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57 comments
1 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:41:43am

Just want to say I am enjoying the Panasonic Blu-Ray player that I bought last week.

The fact that the two movies that I chose from Netflix “instant watch” turned out to be Teh Suck, has nothing to do with this great deal.

2 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:43:36am

Playing Santa for thyself?

3 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:44:52am

re: #2 ggt

Playing Santa for thyself?

There is no Santa. The grandparents buy the presents!

4 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:46:08am

re: #2 ggt

Playing Santa for thyself?

That is one advantage of being Jewish, I suppose. You get full credit for everything you buy for the kids.

5 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:47:12am

re: #4 EmmmieG

Without all the BS work.

Unless you celebrate Orthodox Passover, I think I’d rather go thru the tree/ornament mess than that.

6 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:47:43am

re: #3 Alouette

retailers depend on it!

7 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:49:06am

re: #5 ggt

Without all the BS work.

Unless you celebrate Orthodox Passover, I think I’d rather go thru the tree/ornament mess than that.

Ah, the sounds of Christmas in a house with cats/kids. “Crash, tinkle, tinkle…” This is why I now buy non-breakable ornaments.

I hadn’t realized how much work Orthodox Passover was until Alouette and LVQ discussed it.

8 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:51:23am

re: #7 EmmmieG

Ah, the sounds of Christmas in a house with cats/kids. “Crash, tinkle, tinkle…” This is why I now buy non-breakable ornaments.

I hadn’t realized how much work Orthodox Passover was until Alouette and LVQ discussed it.

Now that I am back at work full time, I’m thinking about how to clean my house.

I will hint heavily for an invitation to spend Passover with one of my sons, either in Alabama or Florida.

If the hints don’t work, I will just say “I’m coming to you for Pesach!”

9 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:52:45am

re: #8 Alouette

Now that I am back at work full time, I’m thinking about how to clean my house.

I will hint heavily for an invitation to spend Passover with one of my sons, either in Alabama or Florida.

If the hints don’t work, I will just say “I’m coming to you for Pesach!”

That sounds like an excellent idea.

10 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:53:54am

re: #8 Alouette

I understand that there are special “Orthodox Passover” cleaning services … .

11 darthstar  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:53:58am

re: #8 Alouette

Now that I am back at work full time, I’m thinking about how to clean my house.

I highly recommend having someone come in every other week to do a full cleaning for you.

12 Fozzie Bear  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:55:21am

Food, family, expressions of mutual appreciation.

If you have those things, the rest is just gravy.

13 Fozzie Bear  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:55:49am

re: #12 Fozzie Bear

And if you don’t, come to my house. We have it all to spare. :)

14 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:56:29am

re: #12 Fozzie Bear

Food, family, expressions of mutual appreciation.

If you have those things, the rest is just gravy.

Don’t forget the kids hopped up on sugar and adrenaline. Can’t have Christmas without at least one kid who’s gone totally over the top.

15 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:56:41am

re: #10 ggt

I understand that there are special “Orthodox Passover” cleaning services …

I used to have those cleaning services. Unfortunately, all my kids moved out.

16 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:57:08am

re: #3 Alouette

There is no Santa. The grandparents buy the presents!

Aaaaah! Don’t say that where the fourth graders can hear you!!!

(Sorry, still recovering from SantaGate.)

17 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:57:56am

re: #16 SanFranciscoZionist

Aaaah! Don’t say that where the fourth graders can hear you!!!

(Sorry, still recovering from SantaGate.)

We have one remaining believer left in this family. The other children have all been given the evil eye and a short, pointed talk.

18 wrenchwench  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:58:17am

re: #11 darthstar

I highly recommend having someone come in every other week to do a full cleaning for you.

FlyLady won’t do it for you, but she’ll show you how to make it easy.

19 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:58:45am

re: #16 SanFranciscoZionist

Aaaah! Don’t say that where the fourth graders can hear you!!!

(Sorry, still recovering from SantaGate.)

My kids were such monsters. They told the gentile kids down the block “the parents buy your presents!”

They also had the notion that Santa was Jesus as an old man.

20 Kronocide  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:59:31am

I’m trying to find A Christmas Story on DVD Region 4 (Australia).

I guess they didn’t release it in that region, tough to find.

21 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:59:37am

re: #5 ggt

Without all the BS work.

