Smoking is "officially" Kosher for Passover

A couple of weeks ago I asked why cigarettes don't have a hechsher . . and now they do. Will try not to give people any more ideas :p.

Here's the article that elaborates.

Happy Passover!!!

Happy Pesach!!!

Last year I made a passport to keep the kids engaged at the seder. This year, we're doing SEDER BINGO instead.We'll be at my sister-in-law's. My brother-in-law's family  is Moroccan, so some of the items on the bingo reflect his traditions (mixing water with wine, dipping veggies in lemon water). There are lots of BINGOs on the market, but if you want a free one, click the  link above for the one I made. If you e-mail me: coinlaundryblog@gmail.com, I'm happy to send you the Word version so that you can adapt the BINGO for your family.

For the adults looking for some diversion during the seder, consider printing Shalom Auslander's story: Plagued  and sneaking it into your Haggaddah. It's a short story from the modernized perspective of a Jewish man in love with an Egyptian woman set during the plagues of Egypt. A great read. If you prefer history over fiction, Curious New York, had a fabulous post a couple of years ago detailing the overlapping elements of the Persian New Year, Nowruz, Passover (also one of the Jewish New Years), and Easter.

Enjoy!!

Last Year's Seders Behind the Scenes

Though I didn't blog about this part, last year's seders were pretty contentious at our house. It was just the four of us both nights. Mr. CL lead the first seder, and I did the second one. Mr. CL wanted absolutely nothing to do with a Humanistic seder in the house. He felt the Humanistic seder  is a mockery of a tradition he holds very dear. The hostility got to such a degree, that I couldn't get through my Haggadah's Maggid, and left the table in tears/abandoned the entire effort.

Rationally, I know that this is such stupidity to argue over, but I was very hurt. I have and do participate in A LOT of religious observance from his side of the family in the years we've been together. I felt that it shouldn't be too much to ask for him to humor me this one time that I requested a form of observance that reflected my views.  His response made me feel like my Judaism - and by extension I - don't count.

In any case, when I blogged about my seder, one of the commentors,  Atheodox Jew,  read between the lines. His comments really struck a chord:

"[At] the end of the day, what children will take away from the Seder, probably more than anything else, is the memory of the family dynamics. Did they feel left out or included? Is the family culture one of putting others down, or interacting kindly, respectfully? Are the parents stressed out and bickering, or harmonious and enjoying themselves? 

So in addition to all the focus on the content of the Seder, what teachings and rituals we like and which one's we don't, of equal (if not greater) importance is the interpersonal component. That imprint runs very, very deep!"

We very much failed on all the counts listed above. We tried to include the kids (we started the seders early,  lead significantly abridged versions, he taught them the songs beforehand, I included interactive activities). Nevertheless, the politics between us undeniably overshadowed that. The family culture - both of us to blame - has unfortunately disintegrated. Among other things, I resent religion being imposed on me - particularly on Passover when that religion seeps into our home. He resents my resentment. Not sure how to fix this. I'll start by trying to stop resenting.

I don't want to revisit last year's seder experience, so I'm not going to push the Humanism this year.  I'm making a concerted effort to prioritize harmony over ceremony. Mr. CL will lead the seder as he did the first night. The second night we'll go to his sister's. She's awesome, her food is always great, our kids play well together, and we'll have a good time. I will be supportive - or at least non-complaining - of his koshering our kitchen for the week. It's just a week!!

What's the Best way to deal with religion peddlers?

When I was in France, the family I stayed with would tell missionaries that they were practicing satanists. Though I'm not a big fan of missionaries, we usually  just nicely say, "Sorry not interested". Here is another take . . . more of a missionaries meets kiruv version . . . Not   sure if the conversation would qualify as Chillul Hashem or  Kiddush Hashem  . .

                               
 .

  P.S. I got the same flyer from the "JWs" last Monday.  And yes, this is what  Toronto looks like this spring. 

Hat tip: Heshy Fried

Lena Boroditsky's Thoughts on Language and Thought

For anyone interested in how language affects thought, Lena Boroditsky's lecture  is really fascinating. She demonstrates how the specific grammatical structures in a language influences its speakers perceptions of   time, space, impressions of culpability etc. I've long felt that I am a different person in Russian than I am in English. And Boroditsky's lecture explains why that is, and why that sentiment reflects reality to a certain extent.  I highly highly recommend watching the vid!

There are some implications re: religion in this. I'd be curious about how much one's native language's constructs influence textual interpretation.  The research implies that native English speakers would inherently interpret the same Bible story/characters differently than lets say a native Yiddish speaker, or than a Hebrew speaker would, even if all three are reading the text in the original. i.e. The characters God, Moses, Pharoah, may be more/less sympathetic in English vs. Hebrew or Russian due to arbitrary linguistic constructs.  By extension, I wonder whether speakers of different languages perceive God in general differently by virtue of the means with which they can represent God that are available to them in their language. All this very much reminds me of Sherwin Wine's comment: "The mistake of the Reform Movement was translate the prayerbook into English. Mistake! Mistake! Mistake!" (Although he meant it in a different context). In any case, just my 2c for today.

 Thanks to Elyaqim for the link!