Miscellanea
In my ongoing attempts to Be A Better Jew, I celebrated Sukkot for the first time last night. It was lovely, and also, after wine and challah, I got to learn what an etrog is. Rabbi (holding up a bizarre, alien-looking fruit): "Some of you may be wondering, 'what is an etrog?'"
My friend (whispers): "Alien fruit."
Rabbi: "It is a cousin of the lemon."
Me: [tries not to burst into hysterical laughter.]
Rabbi: "The etrog is a fruit with no use whatsoever except to celebrate Sukkot! It has no juice. It's very bitter. It only grows in Israel... and southern California. And it has a very special property! If you leave it on a table... for a year... it will not rot! It will desiccate and get hard as a rock!"
With a flourish, the rabbi pulled out a desiccated etrog and banged it into a sukkah pole. It was indeed rock-like. The many kids present were utterly fascinated.
My friend and I were more convinced than ever that it was an alien fruit. Probably it is more useful on the mother planet. We went home and had some more wine, discussed alien fruit, being Jewish, and Yuletide (which I have sucked her into for the very first time), and I tipsily posted to the Yuletide comm. Oops. Probably that would have been more appropriate for Purim.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1074411.html. Comment here or there.
My friend (whispers): "Alien fruit."
Rabbi: "It is a cousin of the lemon."
Me: [tries not to burst into hysterical laughter.]
Rabbi: "The etrog is a fruit with no use whatsoever except to celebrate Sukkot! It has no juice. It's very bitter. It only grows in Israel... and southern California. And it has a very special property! If you leave it on a table... for a year... it will not rot! It will desiccate and get hard as a rock!"
With a flourish, the rabbi pulled out a desiccated etrog and banged it into a sukkah pole. It was indeed rock-like. The many kids present were utterly fascinated.
My friend and I were more convinced than ever that it was an alien fruit. Probably it is more useful on the mother planet. We went home and had some more wine, discussed alien fruit, being Jewish, and Yuletide (which I have sucked her into for the very first time), and I tipsily posted to the Yuletide comm. Oops. Probably that would have been more appropriate for Purim.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1074411.html. Comment here or there.