A Major Mechiah ... From a Real Mensch

(c) Minnesota Historical Society
For over a year I have been worrying along with my mother about finding a new place for her to live.Her house - the house my brother and I grew up in, and where someone in our family has lived for over 50 years - is just too big and too expensive to maintain. We have plans - approved by the planning comission yet! - to expand onto our house and create a separated living space for her. The timing is, however, not good for us, as I am writing full-time and we don't have the income to support that kind of construction, which would be well over 250k.

So what to do? My mother does not want to live in an apartment - yet. She is used to a house, enjoys a yard and some privacy, can manage stairs now, etc. We would love to have her live close to us, but the price of housing is very expensive in our community.
In fact, one of the houses directly across the street from ours was advertised at 480k - for just a little storey-and-a-half that backs onto a commercial alley.

Fortunately, we have found a solution. We have a very good neighbor who lives in Chicago but maintains his family house - the one next-door to the 1.5 storey number. I got to thinking that this family house stands empty probably 45-50 weeks of the year, our neighbor coming up only a few times in the summer and fall to visit relatives and friends. We would often chat when he visited and Tom and I keep an eye on the place when he's not there.

So I collected my courage and called up our neighbor at his office and asked if he would consider letting my mother live in the house. I explained that she could come and stay by us whenever he wanted to visit. Thank Gd, he was very open to the proposal and when we met today he said that she could live there for at least a year for a very reasonable price - reasonable even on my mother's miniscule income.

We are so blessed with a mensch for a neighbor and a wonderful mother.

The discreet charm of living in galus

One of the joys of living in an enclave of non-yidden is the interesting use of Yiddish/Hebrew. I'll never forget one of my classmates at college who was going to his Jewish friend's house for the first time and wanted to know if her parents were going to be serving any potato tchotchkes. A yukon gold in lucite perhaps?

Another classic happened last night when we went to a major grocery chain which is capping off an extensive remodel with the addition of a separate kosher meat/deli dept. and a kosher bakery. In any event, there we were strolling the semi-deserted aisles adjacent to the new construction, searching for chicken and kreplach (I am not interested in potchkehing arond with them this year). Bought a chicken, which looked normal, had an expiry date of 16 October and trundled on home. Low and behold when I opened it this afternoon it was ROTTEN. Not just chancy chicken - out and out foul fowl.

Oy. And for this we had schlepped all the way across the metro? It should be a kapporah, I thought, and then called Byerleys to see how to resolve the question. The young manager was very friendly and taken aback by the situation. She asked at what time I'd bought the chicken. When I told her that it was late last night, she sighed and said, "Oh, the moshiach doesn't work that late." My first reaction was how did she have access to the Messiah's dayplanner? Then I realized that she meant "mashgiach" - the rabbinically accredited kashrus supervisor, as it were. It was a nice laugh.

My last smile before Yom Kippur was from a friend here who had been able to go to a kapporah ritual the night before. Performed with live chickens, according to the ritual. Now and then the chickens, being alive and frightened, let loose with their chickenly fluids. This gives rise to the question about what one should put over one's head to avoid this sudden smelly shower. From my experience, as for headcovering, the look du jour is usually shmatte, and a genuine one at that. No one has enough sheitels for a "kapporah sheitel". Heaven forfend that a lady should%2

Happy 5766

Ok, just a short post here. This is my current favorite recipe for lekakh. It's worth asking your rabbi for a piece just before Yom Kippur!








1/2 c oil - neutral, like canola, safflower or corn
1 c sugar
1 c dk brown sugar
1 c. honey
1 c. dark beet syrup - substitute with an additional cup of honey if you can't get it
4 eggs separated
5 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. salt
1 c. café cubano - or your strongest available
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. wine/brandy/what you like, if you like it
1 c raisins - I soak them in the wine or brandy if I'm going to use alcohol
Nuts - if it's not around Rosh Hashanah time

Blend the egg yolks, sugars, oil well. Add the spices and the raisins. Sift the dry ingredients together and add alternately with the coffee. Beat the egg whites until frothy but not dry. Fold in gently with the batter. Bake in greased and floured pans at 325 for at least 1 hour. This makes a small sheet cake and a loaf pan. You can easily cut this in half.




A good sealing and an easy fast!