Challah Breads and Eternal Lights

Late morning.  I dislike this cycle I am on right now of retiring late, rising late, especially when I have chores for the day.  As I age, I discover that my morning routine of waking, precisely two cups of coffee, rarely more, never less, an hour catching up on the day’s events, and maybe an hour or less on the journal, is an necessary part of the daily routine.  When I wake late, breakfast intrudes on that routine, and lengthens it out to noon before I am ready to leave the house.

The guy who used to jump in his car and take off with $5 in his pocket, and work his way across the United States now won’t drive to town without credit cards, at least $20 in cash, a cell phone, a side arm, AAA Membership and a GPS.  How the mighty has fallen!

Anyway, Friday, as I said in earlier posts is devoted to preparing for the Shabbat tomorrow.  One wag I know says that God gave Jews a day of rest, and the first things Jews did was to figure out how to work at resting.  I to that to heart, and now do my preparations the day before. 

Snookums makes the challah bread today.  Over the high holy days, she mixes raisins into the dough and forms the challah into a round loaf.  When the holy days are done, she omits the raisins, and triple braids the dough for baking.  The reason for that is to allow the tearing the bread rather than cutting it.  It is a traditional thing, not something that is mandated in the Torah, and I’ll not bore you with the long winded reason for that.

And of course, on this day I clean the synagogue in preparation for the Shabbat.  This week I have been designing a nir tamid, a lamp that hangs over the chest containing the Torah scroll.  I settled on one of the new electric flickering candles to light the lamp.  

Scooter, the RFD mailman, just delivered it and I had to see if it works.  I have looked through the catalogues and found metal lamps called “garden lamps” that look like they just might work as a first solution while I gather the copper sheets and start hammering out an “Aladdin” lamp.  But that might be months or even years in the crafting.

Reading the morning reports on the debates last night.  Liberal pundits say Biden won, Conservative’s say Ryan won.  That pretty much tells me the debates were a wash when it comes to swaying the mystical independents.  The latest Electoral College polls show that five states that the Democrats had a lock on have moved to the toss up category.  It will be amusing this year to hear the Democrats find a new love for the Electoral College.

So anyway.  I have the radio on a timer, and talk radio springs to life. That is my cue to wrap things up on my computer, put some shoes on, and tend to the wild verges of the Armor estate.

Good Morning!

~r