Confessions of a Jewish Mother: I bought Easter candy at the grocery store yesterday!

12 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by Being Jewish in Hawaii in Food, Hawaii, Holiday Tags:

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I don’t eat a lot of candy and I can usually pass up dessert. I am more of a savory kind of gal and I prefer salty and crunchy when it comes to snacks.

But I LOVE Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I am hard put to pass up one of those chocolate and peanut butter delights. While I would not describe myself as a glutton in this arena, you could say that they are one of my guilty pleasures.  And only Reese’s will do, other cups do not make the cut.

After my kids go trick or treating for Halloween and they leave those bags of candy in the snack drawer for weeks and months, it is not the Sour Patch Kids or the Laughy Taffy that sense my weaker moments and call me to the kitchen. I am not drawn to the Nestle’s Crunch or even the M & M’s. It is only the Reese’s that entice me.

I confess that I have been known to sneak a few from the kids’ bags on an occasion or two. They are used to it and forgive my minor transgression. While I can’t really repent, I do tell them to take the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to school and share them with their friends. I must be saved from temptation.

What is most interesting about my predilection for this divinely scrumptious confection is that my favorite form of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups is the Easter egg version. I can’t tell you why. It’s just better.  As it happens, my second favorite is the Christmas Tree. Oh the irony.

Maybe it is the shape that affects the flavor. Or perhaps it has to do with the size that creates a different chocolate to peanut butter ratio. I’m not really sure. I know it is not a simple matter of  volume because my least favorite is the King Size version and my third favorite happens to be the minis. You can pop those in your mouth almost mindlessly while watching TV or writing a blog post. More dangerous than Halloween Candy.

Maybe it’s because they are made in a special way for a holiday that I like the Easter eggs and Christmas trees so much, even if it’s not my holiday. I only get to eat them each once a year–or more considering they start featuring them in the stores months before their respective holidays actually occur.

I’d be happy to embrace a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup dreidel. If they applied the egg to Passover and changed the packaging, I’d be totally okay with that, except for the kosher for Passover part. Maybe they could try a shofar for Rosh Ha Shanah. Now that would be a sweet way to bring in the New Year.

Bottom line is that when it comes to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups I am not picky about the holiday. I’ll eat them in pretty much any shape, size or form.

I’d like to take this unique opportunity to share a new word with you

09 Mar 2012 9 Comments

by Being Jewish in Hawaii in Hawaii, Word of the Day Tags: , , , ,

I love word games. My parents used to play them with us at the dinner table. I’ve been playing one with my kids lately and we’ve been having a lot of fun with it. It has to do with an article I read  in Oprah magazine that was about an interview with June Ambrose.  One of the questions she was asked is, “What is your favorite made up word? Her answer was: “Glamouflage. It’s when you use a bold piece to shield a part of your appearance: big sunglasses when you didn’t have time for makeup….”

I thought it was so cool that I  asked my kids to share what made up words they like. Teenager had several questionable ones that I will not repeat in this blog. Several were related to cross gender such as “shemale.” Middle Schooler shared a couple too. My favorite of hers was, “Con’t.” Can, but won’t. So apropos.

My friend Kathy shared one with me last summer that I really like, “Brocket,” a combination of bra and pocket. That’s where I put my cell phone when I go for a walk or the change I get at the snack bar when I am not carrying a purse.

A few days ago I saw a commercial for Yoplait along the same theme:

I guess we are not the only ones playing this game.

It turns out that my all time favorite made up word is not a silly one and conveniently for this blog post happens to be a combination of Hebrew and Hawaiian.

The unique opportunity to know and use this word is one of the reasons that I love living in Hawaii: Shaloha, Shalom and Aloha. Each is used in a similar way, as a greeting, in their respective languages. But they mean so much more than hello and good-bye. Shalom means peace. Aloha is the breath of life. I like to think that Shaloha means that I greet you with peace, the breath of life.

This is a great opportunity for  you to share some of your favorite made up words. It will be fun.

Shabbat Shaloha.