Unless you celebrate Orthodox Passover, I think I’d rather go thru the tree/ornament mess than that.

Yes, you would. I’ve never understood how a holiday celebrating freedom turned into an annual sentence at hard labor for women.

Well, I sort of understand it. I still mutter. And remind everyone, as my rabbi once reminded me, that dirt is not chametz.

Personally, I favor the Ethiopian old-country custom for Pesach. Since they figure you can’t possibly get all the crumbs out of the house, everyone just camps out in the village square for the holiday.

Since this would involve freezing to death in Poland, this custom never caught on with my immediate ancestors.

22 engineer cat  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 11:59:59am

now that they have repealed the ‘don’t ask, can’t smell’ -

when are they gonna pass a law allowing the children of millionaires and congresspeoples to serve in combat?

23 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:00:04pm

re: #19 Alouette


They also had the notion that Santa was Jesus as an old man.

I found that strangely comforting. Would throw the whacko fundamentalists in a tailspin tho. HA!

24 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:01:41pm

re: #19 Alouette

My kids were such monsters. They told the gentile kids down the block “the parents buy your presents!”

They also had the notion that Santa was Jesus as an old man.

One of the Israeli bloggers I read tells me that he knows Israeli haredi kids who call Santa “Saba Sukkos”, because they see him on the packages of Christmas ornaments their parents buy to decorate the sukkah.

25 engineer cat  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:01:47pm

i used to have the pamphlet that the lubavitchers passed out describing how to kasher the pet food and the microwave for pesach

26 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:02:16pm

re: #21 SanFranciscoZionist

No Pizza for Passover?

27 b_sharp  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:02:49pm

re: #3 Alouette

There is no Santa. The grandparents buy the presents!

I’ve always wondered why the gifts stopped when my grandparents died. I thought I had been permanently placed on the naughty list.

28 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:03:03pm

re: #22 engineer dog

Prince Harry serves and that caused all kinds of uproar.

29 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:03:09pm

re: #21 SanFranciscoZionist

Yes, you would. I’ve never understood how a holiday celebrating freedom turned into an annual sentence at hard labor for women.

Well, I sort of understand it. I still mutter. And remind everyone, as my rabbi once reminded me, that dirt is not chametz.

Personally, I favor the Ethiopian old-country custom for Pesach. Since they figure you can’t possibly get all the crumbs out of the house, everyone just camps out in the village square for the holiday.

Since this would involve freezing to death in Poland, this custom never caught on with my immediate ancestors.

I have only ever once spent Pesach away from home. In 2007, Zedushka and I went to our son in Moscow for the holiday.

I really think I’d like to go to Alabama this year. And next year, in Miami Beach!

30 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:04:11pm

re: #26 ggt

No Pizza for Passover?

What do you think the original pizza was? Roman soldiers sampled matzah and decided to spice it up with cheese and tomatoes!

31 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:04:17pm

re: #29 Alouette

Don’t Hint, Just Tell.

“I’m coming to your house this year”. HA!

32 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:05:45pm

re: #24 SanFranciscoZionist

One of the Israeli bloggers I read tells me that he knows Israeli haredi kids who call Santa “Saba Sukkos”, because they see him on the packages of Christmas ornaments their parents buy to decorate the sukkah.

I remember seeing a very elaborate “Shalach Manos” on Purim, full of little chocolate Easter bunnies. (Yes, the “Nazareth Candy Company” has a Badatz hechsher)

33 What, me worry?  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:05:49pm

re: #19 Alouette

My kids were such monsters. They told the gentile kids down the block “the parents buy your presents!”

They also had the notion that Santa was Jesus as an old man.

They were indeed!

I didn’t have a problem with Christmas, mostly because (I guess) we got the 8 presents. Although I always wondered why I was being envied by my Christian friends. If there’s 12 days of Christmas, didn’t they get 12 presents? And we got only a measly 8!

No, Santa wasn’t an issue for me, but the Easter Bunny was. Every year, I’d say to my mom, “Are you SURE we don’t believe in the Easter Bunny??” Solid chocolate bunnies. I would have traded every Hanukah gift for one.

34 b_sharp  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:06:09pm

re: #19 Alouette

My kids were such monsters. They told the gentile kids down the block “the parents buy your presents!”

They also had the notion that Santa was Jesus as an old man.

