Schwevy Family Blog

greek shabbat menu

2009-12-11T20:30:52Z

horiatiki (chunky greek salad)
tzatziki (pareve sour cream, cucumber, garlic, dill sauce for eladia patati)
Eladia Patati (greek latkes)
roasted potatoes
skordalia (garlic potato dip)
hummous
moussaka (beef, eggplant, tomato sauce, white wine, garlic, spices)
baclava
loukoumathes (honey puff donuts)

boomdeyada

2009-12-11T03:06:37Z

“It never gets old, huh?”
“nope”
It kinda makes you wanna…break into song? Yep
I love the mountains,
I love the clear blue sky,
I love big bridges,
I love when great whites fly,
I love the whole world,
and all it’s sights and sounds,

Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada,
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada

I love the ocean,
I love real dirty things,
I love to go fast,
I love Egyptian kings
I love the whole world and all it’s craziness

Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada

I love tornadoes,
I love arachnids,
I love hot magma,
I love the giant squids,
I love the whole world,
Its such a brilliant place,
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada,
BoomdeyadaBoomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada,
BoomdeyadaBoomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada

schwevy @ 2009-09-21T21:44:00

2009-09-22T01:45:12Z

Even those who aren't particularly sympathetic to Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, could get a good measure of satisfaction from this interview with British Television during the retaliation against Hamas' shelling of Israel.

The interviewer asked him: "How come so many more Palestinians have been killed in this conflict than Israelis?" (A nasty question if there ever was one!)

Netanyahu: "Are you sure that you want to start asking in that direction?"

Interviewer: (Falling into the trap) Why not?

Netanyahu: "Because in World War II more Germans were killed than British and Americans combined, but there is no doubt in anyone's mind that the war was caused by Germany's aggression. And in response to the German blitz on London, the British wiped out the entire city of Dresden, burning to death more German civilians than the number of people killed in Hiroshima. Moreover, I could remind you that in 1944, when the R.A.F. tried to bomb the Gestapo Headquarters in Copenhagen, some of the bombs missed their target and fell on a Danish children's hospital, killing 83 little children. Perhaps you have another question?"

Apparently, Benjamin Netanyahu gave another interview and was asked about Israel's occupation of Arab lands. His response was, "It's our land". The reporter (CNN or the like) was stunned - read below "It's our land..." It's important information since we don't get fair and accurate reporting from the media and facts tend to get lost in the jumble of daily events.

"Crash Course on the Arab-Israeli Conflict."
Here are overlooked facts in the current & past Middle East situation. These were compiled by a Christian university professor:

BRIEF FACTS ON THE ISRAELI CONFLICT TODAY... (It takes just 1.5 minutes to read!)

It makes sense and it's not slanted. Jew and non-Jew -- it doesn't matter.

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem: Israel became a nation in 1312 BC, two thousand (2000) years before the rise of Islam.

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BC, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand (1000) years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 lasted no more than 22 years.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders
did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: in 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left (many in fear of retaliation by their own brethren, the Arabs), without ever seeing an Israeli soldier. The ones who stayed were afforded the same peace, civility, and citizenship rights as everyone else.

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.

12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people's lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

13. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: the Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.

15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

16. The UN Record on Israel and the Arabs: of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

18. The UN was silent while 58 Jerusalem synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.

19. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

20. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like a policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

These are incredible times. We have to ask what our role should be. What will we tell our grandchildren about what we did when there was a turning point in Jewish destiny, an opportunity to make a difference?

START NOW - Send this to 18 other people you know and ask them to send it to eighteen others, Jew and non-Jew - it doesn't really matter.

menu work out

2009-09-21T17:03:09Z

col nidre
challah
greek souffle
fish
salad
fruit

break fast
homemade bagels
cream cheese
lox
egg salad
tuna salad
orange juice
coffee

MAX'S BAR MITZVAH SPEECH

2009-05-17T02:27:50Z

Today, I am a man – Tomorrow, I will be fish. Thank you Mr. Avri
Balofski for the use of that joke. I am kidding – and a good thing
too, because we are having fish for lunch.

