Omer Counting

Well, Pesach is over and the next big holiday coming up is Shavuot. More celebrations, more fun. But, what do you do until Shavuot? you might ask. I’ll tell you… We count. Yes, that’s right, we count the days from Passover to Shavuot. It’s called Counting the Omer. Every night we count and say a blessing. There’s a few other restrictions, too, no weddings, no listening to instrumental music, and no shaving or haircuts, at least, not until Lag B’Omer (the 33rd day of the count). As you probably guessed, Lag B’Omer is a big celebration day in a lot of communities and in Israel.

Happy Counting!

 

Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff

Hanukkah Chanukah Candle Lighting Website - Live 12/20

Hanukkah starts at sundown on 12/20. If you're still looking for gifts, see our team shops and ask the owner to expedite the order.

Happy Hanukkah

This is a press release from the Israeli Ministry of tourism.

Website visitors can light candles, learn about Israel
and win a free trip 

New York - December 14, 2011: To mark the upcoming Chanukah holiday, which begins on the evening of December 20, the Israel Ministry of Tourism is re-launching its popular Chanukah microsite where visitors can log on and light virtual candles for each night of the eight-day holiday, also known as the "Festival of Lights." The site was developed in 2009 to gauge the interest of online users. The Chanukah website was developed in cooperation with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and will "go live" at www.goisrael.com/Chanukah on December 20, 2011. The landing page is up now where participants can register and learn more.

With each candle "lit," visitors to the Chanukah website will be able to access more information about travel to Israel, with a particular focus this year on Israel's diverse museums and major cultural institutions. And at the end of the holiday, site visitors who have lit all eight candles will be entered to win a free trip to Israel aboard EL AL Israel Airlines, to experience the country's many areas of cultural, religious and historical interest for themselves.

"The site is much more than a way to win a trip to Israel--it provides a unique tool for visitors to learn more about exciting sites in Israel, as well as the history and meaning of Chanukah," says Haim Gutin, Israel Commissioner for Tourism, North and South America. "And we are delighted to have the backing of the Conference of Presidents, as well as EL AL, for a promotion that links celebrating Chanukah with vacations in Israel."

For more information, please visit: www.goisrael.com.

Received by email - posted by Linda B, lindab142.etsy.com

Great Jewish Gift Ideas

Jewish Gifts for Hanukkah by lindab142

Jewish Handmade gifts from the EtsyChai team, experts on Judaism and your source for Judaica to wear, give as gifts and use for holidays.

10 Personalized Chanuk... AnotherCreatio... $15.00	Mezuzah Cover - stonewa... ClayMystique $25.00	FESTIVALS OF LIGHT Earr... downtoearthcre... $36.00
Knit Shabbat Challah Co... blazingneedles $20.00	Tallit clips in Pinks &... Accentricities $38.00	Double Silver Star of D... lindab142 $29.00
MENORAH - 16 x 12 Sign... EisnerArt $28.00	Star of David Note Ca... bbesigns $21.00	Falafel in pitta bread ... TraceyLipman $35.00
Chai Mosaic III-Print R... LauraBolterDes... $15.00	Silver Chain Bracelet W... anjalicreation... $30.00	DIY Stamped Fabric Comm... tamdoll $5.00
Chanukah Gelt Emailed i... agru $30.00	Chanukah - Hanukkah - ... poemweave $8.95	Lighting Shabbat Candle... RuthFiberJudai... $24.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Shabbat on Kibbutz

It’s hard to believe that it’s already June. Here in Israel the kids have less than a month left at school till the Hofesh HaGadol (literally meaning "the big holiday" in Hebrew). Whilst I obviously love having the kids at home and the later starts and relaxed days that come with it, filling the long two month holiday can be hard. July and August in Israel are the hottest months of the year and it is quite impossible to do any activities during the day unless they are indoors or involve water! We are already signed up for the local moshav pool and the kids will start their summer at day camp. I will undoubtedly come across many other ways to fill the days as the summer progresses but in the meantime, this last weekend, we started the activities in a great way with, what has become, our annual synagogue weekend away.