LOL.

35 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:06:38pm

re: #33 marjoriemoon

They were indeed!

I didn’t have a problem with Christmas, mostly because (I guess) we got the 8 presents. Although I always wondered why I was being envied by my Christian friends. If there’s 12 days of Christmas, didn’t they get 12 presents? And we got only a measly 8!

No, Santa wasn’t an issue for me, but the Easter Bunny was. Every year, I’d say to my mom, “Are you SURE we don’t believe in the Easter Bunny??” Solid chocolate bunnies. I would have traded every Hanukah gift for one.

See my post #32 about the “Nazareth Candy Company”

36 Fozzie Bear  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:07:41pm

I didn’t know what Pesach was, being a gentile, so I just googled it. I found this:

We may not eat chametz during Pesach; we may not even own it or derive benefit from it. We may not even feed it to our pets or cattle. All chametz, including utensils used to cook chametz, must either be disposed of or sold to a non-Jew (they can be repurchased after the holiday). Pets’ diets must be changed for the holiday, or the pets must be sold to a non-Jew (like the food and utensils, the pets can be repurchased after the holiday ends).

Why do you have to sell the pets? Why not just let a friend watch them for a few days? (I mean I imagine many people just ignore this part because it’s silly, but it made me curious.)

37 What, me worry?  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:07:55pm

re: #24 SanFranciscoZionist

One of the Israeli bloggers I read tells me that he knows Israeli haredi kids who call Santa “Saba Sukkos”, because they see him on the packages of Christmas ornaments their parents buy to decorate the sukkah.

For realz?? Christmas ornaments on a sukkah? I’m very confused.

38 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:09:00pm

re: #37 marjoriemoon

For realz?? Christmas ornaments on a sukkah? I’m very confused.

Reindeer? Candy canes?

I guess I could see the birds. Maybe some wreath-type floral stuff.

39 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:09:31pm

re: #32 Alouette

There is a joke about capitalism in there, but I can’t find it. Mostly because I don’t have time to look up all the Jewish words.

40 What, me worry?  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:09:48pm

re: #38 EmmmieG

Reindeer? Candy canes?

I guess I could see the birds. Maybe some wreath-type floral stuff.

It’s about the harvest, so I’m not sure… yes, wreaths would be very nice and anything floral.

41 b_sharp  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:11:07pm

re: #36 Fozzie Bear

I didn’t know what Pesach was, being a gentile, so I just googled it. I found this:

Why do you have to sell the pets? Why not just let a friend watch them for a few days? (I mean I imagine many people just ignore this part because it’s silly, but it made me curious.)

Why not eat the pets?

42 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:11:11pm

Oh dear. I have discovered the source of the Soviet’s power.

See here:

[Link: history.icanhascheezburger.com…]

43 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:12:58pm

re: #36 Fozzie Bear

I didn’t know what Pesach was, being a gentile, so I just googled it. I found this:

Why do you have to sell the pets? Why not just let a friend watch them for a few days? (I mean I imagine many people just ignore this part because it’s silly, but it made me curious.)

Ownership issues. I’ve never heard of selling the pets, per se, just of finding non-chametz food for them over the holidays. My mother just cooked for our dog during Pesach. He loved the season.

If I have scotch in the house, I sell it to one of my girlfriends over the holiday. We have a drink to celebrate the sale, then another when I buy it back. Sometimes the bottle does not survive the whole process.

44 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:13:09pm

re: #38 EmmmieG

Reindeer? Candy canes?

I guess I could see the birds. Maybe some wreath-type floral stuff.

Red and green colored tree lights.

However, now they make decorations and colored lights especially for Sukkot.

45 wrenchwench  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:13:53pm

re: #41 b_sharp

Why not eat the pets?

We need a “SMACK!” button in between the + and the -.

46 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:13:55pm

re: #37 marjoriemoon

For realz?? Christmas ornaments on a sukkah? I’m very confused.

Israeli retailers get ahold of off-season lights and tinsel and stuff and sell it as Sukkot decorations sometimes. I think something similar happens in India for some of the holidays. It’s just an easy source of mass-produced glittery stuff.

47 Fozzie Bear  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:14:01pm

re: #41 b_sharp

Why not eat the pets?