Rabbis Green, my dear family, teachers and friends I would like to
thank you all for coming to my Bar Mitzvah. I would especially like to
acknowledge a few people: Dr. Joel Goldberg for helping me learn my
Torah portion; My Mom and Dad - Mom for all of her love and support
and fine cooking which you will soon be enjoying – Dad for being there
for me, teaching me musaf, reminding me to practice and baking some
mean desserts to go along with Mom’s cooking; to my Bubby Marilyn and
Zaida Jack for always making time to be with me, their love and
support and for the amazing tallis that bubby made by hand for me; to
Safta Rachel for the beautiful tallis bag, all of our special times
together on Shabbat, Chaggim or even touring Israel – I wish Sabba was
here to see me on the bimah and share in this simcha ; to my sister
Ariel for putting up with all of my late night bar mitzvah practices
and for being one of my best friends; to all of the people who helped
prepare the meal and set up the room; and to all of you who have
travelled from as far as Florida, Montreal and Toronto and as close as
across the street.

In my Bar Mitzvah parsha, there are many important ideas that define
how Jewish people relate to the land, to each other and to God. Behar
means, “on the mountain” – meaning Har Sinai. The question is, “Why is
this parsha singled out for being given on Har Sinai – wasn’t the
whole Torah given on on Har Sinai?” This specific portion talks about
the laws of Shmita – the sabbatical year; the interesting thing about
Shmita is that it is a law that nobody in their right mind would write
– because you have to go a whole year without planting or reaping
crops. On top of that, there is a promise that in the year before
Shmita there will be a huge crop that will be enough food for three
years. Who besides God would be able to pull that off?

You will notice that one of the themes for my bar mitzvah is being
environmentally friendly. From the digital invitations, to the
centrepieces that we will be replanting – we have made an effort to
reduce waste. Having respect for the land is something that we learn
from this week’s parsha – just like the Shabbat we are commanded to
observe every week, the land is given a Shabbat that lasts a year
after every six years that it is worked.

In the parsha we also learn to have respect for our fellow Jews. We
are told that we must care for our fellow Jews like we would care for
our own family. The torah instructs us to prevent our fellow Jews from
becoming poor by lending money interest free (kind of like the banks
these days) and investing in his business. We are told to give Tzedaka
like you would give to a brother so that no Jew feels like they must
leave the nation. In the spirit of my parsha, I will be giving money
to Tzedaka.

I would like to close by saying I’m glad that you all came and that
the hard part is over – please enjoy yourselves, I know I will.

what does shabbat mean to you?

2009-04-21T05:19:49Z

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, since we are somewhere around 4 years of more observance.

My whole life, we always celebrated Shabbat Dinner at my house. We were not shomer Shabbat, but every single week, we would all sit down to Shabbat dinner together. When I was little, it was at Bubby Esther or Bubby Marion's houses, and later, at our house. We were not particularly observant, but we were not allowed to make plans for Friday night until after dinner.

Consequently, we all brought friends home for Shabbat dinner- Jewish, non-jewish, no matter. Birthdays were often celebrated on the Friday of that week, and we made a point of all being together for at least an hour or two. after dinner we watched love boat, and fantasy island, or some other show, or went out with our friends.

Saturday was on and off a time to go to shul. mostly off, but we were not strangers to the building. later on we shopped or did whatever needed to be done. i did swimming stuff and ate out and pretty much ignored shabbat for most of my life, other than friday night dinners, really. i thought that being shomer shabbat seemed like a restrictive, pain in the ass kind of deal which was totally inconvenient and, well, like i sa

Marc's parents were shabbat observant, but somehow to me, it always seemed more or less stressful and not very pleasant to observe like that (this was not a reflection on them, but on me.) When Marc's dad died, i was the shiva slave, working my butt off from 6 am to 11pm and finally, on friday afternoon and saturday, in agony, i was able to take it easy, because the mourners are not mourners on shabbat and i did not have to 'serve' them. it was january and as i played cards with my niece and shabbat approached it's end, i could feel the stress slipping back in, with the knowledge that after havdalah i was going back to slave mode.

