Bar Mitzvah

[mamadeb]

So. It was Maxie's bar mitzvah party. I wore the aubergine silk outfit (wrapped shirt, this time over a sleeveless pink t-shirt and matching swirly skirt.) and green hat I'd worn to my cousin's wedding. jonbaker wore his suit. I also took my Pa Kua uniform in case I could leave in time for the belt ceremony, but they'd only served the second course by 8PM.

To our disappointment, it was separate seating, with a rather pretty carved wooden screen between the sides. And the seating was interesting. The crowd was mostly friends of the parents - the boy's classmates sat at one long table. And the parents had basically two sets of friends - the ones they knew in their old neighborhood, where we met them at Maxie's bris, and the ones in their new neighborhood, where we also live now.

We're both.

I was not seated with the other women from Park Slope. I was seated with the women in the Bible study group. And I couldn't imagine it otherwise, because they've become close friends, and I've drifted apart from my old ones. But it was interesting all the same.

My husband - he sat with two men from Park Slope who are on the outs with the rabbi. He also sat with the band (a single keyboardist). It was the table of Misfit Toys. :) But he likes both of them, so that was fine.

And Maxie gave a speech his older brother had written an hour before, and his father gave a long rambling one, and my current rabbi (shared by this family now) gave a lovely speech where he managed to engage the entire table of seventh graders. And my old rabbi joked. And the food was nice. And the dancing was good. And now I'm tired, and happy.

Comments

[gittygiggles.livejournal.com]

do they have kosher l'pesach sage in ny????? i really need it!

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I'll give you two possibilities for sage (as I don't use it, I haven't looked for it.).

1. Look for fresh sage from any supermarket. Fresh herbs are always kosher l'pesach.

2. I've heard a p'sak that one can use dried herbs so long as they are certified, even if just for year-round use, and are just the one herb. And of course, unopened. Ask your rabbi first, of course, but if he says yes, you can then just buy a new bottle of sage.

[gittygiggles.livejournal.com]

you know that pesach book? (i'm sure you do...the pesach guide thing...) it said that it had to have oup certification. BUT, it also said that all kosher baby formula is kosher for pesach...BUT the formula asher uses is a shaalah b/c even though it has an ou, they use pork enzymes and remove them. so i'm skeptical on that book anyway. thanks for the advice! if you're going to the store anytime soon, do you think you could check for it? if you buy it and mail it...i'll mail you the money!!!! (yes i'm that desperate...think PERFECT turkey recipe!)

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Pork doesn't make anything chometzdich, so if the formula is kosher for year round, the pork won't make it not kosher for passover.

I do trust Rabbi Blumenkrantz. I assume it's his book. He's very machmir. I'll look for sage, but it's not a popular spice around here. I'm happy if I can find basil.

And do ask your rav about buying ou sage. It couldn't hurt. And look for the fresh stuff.

[gittygiggles.livejournal.com]

THANKS!

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

He's very machmir.

He's a lot more machmir than most of our local ravs. Still, everyone seems to use his book. The worst thing is that this year, I haven't even gotten that far.

[jonbaker.livejournal.com]

Books are OK, but for real questions ask your Local Orthodox Rabbi. Debbie was reading R' Blumenkrantz's book in conjunction with R' Wikler's Kashrus Magazine pesach issue, and comparing chumras between them. And R' Blumenkrantz is a lot more chamur than most regular shul rabbis.

One year I made an effort to get a KP variant of my BP med, in accord with Blumenkrantz; when I mentioned this to my rav at the time, he said, "who says you need to get KP meds in the first place?" I haven't bothered since.