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Well, i’m thinking certain kinds of pets just can’t be taken off grains for a few days, or they would die. Small birds, in particular. So I guess since you can’t even be “responsible for” any grains, or anything that needs grains, you can’t have a small bird, for example.

The part that strikes me as silly is the selling/repurchasing the pet to a gentile. I don’t get that part.

48 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:18:24pm

re: #47 Fozzie Bear

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Well, i’m thinking certain kinds of pets just can’t be taken off grains for a few days, or they would die. Small birds, in particular. So I guess since you can’t even be “responsible for” any grains, or anything that needs grains, you can’t have a small bird, for example.

The part that strikes me as silly is the selling/repurchasing the pet to a gentile. I don’t get that part.

It’s a legal fiction. You sell the chametz, or the bird, or whatever, to a gentile, and it’s no longer your legal possession.

There was a case I heard about some time back about a young man who wanted to fix his cat, but followed a rabbinic ruling that said you couldn’t neuter your animals. So he took the cat to work, ‘sold’ it to an Arab woman he worked with, she took the cat, had it fixed, and ‘sold’ him the cat back.

49 b_sharp  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:18:44pm

re: #47 Fozzie Bear

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Well, i’m thinking certain kinds of pets just can’t be taken off grains for a few days, or they would die. Small birds, in particular. So I guess since you can’t even be “responsible for” any grains, or anything that needs grains, you can’t have a small bird, for example.

The part that strikes me as silly is the selling/repurchasing the pet to a gentile. I don’t get that part.

Religious traditions may have started out sensible for the time but just didn’t make it through the countless revisions and the evolution of culture.

50 b_sharp  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:20:33pm

re: #48 SanFranciscoZionist

It’s a legal fiction. You sell the chametz, or the bird, or whatever, to a gentile, and it’s no longer your legal possession.

There was a case I heard about some time back about a young man who wanted to fix his cat, but followed a rabbinic ruling that said you couldn’t neuter your animals. So he took the cat to work, ‘sold’ it to an Arab woman he worked with, she took the cat, had it fixed, and ‘sold’ him the cat back.

Still doesn’t make sense, but I can see how it could be fun if handled the right way.

At least for the greedy capitalist you sell the animals to.

51 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:23:14pm

re: #50 b_sharp

Still doesn’t make sense, but I can see how it could be fun if handled the right way.

At least for the greedy capitalist you sell the animals to.

It’s just a formality—my old synagogue would make arrangements for the whole congregation to do it.

52 Fozzie Bear  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:25:01pm

It’s the idea that you can get off on a technicality when being judged by a deity that cracks me up.

“But God, I called no tagbacks!”

53 b_sharp  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:25:35pm

re: #51 SanFranciscoZionist

It’s just a formality—my old synagogue would make arrangements for the whole congregation to do it.

An idea for my next business venture just popped into my head.

Thank you.

54 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:25:50pm

On the bright side, Christian kids get really good at counting to 25.

55 FemNaziBitch  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:26:25pm

I HAVE TO get off-line and get my kids from school.

Have a great day all!

56 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:30:27pm

re: #52 Fozzie Bear

It’s the idea that you can get off on a technicality when being judged by a deity that cracks me up.

“But God, I called no tagbacks!”

There’s a story from the Talmud where God actually speaks for one side of an argument between rabbis about a kashrut issue, but they decide the ruling according to the majority of voting members of the group—of whom, they point out, God is not one.

The story then goes that someone who has a vision of the Prophet Elijah asks how God took that, and Elijah tells him that God laughed, and said ‘my children have defeated me’.

Traditional Judaism believes that the Law was given by God, but it’s been our project ever since, to interpret it and make it work for us.

57 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Dec 20, 2010 12:32:56pm

re: #56 SanFranciscoZionist

There’s a story from the Talmud where God actually speaks for one side of an argument between rabbis about a kashrut issue, but they decide the ruling according to the majority of voting members of the group—of whom, they point out, God is not one.

The story then goes that someone who has a vision of the Prophet Elijah asks how God took that, and Elijah tells him that God laughed, and said ‘my children have defeated me’.

Traditional Judaism believes that the Law was given by God, but it’s been our project ever since, to interpret it and make it work for us.

Yes, the one dissenting rabbi even had a voice from heaven speak out “Rabbi (so-and-so) is right!” And the other rabbis yelled back, “You stay out of this!”


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