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Rambling thoughts in advance of Yom Kippur
Oct. 8th, 2008 04:25 pmMy father's parents were Orthodox Jews, his father from Lithuania, his mother from the Ukraine, though her family had come there from Turkey. My grandfather was pretty frum as they say in Yiddish, meaning he was very observant. My parents kept a kosher home out of deference to my grandfather, not that my grandfather would eat my parents home as in his mind it wasn't "kosher enough". This was particularly interesting given that for most of my childhood, nearly all of the meat and poultry consumed in our home came courtesy of my grandparents, both of whom were butchers. But I digress.
My father was a Conservative Jew (not his politics mind you, rather his branch of the faith) & while not nearly as observant as his parents, he was a Jew both ethnically and religiously. Pop died 13 years ago, September 26, 1995, right at sundown. It was also the second of Tishri and therefore the eve of the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Ever since I have faced this time of year with a sense of foreboding.
Yahrzeit, or memorial candles were things that I saw in my grandparent's homes while I was growing up, though not in my own. My parents still had all their parents and siblings, and hence didn't have the obligation to light Yahrzeit. Lighting them myself still feels a little foreign, but I actually find some comfort in doing so.
In any event my mother will be traveling; actually she already is. My sister is getting an award presented to her on Maui, and she's taking my mother along with her. When I found out that she was going to be traveling on Yom Kippur, which rather surprised me, I asked, "you're not going to leave candles burning in your kitchen are you?" She responded by telling me she had planned to ask my kid sister to do that for her. Somehow, I couldn't see my sister doing that, at least not on time. So, mom asked me and of course I said I would.
My mother lights five candles every Yom Kippur, one for each of her parents, one for each of her siblings and one for my father and she also lights the three that my father would have (for his parents and older brother), were he still alive. So, that makes nine yahrzeit. I figured while I was at it, it would be good to light one for my father-in-law and brother-in-law. (In for a penny, in for a pound?) No matter what, I'm going to have a veritable bonfire on my kitchen counter tonight.
Off to home now, I need to be there before dark.
My father was a Conservative Jew (not his politics mind you, rather his branch of the faith) & while not nearly as observant as his parents, he was a Jew both ethnically and religiously. Pop died 13 years ago, September 26, 1995, right at sundown. It was also the second of Tishri and therefore the eve of the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Ever since I have faced this time of year with a sense of foreboding.
Yahrzeit, or memorial candles were things that I saw in my grandparent's homes while I was growing up, though not in my own. My parents still had all their parents and siblings, and hence didn't have the obligation to light Yahrzeit. Lighting them myself still feels a little foreign, but I actually find some comfort in doing so.
In any event my mother will be traveling; actually she already is. My sister is getting an award presented to her on Maui, and she's taking my mother along with her. When I found out that she was going to be traveling on Yom Kippur, which rather surprised me, I asked, "you're not going to leave candles burning in your kitchen are you?" She responded by telling me she had planned to ask my kid sister to do that for her. Somehow, I couldn't see my sister doing that, at least not on time. So, mom asked me and of course I said I would.
My mother lights five candles every Yom Kippur, one for each of her parents, one for each of her siblings and one for my father and she also lights the three that my father would have (for his parents and older brother), were he still alive. So, that makes nine yahrzeit. I figured while I was at it, it would be good to light one for my father-in-law and brother-in-law. (In for a penny, in for a pound?) No matter what, I'm going to have a veritable bonfire on my kitchen counter tonight.
Off to home now, I need to be there before dark.