After Marc started saying Kaddish for his Dad, we started going to Shul regularly and because it was such a great place, and people opened their homes to us and welcomed us as guests, we were exposed to what observant shabbat. suddenly, i started to see the benefits, as well as my husband! prior to his father's death, he had been working 7 days a week and now, he was taking at least one off!

These days, Shabbat is seriously a day off and the only one i get. i am often tired from working hard and spend a lot of time reading, playing games with friends and family and enjoying myself. we have a lot of friends who do this, or some variation of this and what this means is that shabbat is our most social, most fun and most anticipated day. every week wehave an amazing time and we have all made some sacrifices to do so, but on the other hand, the benefits so far outweigh the detractions i am not sure that there even are any detractions!

anyways, i need to go to sleep, but just wanted to see what other people think if they feel like answering as well...

pesach inventory for next year

2009-04-17T02:57:13Z

1 matzah meal
2 large potato starch
salt
chicken soup mix
2 cake meal
1 can cocoa
1 can icing sugar
dried minced onion
black pepper whole
2 sealed box of sweetener
2 imitation vanilla
cinnamon
1 pure vanilla
1 coffee whitener
2 salt
paprika
instant coffee
2 pkgs chocolate chips
2 10.5 ounce bars chocolate
3- 3 oz bars chocolate
tea (unflavoured tea)
1 kedem blush 1.5 litre

need
matzah meal look for jerusalem brand
chicken spice
onion powder
garlic powder
parchment
foil

Sweet Noshings

2008-11-17T04:10:30Z

When sweetnoshings friends you, it is me. I still have yet to do the search for the name, but it is what i hope to use for the business!

Article about the accident last weekend.

2008-10-10T01:06:52Z

I have to admit, that it is rare that the Spectator reports something well enough to bring tears to my eyes, but this article did. Of course, I also got weepy when Rabbi Green talked about it in Shul on Col Nidre, so maybe it is because I know them personally and am so grateful that instead of a tragedy, we have a miracle.

http://www.thespec.com/article/446479

simanim salad bar...

2008-10-03T02:38:09Z

this year, we decided to have a simanim salad bar. it was really fun! no one actually ate the fish head, but we did make a salad out of the fish who's head it was!

simanim salad bar ingredients:

coleslaw mix (cabbage carrots etc) with sweet onion vinaigrette
pomegranate seeds
beet slices
fish salad from fish head fish
crunchy noodles (because we like them, they are not a siman!)
almonds
apples and honey
tandoori tikka turkey tushie (just because we wanted to be able to say we did that)
oh and we decorated the table with gourds and i never got around to cooking the squash, but it was fun after all...

everyone made their own and it was much fun!

This week

2008-06-20T21:45:35Z

Today we buried my grandmother. She was almost 87 and had been sick for a long time over the years. It was all borrowed time, so we cannot really complain. Turns out she died on what would have been her 63rd Wedding anniversary. My Grampa died thirty years ago, though. She has loved him all that time though...They were apparently very in love and even up to the week he died, had an active physical relationship (nothing like a Bubby telling stories with waaay too much information!)

So, i guess i am not a granddaughter any more, and nor do i have a grandmother anymore. i am 40 years old and most people dont get to have one or be one for that long, so i am filled with gratitude. oh, and also that my mom did not have to sit shiva for both of us this week....

the car is officially totalled. i am totally not totalled. the potential for me being hurt was huge and i am very lucky that it was not worse. grateful for lots of reasons today....

chinese mother my breastfeeding hero!

2008-05-22T23:31:45Z

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/22/china.breastfeed/index.html

the more ya need, the more ya make to the extreme! what an amazing person

and I thought I was having a bad day....

2008-05-14T02:56:11Z

http://www.kcra.com/news/16253769/detail.html

Wow. Along with all the disasters in the world this week, I feel like I got some perspective when i saw this article. I read about the murder this morning and that was bad, but how much worse is this?

dont buy for pesach 2009

2008-04-28T01:32:54Z

parchment
foil
plastic wrap
black pepper
coffee creamer
instant coffee
tea
cocoa
vinegar
potato starch
vanilla extract

serving bowls and platters- milk and meat (NEED)
measuring cups wet - dairy and meat (NEED)
bechers (NEED)

Pesach Filk to "Popular' from Wicked....

