I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone on here a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! May the new year bring more peace, safety, and prosperity into your lives.
Jesus' Bris On the occasion of the festival of the Holy Name of Jesus, heppy noo yeer to all and sundry.
I ate Shabbat supper last night with a couple who have many Israeli (and occasionally Orthodox) relatives. Apparently in Israel, since this ISN'T the New Year for Jews but IS a worldwide, customary festival, the fashion is to wish each other Happy Sylvester Day. I think they mean SAINT Sylvester so I don't see exactly how this gets around the non Jewish nature of the day, but Israelies don't like to miss a chance to party and have an odd sense of humor. Anyway, Happy Sylvester Day to all my friends, and even my growing legions of dedicated enemies on the forum!
Return of the Yekkes Close but no challah. December 31 was Silvestertag in Merrie Olde Deutschland (yimach shemo). St Sylvester was an early pope. I still get ya-ya'd at for moving our New Year's service from "Silvester" night (New Year's Eve) to New Year's Day (actually, in about a half hour). The eve service tended to be talismanic, wishing for luck in the new year in a crassly pagan manner, in short, it was entirely too kulturprotestantisch. I bris-tled at the thought. New Year's Day actually matters in the kalendar, since it is the festival of the Holy Name of Jesus/Circumcision of Christ. It is another built-in opportunity to emphasize the Jewishness of Jesus--salutary for all Christians (pun intended, since if Jesus were not a Jew he could not be our Savior) but especially important for Lutherans. This brings to mind a stupid joke about mohelim from my childhood spent inter Judaeos. For purposes of this post and its Silvesteria, I'll populate it with Yekkes, althought it's funnier with Galitzianers. Rosenzweig the mohel rented a storefront. Nice desk, nice carpet, hand-lettered sign on the window "S. Rosenzweig, Mohel." In the display window he puts a grandfather clock. His friend Kohler stops by. "Lovely office, Sigi. Very nice. One question: why the grandfather clock in the window?" Rosenzweig the mohel shrugs. "And you would put in the window what, exactly?" Happy heathen new year anyway, Nosborne. (The liturgical Christian new year actually begins on the first Sunday in Advent--either the last Sunday in November or the first Sunday in December.)
Uncle, May we and our friends share a happy, peaceful and prosperous 12 months. And may our enemies suffer srthrities only SLIGHTY worse than mine! I knew that joke; an oldie but a goodie! Here's a related mohol joke...I'll just give you the punch line since you probably know the rest..."A wallet?" "Sure. But if you rub it, it turns into a suitcase!" Shalom to all!
