Rosh Hashana Rant: Stop The Focus on Food

This morning, I posted the following on my facebook page:

Am I the only one who can't psyche myself into RH cooking mode? I hate the focus on food rather than רוח spirit.

None of the replies so far got the real gist of my rant. I'm tired of being expected to plan menus and cook. At least my husband is willing and enjoys a lot of the shopping. I guess if I was rich enough I'd just order food ready-cooked. I'm really grateful for the invitations we get. For decades we were the default home for Holiday meals. I guess I'm rather burnt out from it all.

One thing I've always done has been to do all the Holiday cooking in advance, even though according to Jewish Law, one can cook on a Holiday. The Halachot, Jewish Laws, aren't the same as for Shabbat. The last thing I'd like on my plate on an important Jewish Holiday like Rosh Hashanah is cooking chores. It's really not right that the wife frequently finds herself missing dovening, because she's stuck in the kitchen. Hmmm... maybe that's why Yom Kippur is a fast day. 

When my children were little, I'd pack up a bunch of nosh bags, and we'd all sit together on my seat. When we first came to Shiloh, there would be organized childcare for which we'd take turns watching the youngsters.

I don't consider myself a classic Feminist, but I don't like that in most families the men can expect to be undisturbed in shul, while their wives have kitchen and kiddie duty.

I've been married forty-seven years, and for decades I did manage to "do it all" and enjoy the Holidays.  But now, with an empty house, I guess I'm pretty burnt out.

I hope you don't mind that this is so short. It's time to run down and do some shopping. Maybe the selection at the local store will inspire me to create some new recipes that will stay fresh and tasty for Shabbat as well as Rosh Hashanah.

Cakes baked with my granddaughter. Now that's fun.

Why isn't Hillary Clinton POTUS?

aka Why did Hillary Clinton lose the American Presidential Elections?

And NOT Why did Donald Trump win?

Robert J. Avrech wrote some interesting things Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Understand George Orwell’s 1984, and I just had to throw my two cents 2¢ in the ring.

More than running a bad campaign, the truth is that Hillary Clinton just doesn't have the temperament and character to be a national leader.

• The other day I saw a clip of Hillary explaining that she couldn't do well on debates, because she was unnerved by Trump staring at her. Duh?! Need I say more about how she'd handle real pressure?
• Instead of presenting herself as a national leader, Hillary stressed her support for Extreme Left issues.
• Instead of presenting herself as a national leader, Hillary belittled and insulted Trump supporters.

Hillary Clinton a Feminist? You must be kidding.

• Hillary has stuck by Bill all these decades even though his philandering has been public knowledge.
• A true Feminist would sympathise with the female victims of her lecherous husband, but Hillary attacks them and stands by her man.
• A true Feminist isn't afraid to be on her own; Hillary has remained tethered to Bill.

Extremely important to remember: 

Hillary's policies were in opposition to Traditional Family Values which lost her votes in demographic groups which she had been certain were hers.

Someday a woman will be elected President of the United States, and for the sake of the USA and the world, I hope and pray that it will be a woman who can run on her qualifications and character, rather than trying to play the gender card. It's sexist to say that one should vote for a candidate, because "it's time we put a woman in the White House."

"Racism:" Two Way Street

A few days ago, I got a lot of flack on facebook for describing the TSA officers who treated me badly:

• one pushed me instead of speaking clearly
• the other was verbally abusive, not allowing me eye-contact with my valuables, as she gave me a "pat-down"

Both of the women were black and heavy. If they had been described as blondes, asians or red-heads and petite nobody would have cared. But there were some really nasty comments against me, just because I didn't leave them as vague "stick-figures."

Whenever there's an "incident" in which a white shoots a black, those descriptions are accepted:

Still images from video show Alton Sterling as he is shot dead by police during an incident captured on the mobile phone camera of shop owner Abdullah Muflahi in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Video taken July 5, 2016. Abdullah Muflahi/Handout via

REUTERS

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the fatal police shooting of a black man in Louisiana's capital, the state's governor said on Thursday, as two deadly encounters between law enforcement and black men triggered protests in the United States.
The probe comes as community leaders in Baton Rouge urged authorities to conduct a full-scale criminal probe of two white police officers over the slaying of Alton Sterling, 37, on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Of course, and I'm not denying it, the police look awful and most probably made a very bad call. But don't forget that the victim, also, made a mistake, a fatal one. These short of shootings happen quite often when people want to take out their "papers,"and the police mistakenly think they are pulling out a weapon. So the best thing is to just stand with hands raised and tell the authorities where to find identification/license etc.

But calling me a racist for giving a physical description of the TSA officers who treated me badly/incorrectly  is so much like those who insist that those who don't support Obama are racist or those who don't support Hillary are anti-women/sexist. Looking at Obama's or Hillary's experience, character, platform etc and making a decision based on that and not their color, sex, and so on, is racist/sexist. There's no moral superiority in saying:

"It's time for a woman president. We are behind the times," (Newsday)

credit

If that's the main theme, than it's totally sexist.