I got new glasses.

Lessons from Tishrei, reading & other recommendations, and my Shabbos plans

Nope. That’s not a wave washing up on a sandy shore.

I’m of mixed feelings now that the holidays are over.

Cooking for 3 three-day Yom Tovs was exhausting.

Our stovetop exploded on the first morning of Rosh Hashana. Our sukkah collapsed days before chag. Sauce from the pan of stuffed cabbage spilled all over the oven floor, filling the house with smoke and setting off the alarm an hour before candle lighting.(It’s never ever a good idea to make stuffed cabbage so late in the game anyway, but I digress). And then on Erev Shemini Atzeres, I preheated the oven, forgetting that challah dough was rising inside. For a visual, see the photo above — a five-pound challah baked in a bowl, topped with a wave of melted plastic wrap.

Kaparahs all, I believed. While I would’ve said that last year, too, I might not have taken the mess or the damage in stride as I did this time. I mean I wasn’t happy about any of it, but I had the perspective to know that in the scheme of things, these were no more than annoyances. It’s like I’d acquired a new pair of glasses that showed me everything would work out. Or not. As long as I had the seichel to let go and let G-d, I’d be fine either way.

So I shrugged and did my best to clean up the oven, propping open the front door and the windows to air out the smoke. The cabbage was delicious. I made a new batch of dough and 10 small round challahs in time for the holiday’s start. And we got very lucky. A new cooktop was installed a week later.

I’m tired, having just finished all the laundry that piled up over Sukkos. But I also miss the chagim for the distraction they offered. Time off from our phones, a shelter away from our newsfeeds. The joy of celebrating with family and friends, a reminder that we have survived as a people for thousands of years precisely because we know to embrace life with all its warts and challenges. Still, no amount of apple cake or honey-drizzled challah (Who was counting anyway?) could take our minds off the current narrative for long.

It’s very loud out here in the world for us Jews. I’m investing a lot of hope in the new moon of Cheshvan, with its promise of quiet on the Jewish calendar. I’m praying for gentler waters, for peace and security, for everyone’s safe return home. It’s a comfort to know these same prayers are on your lips, too.

Hang in there, my dear people.

Nice Writing News

My poem In Borrowed Clothes went up on the Jewish Book Council site as part of its Witnessing series, which shares the work of Israeli and Jewish writers around the world in the aftermath of October 7th. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

Reading & Recommendations

First, just a sampling of books since my reading over chag wasn’t as plentiful as I’d have liked.

• I was meh on Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall, but it made for a great book club discussion.

• Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher was sad-funny. Unto the Soul by Aharon Appelfeld was a jarring allegory (warning: there’s incest) about keeping faith. It’s the first book by this author, whom I adore, that I did not like at all.

• My favorite of the Yom Tov reading lot was Flora & Ulysses by Cate DiCamillo (recommended for ages 8-11). The hero is a typing, poetry-writing squirrel who overcomes the bad guys through acts of kindness. What could be better than that right now?

• I also read The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford, Bylines and Blessings by Judy Gruen, Nearly Departed by Gila Pfeffer, and a few other titles. I’ll include short reviews of everything on my end-of-the-year booklist.

• Current reading, which I’m enjoying: Monica Wood’s How to Read a Book.

Other bits of interest:

• This stunning video featuring millions of monarch butterflies in transit is breathtaking and beautiful and a balm.

• Loved the backstory on Bissli, Israel’s iconic savory snack.

• Related to this essay by Ann Patchett, who still regrets signing up for email 30 years ago.

• My writing friend Ruth Franklin’s review of When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary (recommended for ages 9 to 12) has convinced me to read the book. Ruth’s biography The Many Lives of Anne Frank is coming soon, too.

• This piece by writer Lionel Shriver sums up the exhaustion, pain, and frustration of being a Jewish writer today. Show Israeli and other Jewish writers some love by buying their books, writing reviews, and posting about them in your own social media spaces. Maybe send them a note of support, too.

May It Be Peaceful & Restful

In the back of my mind as I write this is a hovering sense of panic that I have to cook for Shabbos. Again. I generally love meal prep, but I’m spent. During a short break to stretch my legs and wrists, I went on a scavenger hunt in the freezer, where I was grateful to discover enough challah for both meals and the soup we did not eat on Rosh Hashana because of the cooktop episode. I’ll wing the rest of the menu. :)

Thank G-d, Shabbos comes at the end of every week, whatever kind of week it was. I am eager to rest and to read, and for the break from the phone. I only hope we’ll return to it to find good news, better news, awaiting us after Havdalah.

Here’s to a Gut Shabbos and a Chodesh Tov. A blessed day, a good month.

Love,

Merri