My first Sukkot,with Pics

So we purchased PVC pipe and constructed a sukkah. The first meal in it..pretty nice! Said kiddush and hamatzi. We couldn’t afford lots of the other things, like we don’t have an etrog or any of the other requirements. I figured just getting a sukkah up was pretty good, given that I JUST started my new job and haven’t gotten  paid there yet.

This year the sukkah we constructed is fairly small. It’s not really big enough to seat the kids yet, so just my wife and I eat in it. The kids eat off to the side. Next year, I’d definately like to make it a little larger.

There’s lots of pine trees and such in our apartment complex, so I was easily able to acquire some branches for the covering. For the most part, many of these trees were in need of a good pruning anyhow, so I think we really did someone a favor here.

Now, for anyone unfamiliar with Jewish Holidays (like me), the interesting thing about Sukkot is that it’s such a BIG holiday that happens IMMEDIATELY after another big holiday. We literally just finished off Yom Kippur like last week and went straight into SUkkot. Pretty crazy. I’ve ready that there should be a procession around our synogogue at one of the services coming up, so I’m really hoping not to miss that. Honestly, one of my favorite parts about a service is the torah procession..so..I can’t help but wonder if we’ll be doing a giant torah procession around the building (probably not) !!

Anyway, here’s our cheap little, thrown together sukkah…

Happy Holidays and Shalom!

Why I hate subway + tofu

So we are trying to eat better, and by better I mean not only more healthy, but with more concern for our animal friends (cows and such). As a result, I was introduced recently to tofu. I’ve never had tofu before, but I have to say, it really wasn’t bad at all. Thusfar, we’ve have tofu burritos, tofu lasagna, and tofu stuffed pasta shells. All. Very. Good.

So today, I didn’t bring food to work, resulting in subway eatage. Standing in line, contemplating all the non-kosher meat, I decided to give the Veggie Delight a whirl. Now, there’s one thing that I loathe and despise about Subway, and that’s that they always ask me what I want on my sub. And I’m not talking about do I want cheese or pickles. I mean, they want to know EVERYTHING that is suppose to go on the sub. Now, when I order a sub, right there, RIGHT THERE, is a picture of the sub that I want. With all of the happy things on it, that should go on it. WHY must the ask me what is suppose to go on it. I’m not a sandwich master. If I KNEW what should go on it, I’d open up my own shop and start selling gourmet subs with things that go on subs. Of which, I do not know.

So, there’s why I hate subway. I just want to point to a picture and say, “Make me that.” And you cannot do that at subway. I hate it. But…I ordered a veggie. Not to my surprise, they ask what I want on it. And for once…it really wasn’t a big deal. Lettuce, cucumbers, onions, bell peppers, banana peppers. Oh and some mayo.  Please.

I found out later (remember, this was my first veggie), that apparently if you get a veggie, ask for TWICE the normal amount of mayo / mustard, whatever you have on there. The regular serving amount WILL NOT be enough. So, next time I’ll know.

The Debate

So I went to a debate recently called “Good Without God”. Present were an atheist, a minister, and rabbi Sendrow. It was an interesting debate. The format was as follows:

– Each debator received 15 minutes to state their overall position

– Each debator received 5 minutes to rebut the other debators

– Each debator received 5 minutes to answer Q / A (5 minutes per question selected. Questions were written on index cards and sent to the front).

– Each debator was given (10/15?) minutes to conclude.

I had a few problems with the way this worked. First off all, 15 minutes is a LONG time. Too many topics were covered by each speaker for any of the other speakers to really address. As an idle listener in the crowd, I often forgot most of the points that each of the speakers brought up. It would have been better for them to have spoken in maybe 5 minute intervals with 5 minutes to rebut, or something similar.

Questions came from the crowd, and were anonymous. Honestly, it felt like the atheist had setup many of his constituents to send in specific questions for him to answer. Questions that weren’t really related to the debate, but were about his overall stance on various topics. I wasn’t interested in his thoughts on Heaven, Hell, and Evolution. That’s not what the debate was about.

The atheist was a somewhat well-versed debator / speaker. I identified a few tricks / techniques that he used on the audience, that I hope everyone else was smart enough to recognize.

1. He used a story involving saving a baby. Was the story true? I honestly doubt it. I think it was meant to stir up emotion to further his point. You bring in saving a baby from a fall, and that evokes an emotional response, not a logical one.

2. He quoted statistics, without really providing proof. He offered statistics, and just expected everyone to just accept them as being true.

3. He would sometimes sum-up and say that one or both of the other speakers had agreed with him on various points, when in fact, they had not. This one was quite tricky to pick up on.

4. He used one or two, what I like to call, logic bombs. Things that are thought out ahead of time, that are difficult to reason your way out of without sufficient time to consider them. Very tricky if you’re not ready for it.

Overall, I was disappointed by the debate. No one argued whether the source of all goodness stemmed from God, which is what I thought the debate was going to be about. Everyone did agree that it was possible to be a good person and lead a good life without being religious at all. In fact, for the most part, I’m still confused as to what was actually being debated.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the very large and pretty church that it was held in.