2008-04-13T22:33:46Z

You'll Be Pesachdic

(To the music of Wicked's Popular)

GITTEL
(spoken) Motek - now that Purim's over, I've decided to
make Pesach cleaning my new project.

MOTEK
(spoken) You really don't have to do that

GITTEL
(spoken) I know. That's what makes me so nice!

(sung)
Whenever I see chometz that is visible by eye
And let's face it - there's lots of chometz visible by eye?
My tender hands tend to start to bleed

And when it comes to cleaning for passover
I simply have to take over
I know, I know exactly what they need
And even in your case
Though it's the toughest case I've yet to face
Don't worry, I'm determined to succeed
Follow my lead, and yes, indeed
it will be

Passover! It'll be clean for Passover!
I'll teach you the proper tools
So you can clean like mules
Little ways to buff and shine
Ooh! I'll show you what brooms to use
How to prepare
I'll work you until you will whine

To be Pesachdic
I'll help you be Pesachdic!
You'll clean just about everything
You'll be in a sling
Know the hallachas you got to know
So let's start 'cause you've got an awfully long way to go

Don't be offended by my frank analysis
Think of it as a one way trip to paralysis
Now that I've chosen to be come a pal
A sister and adviser, there's nobody wiser
Not when it comes to Passover -
I know about Passover
And with an assist from me
To clean without any fee
Instead of dirty where you were, well, are
There's nothing that can stop you
From becoming Pesach - dec. DIC!
La la la la ... We're gonna make you Pesachdic

When I see depressing dwellings
With unprepossessing smellings
I remind them on their own behalf
To think of celebrated holidays
Or specially great get togethers
Did they use cleaning services?
Don't make me laugh!

They were Pesachdic! Please -
It's all about Pesachdic!
It's not about aptitude
It's the way you're viewed
So it's very shrewd to be
Very very Pesachdic like me!

(spoken) Why, Motek, look at the house. It's beautiful.

MOTEK(spoken) I - I have to go lie down.

GITTEL
(spoken) You're welcome!

(sung)
And though you protest your disinterest
I know clandestinely
You're gonna grin and bear it
Your new found Pesachdicness

La la la la ... You'll be Pesachdic
Just not as quite as Pesachdic as me!

Cleaning too much for Passover - Thanks Jason!

2008-04-13T22:09:31Z

My friend Jason posted this before last Pesach and saved my sanity.....

http://schwevy.livejournal.com/44238.html#cutid1

funny enough

2008-04-13T04:02:42Z

i left myself a message at the end of last pesach about what i needed to buy with regard to parchment paper, foil and plastic wrap! that was SUCH a good idea!

amazing soup that will work for passover!

2008-03-30T03:36:32Z

this week we salvaged some old asparagus and made an amazing soup which i later realized works for both low carb diets and passover!

no measurements here, just adjust per your taste.
wash asparagus per your personal prefs.

break off tough part of asparagus and boil in enough water to cover comfortably.

once asparagus is cooked, place cubes of chicken breast boneless skinless in pot and cook . once cooked, blend with stick blender in the pot until smooth. the flavour of the chicken and asparagus by itself is great with just salt, or you can also add flavouring to taste. I am pro salt and pepper only.

How thick you make it depends on how much solid goes into your soup in terms of chicken and asparagus.

MAZAL TOV!!!!!

2008-03-23T18:28:05Z

TO GOLAN AND LIMOR AMAR ON THE BIRTH OF THEIR BABY BOY!

schwevy @ 2008-01-28T12:17:00

2008-01-28T17:20:48Z

Thanks so much to Happyduck and Ehwy for an amazing Shabbat and weekend. You are great hosts and we really look forward to getting together again soon!