The blessing of a good book (or two)

06 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Being Jewish in Hawaii in Book of the Week, Hawaii, Parenting Tags: , , ,

A few months ago, Rabbi Schaktman recommended a book to me. Actually, I think he recommended an author and mentioned the title of one of her parenting books. He had recently returned from the Union of Reform Judaism’s (URJ) Biennial Convention where he heard her speak. He said that she was incredibly dynamic.

Always up for some good advice on parenting, I was intrigued and went home to look her up. Her name is Wendy Mogel and after reading about her on the URJ Biennial’s and Amazon’s websites I immediately downloaded both of her books onto my iPad: The Blessing of a Skinned Knee and The Blessing of a B Minus. I then proceeded to devour each of them. I am still savoring the wonderful framework that she presents for raising my Jewish kids.

If I had to choose between the two books as to which is my favorite, I’d  pick: The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children. Maybe it is because I read this one first. It introduced me to the concept of raising my kids  from a Jewish perspective and I immediately connected. I teach them about being Jewish, but this is different. It is more about being Jewish in the choices that I make in regards to parenting.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book in which Mogel tells the story of how she embraced her Jewish self and chose to study more about Judaism. I’ve been talking to my husband lately about the idea that we don’t have to wait to go to Temple to be Jewish. We can enjoy our religion and culture in our everyday lives at home. I was thinking that we’d celebrate Shabbat and Havdalah and talk more at the dinner table.Reading this book reaffirmed a lot of choices that I make by instinct and encouraged me to understand my children in new ways.

I had no idea how often I embrace what she calls the “Three cornerstone principles of Jewish living….moderation, celebration and sanctification.” Now that she has named it for me, I am able to practice it even more.

Most of the reviews on Amazon are much better than I could write here. They also affirm that it is good parenting advice whether you are Jewish or not. I will simply close by saying that they are the two best parenting books I have ever read. They have made a huge impact on my choices. They make me feel better about being a parent and being Jewish. I wish I had read them sooner. I’d love to meet Wendy Mogel and it would be totally awesome if she came to Hawaii to speak.

Thanks, Rabbi Schaktman, for the suggestion.

The Word

02 Mar 2012 3 Comments

by Being Jewish in Hawaii in Hawaii, Word of the Day Tags: , , ,

You are probably thinking I am going to write something about the bible or the Torah or G-d’s word. That’s what I would think if I saw a post in a blog about being Jewish that has the title “The Word.”

I’m not. Instead, I am going to introduce weekly feature #2.

The first feature I introduced this week is “Book of the Week.”  Every Tuesday (G-d willing) I am going to share about a  book that I have read and attempt some sort of review. That turned out so cool  that I thought I’d expand.

I enjoy finding the connection between values expressed through Hawaiian words that correlate with Hebrew words. Thus the title “The Word.” Maybe I should call it “The Word(s).”

Last week I used the example of Kahiau and Tzedakkah, both about giving from the heart without the expectation of anything in return. Totally Righteous. I am inspired to continue.

A few years ago I embraced the opportunity to give a speech at my  daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. I talked about her blessing of being Jewish and Hawaiian and mentioned some of the values that both cultures share. So to kick off this regular  feature,  I thought I’d choose a set of words from that speech:

Imua and Kadima: Move forward, make progress, work together for a common goal.

Those of you who live in Hawaii, know Hawaiian, are Jewish or know Hebrew know which one is which.  But for the others: Imua is Hawaiian and Kadima is Hebrew. Both have prevalent use in their respective cultures.

Imua is the motto for many organizations, Kadima the name of Jewish schools and camps.

When local sports teams huddle before a game and all put their hands together in the middle for a cheer, they clap and grunt “Imua.”

Jewish kids at day camp sing in loud joyous voices, “Kadima, Hey, Kadima, Hey,” clapping their hands  in enthusiastic accompaniment.

Both  are strong, evoking a sense community, of power and of engagement.

A great start for this new feature in my blog: Let’s move forward together.

Imua: Kadima