Kibbutz Hanaton is a kibbutz in northern Israel, located twelve kilometers north of Nazareth. Until the 1970s, kibbutzim in Israel were either secular or orthodox. However, the success of the Reform movement's first kibbutz inspired a group of New York Seminary students to plan a Conservative kibbutz in the early 1980s and, joining forces with the Israeli branch of Conservative Judaism, the Masorti movement, Hanaton was born. In the first years the kibbutz work was agricultural while many of the kibbutz members worked on neighboring kibbutzim in exchange for daily wages which went into the kibbutz communal fund. Today its primary source of income is its Education & Lodging Centre, which is where our community spent this last Shabbat.

Photo courtesy of http://hanaton.co.il/

Our Shabbaton (retreat) started on Friday afternoon, after the kids returned from school. Those who arrived early at Hanaton went for a dip in the pool, whilst the rest of us timed it well for candle lighting, evening services and a good meal in the Kibbutz dining room. The meal was followed by an evening activity which allowed us to chat and get to know one another a little more, all based on the question, “What is your strongest childhood memory of Shabbat meals?”. The following day followed much the same routine. Good company, good food, a little learning and a lot of shmoozing (casual conversation). It was a lovely, relaxing weekend away and a great start to our summer activities. I hope that everything else that we do this summer proves to be such fun!
 
- Lisa, http://handmadeinisrael.etsy.com/

Go Green with EtsyChai – Water Conservation

This final article in the “Go Green with EtsyChai” series comes from Rachel Swirsky of Phony Art, in Israel.

“When you live on the edge of a desert, in a country that is in the middle of a decade- long water shortage, water conservation is something you do not think about. No seriously, I am not joking. I almost never think about water conservation- mostly because it has become so much a part of my daily activities that thinking about it would be a waste of water.

I know how strange that sounds, but it's true.

Growing up in Canada I remember learning that I should shut off the water while I was brushing my teeth so that I would not waste water.  Some days I remembered; most days I forgot. Even if I did shut off the water for those 30 seconds - what difference did it really make when I knew my mom ran every dish under a continuously running strong stream of water before putting them in the dishwasher?  Once I was older I remember going to look at new washing machines and having to think about whether paying extra for the water saving machine was worthwhile - before deciding that the extra was just not in our budget. We HAD to follow the little ways to save water, but the big ways were mostly optional.

Here [Israel] it is a totally different ballgame. One of the first projects my daughter made in school was a laminated sign for her bathroom sink that read "Lishmore al kol tipat" (save every drop). In her world, teeth brushing never involves running water for longer than to wet the brush and clean it after. When people were visiting and they let the water run she was frantic about banging on the door to get them to turn it off. When we wash dishes we follow the same pattern. Water is for wetting things, and then for removing soap. We wet the plates, turn off the water, then soap them up from a saucer of soap and put them in a pile to be rinsed off quickly. When we went to look for appliances here, water efficient models were the only ones available. No idea if they would be more or less expensive (if there was a comparison) because there was no other option. Everything from low-flow gravity-assisted toilets to sensors on trees to tell the farmer when they need water are part of the regular order of things around here. I really live in a world where I do not need to think about how to save water.

With as much water as there is on this world, fresh water is at a premium. The one source for Israeli freshwater is the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)- and it is shrinking fast. It has fallen below so many different "emergency lines" that Israel has turned to painting new ones.

This is not to say we limit the water we do need. From April to October everyone everywhere carries a water bottle or three. Everywhere you go you see fountains flowing with liters and liters of recycled wet stuff.

Israeli's are incredibly proud of their mastery over water. Over the last 60 years Israeli's have drained the Northern swampland and brought water to the dessert. They have found new ways to keep farms watered using the barest minimum of H2O. Israeli farming methods like drip irrigation are now helping to bring farms and food to third world countries around the globe. 

So please, take a moment to remember to turn off the tap when you are brushing your teeth. That little bit of water can feed a thirsty tree, which will in turn feed a hungry person.”

- Rachel Swirsky of Swirsky Designs and PhonyArt

          

How do you conserve water where you live?

The Songs of Chanukah

There are so many songs that correspond to the holiday of Chanukah I can only offer a few of the more popular ones. I've included lyrics, often in both Hebrew and English, as well as links to online melodies to which you can listen.

