Shavout Highlights

OK, so this is a thread so people can share their experiences of this year's Shavout, be it good, bad, something spiritual, a food recipe or if you are not a Jew, feel free to ask us questions about it. 

I'll kick off with my own downs & highlights- 

1) Food- excellent as ever. A great Sephardi/Ashkenazi fusion. I did the cooking,  as it is my week in the kitchen (and let us not forget one of many jobs has been to be a trained chef ).

2) Flowers- house was suitably decorated without being too garish and the smell has been very fragrant.

3) Tuesday night study- I've mentioned this before ,but I didn't stay up all night (I believe Hannah and Co did, though), in part because we've got younger members of our family, but also because our teenagers are doing 'A' level or 'GCSE' exams at the moment.  I do miss this in one way. I remember when I really got back into my Judaism at university and spent all night studying Torah with the person that was going to become my first wife, enjoying every single minute of it. And that's how I got my big black hat.

4) Family not present- Missed my eldest daughter, Natasha, who has been doing exams at university all week. Looking forward to the end of June, when it will be done. I do also miss my sister Esther, my sister Ruth  and brother Sholmo.

5)Sex - Fabulous love making with Mrs K.

6) Reading -We did read the book of Ruth and studied the 10 'Commandments', where we contrasted this with the 7 laws of Noah. Interestingly, the laws which bind all humanity don't call on people to believe in or worship G-d.

7) Leftovers -Still have cheesecake left over. 

8) Family Present -Great to see my sisters Hannah & Rachel and my brother Samuel on the second day, who were surprisingly alert, given their all night stay up.

9) Hilarious e-mail read before holiday ,began with - 'Mr Kavanagh. as tool of the international Zionist conspiracy'....

10) Favorite song - The Akdamut . This is a liturgical poem, written in Aramaic, sometimes put to music .It was composed by a person called Rabbi Meir, whose son was murdered during the 'Crusade' of 1096 (yet another reason why I cringe at Christians & some Jews, who think there should be another Crusade or think the original ones were somehow OK), and he was forced to defend the Torah and his Jewish faith in a debate with local priests, and successfully conveyed his certainty of G-d's power, His love for the Jewish people, and the excellence of Torah (perhaps stories like this might convey why Jews are extremely hostile to Christian missionary work, but also why we are steadfast in defending ourselves; if  your life depended on arguing for your faith, it becomes rather ingrained to debate well).

Well that's my brief summary.

Shabbat Shalom!