewish women bloggers has this kind of energy and enthusiasm to help others with their aliyah experience? Besides, I think she would be best at breaking it gently to all those new families that they will not be able to purchase baby carrots in their local supermarket.
Today and yesterday I started and finished reading Roommates: My Grandfather’s Story by Max Apple. Great book, it was written prior to I Love Gootie about his grandmother, which I previously reviewed. Max lived with his grandfather (Rocky, shortened from Yerachmiel) when he was in graduate school. After he gets married and has two kids, his wife becomes terminally ill, and his grandfather, by then over 100, steps in to help. A bittersweet tale of closeness between the generations, the grandfather is at the same time tough and stubborn and caring and fun. Here’s what Max hears about Rocky’s trip to Jerusalem in 1968:
Rocky didn’t find any synagogue that satisfied him, but there were so many that he complained about a different one each day.
Two upcoming events, one for job hunters and networking and one for fun, to raise money for terror victims:
ParnasaFest in East Brunswick: What’s a ParnasaFest? A chance for Jewish professionals to network. The upcoming event will be at 7:00 pm on September, 10 at B’nai Shalom Congregation, Fern Rd & Old Stage Rd. Learn more on the ParnasaFest website.
One Family Fund festival: Join family and friends in Highland Park for a One Family Fund festival to raise money for victims of terror on Labor Day, September 7, 2009. The festival will Feature: 3 on 3 basketball tournament, softball, arts & crafts, face painting and Mini Carnival. Admission: $18 individuals, $36 family (parents and children); $100 family plus “patron” status. To register visit www.onefamilyfund.org/FUNDAY or call 646-289-8600 ext. 202. Pizza, snacks, and refreshments will be sold. All proceeds from this event go to helping victims of terror in Israel and their families.
Note: the One Family Fund website seems to be down…
How would you respond if you got this comment on your blog:
What I find so cringe-inducing in this blog is your unconditional belief in the virtue of your son serving in the IDF. There are things worth dying for, but I posit that maintaining the status quo in Israel is not one of them. I would take no pride in having a son of mine be a pawn in a political game.
Lee Avenue in Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn, illustration by Elke Reva Sudin How did you get started doing art?
I have always been an artist. It is a personality disorder that somehow becomes acceptable when channeled through pen on paper.
What was your childhood relationship to art?
Crayola
What is your training?
Growing up I had very little access to art or the artistic mentality. My parents are not artists and growing up in a religious school with no art program did not help either. I did what I could on my own but it was not until the age of 16 when I attended a pre-college program at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) that I understood for the first time how representing subject through mark making could be such an enlightening experience.
College furthered what I had gotten a taste of in pre-college. Each of my 4 years gave me a deeper understanding of how any art is conceived, designed and constructed. I received a BFA in Illustration at Pratt Institute, an art and design college in Brooklyn.
What motivates you to do art?
Drawing from life. I enjoy the experience of translating one mode of experience into another. The illustration is an end product of my excitement to study and reflect without too much questioning during the process.
What in particular do you find difficult about doing “Jewish” art? Any conflicts?
The problem with “Jewish” art is that Judaism is built on the concept that God is infinite and we are contained within God. Therefore all our our earthly experiences are illusions because everything that we see as being separate, is really one unified entity. Whenever I attempt a “Jewish” art piece, it seems pointless to show material garments, ritual items and customs, because those only exist for us to find a way to connect with the ephemeral. It boils down and boils down until not even a blank white piece of paper to gives off true meaning. There is a reason we are commanded not to make graven images, people get absorbed in the image and not the meaning. I think this idea has helped Judaism survive for so long by the fact that no matter where we are in the world, we as Jews have no attachment to ritual as connected to physical things. The idea survives even when large portions of the population is wiped out.
My connection to Judaism is through action. So it is rather my process of creating the art, in which I connect to the infinite connections and acknowledging the spiritual path that it follows, that bring me to an end product which I feel is Jewish. Because there is no separation between my being and my artistic product, the product is inherently spiritual.
What would you suggest to someone who wants to learn art? Illustration?
The best advice I can give is to draw from life. Often times we draw from experiences, but our memories have a funny way of selecting what we remember, which is very limiting. Drawing from life opens up the artist to nuances and connections that would be otherwise hidden. Using our hands, we as artists have an easier time connecting to different parts of our brains, resulting in “happy accidents,” and allow us to take something physical and transform it into something representational and meaningful.
I studied illustration because it takes the principles of art and design and applies them in a more directed setting suitable for performing commercial work compared to what is generally taught in the contemporary fine art educational setting. Direction is important, because without focus artists tend to turn to their own desire to be admired by others, rather than contributing their abilities to the enlightenment of the public.
Can you tell us about the Hipsters and Hassids project?
I constructed an illustrated book titled “Hipsters and Hassids: The Youth of Williamsburg North and South.” It is an investigative illustrative study which discovers the surprising similarities these seemingly polar opposite communities have in common. I went inside the neighborhoods, with a strong focus on the Hassidic side, particularly concerning the women, to see first hand what life is like behind the surface is like. One of the biggest misunderstandings (and commonalities) is that both sides are so off-putting. On the Hipster side they sell their look and lifestyle as a product. Life is valued by the self absorbed fascination with the party, the outfit, and obscure references to music and culture, but lacking any meaning which had once held strong associations to those things. On the Hassidic end of things they are very protective of preserving their customs and way of life and outside influences are harmful in that respect. The truth is that people are the same everywhere, there will always be people open and close-minded, self absorbed and absorbed in other things, those of respect and those who bring shame to the human race, but the important thing is to remember the unity that all people share. We are all a part of this world for a reason and an obsession with particular fashions just aint it.
Lorri of Jew Wishes has 
Today and yesterday I started and finished reading Roommates: My Grandfather’s Story by Max Apple. Great book, it was written prior to I Love Gootie about his grandmother, which 
