Comments on: Happy New Year 09

By: ellaella

ellaella — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:07:43 +0000

Thank you, Tess. It does feel good to be a little unencumbered, a little lighter on my feet so to speak. One problem for me is that I’m just so darn sentimental. Anything given to me by my parents or anyone else who has died is generally off limits for throwing away. I did toss a few small kitchen things my mother gave me that were no longer usable and hoped she would understand.

By: Tess

Tess — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:28:44 +0000

Thank you for the New Year greeting!
And wishing the best and most joyful 5770 for you.

Getting rid of stuff isn’t easy, but once it’s done you feel so much lighter, no longer tied to so many “things.” At least that’s what some of my older friends,in their 80’s, say. Of course they are referring to a different phase of life (they don’t want their children to have to do it).
Tess´s last blog ..Youvarlakia Avgolemono: a Greek meatball soup

By: ellaella

ellaella — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:35:40 +0000

Thanks, Muse! Same to you!

The van will be here at the end of the week. I don’t know how I’ve acquired so much stuff. The throwing away seems to take longer than the packing. I decided my time is better spent packing than yard saling so, having sold the big items privately, scrapped the sale idea and began hauling stuff to charity shops yesterday (not a one-trip deal with a small car). I still have boxes full of stuff to donate but at least I have some room now for more packing boxes. Back to it…

By: MusEditions

MusEditions — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:04:31 +0000

So much packing! Thanks for the NY wishes, and it sounds like you are starting 5770 with the good kind of change.
Keeping you in good thoughts as the moving van arrives!
MusEditions´s last blog ..Pirate talk at the new year

By: ellaella

ellaella — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:02:03 +0000

And Happy 5770 back at ya! It’s probably presumptuous of a Gentile to have a favorite Jewish holiday, but this is mine. It’s joyous, centered around family and friends and I love the symbolism of foods involved.

A really good source for learning about Jewish holidays and other aspects of Judaism is jewfaq.org, aka Judaism 101. Rosh Hashana starts the 10 days of the High Holidays, the Days of Awe, which culminate with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. YK reminds me of Good Friday in many ways: it’s a somber day, it’s a day of fasting, not feasting, and just as we Catholics are required to go to confession during Lent and atone, Jews spend many hours in synagogue on YK. (However, GF is the only day that Catholic churches don’t celebrate Mass because it’s the most somber day of the year and Mass celebrates Christ and there’s nothing to celebrate on GF. Instead, we spend a couple hours in church for the Stations of the Cross, remembering the events of that day.)

Sorry to turn this into a mini-mini comparative religions class, but in many ways Judaism and Christianity are more alike than different. Which makes perfect sense.

L’chaim!
(ps – Mary is this week’s ‘toon)