Hanukkah Paperweights

Hanerot Halalu and Maoz Tzur (familiar to many as Rock of Ages) are the two generally sung immediately following the lighting of the menorah, with other songs being more casual and, many of them, such as I Have a Little Dreidel and Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov specifically for children.

What links them all together is the joy they express over the Jewish triumph over evil domination, an ongoing theme for many of our holidays.
Hanerot Halalu
Hanerot halalu anachnu madleekeem
Al haseem v'al hatshuot v'al hameelchamot.
Sheasita l’avoteynu bayameem hahem u'bazman hazay
Al yaday kohanecha kohanecha hak'dosheem.
V'hol sh'monas yamay Hanukah (2x)
Hanerot halalu, hanerot halalu kodesh hem.

(A candle and a flame, mirror of the light from within.
Can you see it as it flickers in the wind?
It's a star, but can't you see it now, far away?
What does it seem to say?)

Hanukkah Menorah Earrings

Maoz Tzur
Supposedly, the lyrics to this song date back to the 13th century, with the music, familiar to both Jews and Christians, possibly as far back as the 15th.

Ma'oz tzur y'shuati
L'kha na-eh l'shabei-ach
Tikon beyt t'filati
V'sham todah n'zabei-ach
L'eit tachin matbei-ach
Mitzar ha-m'nabei-ach
Az egmor b'shir mizmor
Chanukat ha-mizbei-ach
Az egmor b'shir mizmor
Chanukat ha-mizbei-ach

(Rocky Fortress of my Salvation
It is delightful to praise You
Restore my House of Prayer
And there we will give thanks with an offering
When you have prepared the slaughter
for the blaspheming foe
Then I will complete with a song of hymn
the dedication of the altar
Then I will complete with a song of hymn
the dedication of the altar)

The more familiar English words, which are NOT a literal translation of the Hebrew, are:
Rock of Ages, let our song, Praise Thy saving power
Thou amidst the raging foes, Wast our sheltering tower
Furious they assailed us, But Thine arm availed us
And thy word broke their sword, When our own strength failed us.
And thy word broke their sword, When our own strength failed us.
Mi Yimalel
I include this one, since it’s one of my favorite melodies. I often find myself humming it throughout the days of Chanukah without even realizing it.
Mi yimalel gevurot Yisrael
Otan mi yimneh?
Hein bekhol dor yakum hagibor, go-el ha-am.

Mi yimalel gevurot Yisra-el
Otan mi yimneh?
Hen bekhol dor yakum hagibor, go-el ha-am.
Sh'ma! Ba-yamim ha-heim baz'man hazeh
Maccabee moshiya u'fodeh
U'v'yameinu kol am Yisrael
Yitacheid yakum lehiga-el.

(Who can tell of the feats of Israel
Who can count them?
In every age a hero arose to save the people.
Who can tell of the feats of Israel
Who can count them?
In every age a hero arose to save the people.
Hear! In those days at this time
Maccabee saved and freed us
And in our days the whole people of Israel
Arise united to save ourselves.)

Mezuzah Case

And now for a couple of popular children’s songs. Lyrics to the rest of the listed songs can easily be found by searching online yourself.

I Have a Little Dreidel
I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay.
When it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play.

It has a lovely body, with legs so short and thin.
When it gets all tired, it drops and then I win!
Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, with leg so short and thin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, it drops and then I win!

My dreidel's always playful. It loves to dance and spin.
A happy game of dreidel, come play now let's begin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, it loves to dance and spin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. Come play now let's begin.

I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay.
When it's dry and ready, dreidel I shall play.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made you out of clay.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play.

Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
Come light the menorah
Let's have a party
We'll all dance the hora
Gather round the table, we'll have a treat
Shiny tops to play with, latkes to eat

And while we are playing
The candles are burning low
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago

A few other songs:

Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov
Ner Li
Al Hanisim

Chanukah Chanukah

by April
http://agru.etsy.com/ (ceramics shop)

Please visit our team shops listed at the left of this blog. Happy Hanukkah!