This ends the last writing hiatus and this begins the new!

schwevy @ 2007-05-18T12:26:00

2007-05-18T16:31:13Z

Shabbat Dinner - Out
Shabbat Lunch
- stuffed zucchini
- home made deli roast beef
- home made chopped chicken liver
- snow peas with sesame and garlic
- squash kugel (someone else is bringing0
- sliced potato kugel (looks sort of like a strata)

Chocolate Chip Birthday cookie
fruit

Sunday, we are headed off to my sister hyla's cottage for a couple of days. marc is working, but the kids and i are off to lagoon city.

Coming back monday night to get ready for shavuot. so glad we were invited out the first night!

Shabbat and Competitive Synchro

2007-05-06T21:38:18Z

A couple of months ago, Ariel asked me if she could start swimming competitive synchro next year. After learning earlier this year that Max could not compete at a provinicial level due to the fact that there was no way around Saturday races, I was worried. After all, Monthly meets are held on Sundays, so for years, I never thought it would be an issue. I guess it was because he did not qualify earlier for provincials, that I really never considered that we would ever have this problem.

So, today, after Ariel's Synchro Recital, the head coach approached me and said 'She is really good. Will you be coming for the assessment clinic?' I said yes and blurted out that she was interested but that I was worried about the Shabbat piece. The coach pondered it for a minute and then said, that she did not see any reason why not. Ariel will still learn with the team and train with them and be part of the routines, but they will make her expendable so that on Shabbat meets they dont miss her and then when they have demonstrations, which are typically on Sundays, she can participate. She acknowledged it was a new thing for them, but that they would try, so now she is going to go to the assessment clinic and we will proceed from there...i am so grateful...i figured the only way my kids could ever be on competitive sports teams, was to move to israel, which we are NOT ready for, and frankly, that is not a good reason to consider it either!

Wish Ariel luck on the 14th!

interesting max discovery aka weird savant tricks

2007-04-22T22:04:16Z

it seems that max has memorized ALL the parsha names, in the correct order, and can even tell you which number a particular parsha is. he can also do it backwards! he also knows the basics of what happens in each parsha, and has memorized a tonne of obscure king's names that most adults dont know. its funny. for a long time, we didnt think max had any savant abilities, probably because most of the time, when a person has savant abilities, they are pretty severely 'delayed' and the savant ability really shows up because a person cannot read or speak but can play brilliant piano, or whatever. max is smart across the board which has hidden his savant abilities, which also include the ability to multiply large numbers in his head...bet he wins the bible contest next year!

sewer saga

2007-04-22T21:56:46Z

ok, so now it seems that the second leak is fixed, the first one has been redone and rechecked and we are good to go forward and finish the repairs! thank god!

BASEMENT/FLOOD UPDATE

2007-04-20T01:22:24Z

Ok, so it is STILL not over....big sigh. Today the basement kitchen cabinets were removed and the wall broken into, to discover that in fact, it was not clear water leaking from the washer, but sewage water that was being filtered by the dirt it was leaking into and the drywall in the basement so that it looked clear. after pouring a couple of gallons of bleach into the pipe and around it, and near the weeping tile, it was emptied and then a camera was sent down.

new issue: sewer water touched the cabinets and drywall in the kitchen. we do not know if they can be dried and disinfected, or if they will need to be replaced. at least the floor is ceramic. at least the water was clear, even if it was sewer water (no solids..)

The camera the plumbers sent down discovered that the pipe that was installed when we had the first sewage flood was in face bent and had sort of sunk. so it is now holding water again. i have had a total of six plumbers in my house today, who work for 2 different companies and more tomorrow...

what this means, is that tomorrow, the plumber is coming back to jackhammer through the floor yet again, to fix the pipe. then, after he is done, we will have to figure out whether the damage done to the basement cabinets is permanent, and also just how much water/sewage damage there was under the drywall. i do not know if we will be able to make a separate claim here, or if we will just take a hit. anyways, after that, at least we can get the carpets installed without fear of ruining any new carpet and even if the kitchen is not totally functional, we can at least get it somewhat back together.

it feels like this is never going to end....BIG SIGH!