Here's a shot of little Menachem Mendel, together with his mummy. The little girl in pink is Yisroel's sister (and now a proud aunt!)

Yesterday morning I attended my first bris in Crown Heights. It was a little different from the ones in Singapore, namely that the men and women stood together as a mixed crowd around the mohel and baby. Here, the bris was done in the mens' section of the Menachem Nachum Shul (Crown Street) but I still managed to catch a few pix through the gaps in the mechitzah (mostly the back of the men's heads, but hey, I tried my best.)

Anyways, the simcha was that of Yisroel and Aliza Silberstein (nee Lowenstein), proud first-time parents ! The baby was named Menachem Mendel. May he bring much nachas and joy to his parents and family !

I saw Wen today for the first time in about 2 years. She was in NY for a friend's wedding. It was so nice to spend time with her again, and we did the whole 34th and 7th shopping thing together. That was where this picture was taken (see Macy's in the background?) Then we swapped Scary Subway Stories, and (unfortunately) mine won hands down. Here goes.

So I was on my way to meet Wen, minding my own business on the 2 train from Sterling Street. To my right, a man who appeared to be homeless was talking to anyone who would listen. Ignore and avert eyes.

To my left, another man (also appearing to be homeless) was lying across 7 or 8 seats in a blissful slumber. The air around him smelled vaguely of alcohol. Ignore.

I was absorbed in reading my current novel Birds Without Wings by Louis DeBernieres when I noticed out of the corner of my eye some commotion involving the inebriated homeless man on the seats. I glance up to a 3rd man trying to wake up the sleeping man because he wanted to sit down. Apparently, he thought it was a real chutzpah that the inebriated gentleman was taking up 7 seats and had no qualms about telling him that. Fine. Our inebriated friend sits up, rubs his eyes and does a little stretching. Well and good if one was in one's own bedroom. This, however, was the 2 service to Manhattan. Sigh.

I am about to go back to my book when I see our inebriated friend struggling to get up. Oh no, now what. My eyes darted around nervously for the quickest escape. I wasn't sitting too far away from him and really just wanted to stay out his way in case his legs decided not to hold him up any more. I held my breath as he swayed in my direction, ready to leap out of my seat. But alas, he swayed towards the car door (you know, the door you open in order to go into the next carriage) and struggled to open it. Oh no, now what. To my utter amazement, our inebriated friend calmly opens the car door, closes it behind him, turns to his right, and proceeds to make right there and then! Yes ! In between the carriages! On a moving train!! Avert eyes and ignore.

Sigh. Now you know why my Scary Subway Story won Wen's hands down. So that was my day in Manhattan. Lots of ignoring and aversion of eyes. Welcome to NY, folks.

PS: If I had the guts to, I would have actually taken a pic of our inebriated friend sleeping and/or making on the subway, but I would have genuinely feared for my life had I whipped out my Canon Ixus to capture that (truly) Kodak moment. Maybe next time.....

Finally, I get to eat pizza again.... its a far cry from the stuff I was surviving on during Pesach (with all due respect to the Oberlanders, see below). Actually Amnon's Pizza (featured further below) is not my first choice of frozen pizza - the best is undoubtedly J2 pizza - but can you believe the chutzpah, Kol Tuv ran out of J2 pizza as early as Friday morning! But I just had to have pizza so Amnon's it was. Oh well, I realised that if you douse the pizza in crushed red peppers and basil then add lots of schug to it after, you cant tell the difference anyways. Yum.

Wow. The last days of Pesach here were truly unforgettable. More beets, potatoes, onions and carrots. But this time, on the last night of Pesach, we got to do gebrokts, which was interesting. After a full week of lets-not-get-the-matzah-wet we now launched full throttle into lets-get-the-matzoh-really-wet. Fun.

But the real treat was the farbrengen in 770 and the Moshiach Seuda which started just before the end of Yom Tov and is probably still going on as I write this. The setting was picture-perfect, the women and children crammed shoulder-to-shoulder while, in the mens' section, the Chassidim engaged in the Seder Niggunim (signature melodies of the Chabad Rebbes, sung in order). (I was looking online for a photo of a farbrengen but instead came across this beautiful painting which I thought might be nice to include.)





Despite the crowds and balagan, I dutifully drank my 4 cups of grape juice and ate my kezayis (a portion) of matzah while craning my neck to catch a glimpse of the Rebbe's chair. I admired how the men were able to hang on to pillars and to each other without falling. I am sure they teach them those things in yeshiva.

As usual, there is always someone pushing, elbowing or blocking your vision in 770. Today was no exception, and I only had to tell the lady in front of me twice to sit down before she reluctantly obeyed (not without glaring at me, of course). Oh the chutzpah.

After having lived in New York for 7 months, I have finally learned to cultivate that edge in my voice when speaking to people. I learned the hard way that being brusque (and sometimes chutzpahdike, depending on the place, person involved and urgency of the situation) will get me what I want faster. Talking at people rather than to them also works. Being patient and polite will get you absolutely nowhere. And whatever you do, never ever acknowledge people who try to stop you on the street. This is not Singapore.

Thats all for now, folks.... and remember to smile... Moshiach is coming!!

Thought for the day : Dirt is not chometz and your children are not the korban Pesach. It sounds way better in Yiddish, but the only words I can translate are shmutz (dirt) and kinderlach (children). So much for learning a new language.

Someone asked me the other day whether I can speak Hebrew, now that I've been in Yeshiva for 7 months. My reply : "Well if the conversation involves clouds, goats, mountains, tents, sacrifices and the Mishkan, the answer is yes."

That should count for something, right ?

Gut Yom Tov / Chag Sameach guys. Enjoy whats left of the beet-and-potato fest.... and smile! Moshiach is coming!!

Pesach in Crown Heights was amazing. It was of course hard being away from the family in Singapore but I really appreciated spending Pesach with the Lubavitchers this year. So much to see, so much to learn. That being said, I am a little tired of beets, potatoes, onions and carrots (now known as the 4 basic food groups).

Interestingly enough, the look, smell and taste of the basic "Pesach chicken dish" is startlingly close to what we Iraqis cook all year round - chicken, onions and potatoes. I was wondering why the taste and smell was so comfortingly familiar... I guess Crown Heights gave me a taste of home without realising it!

The afternoons of Thursday, Friday and Shabbos saw Crown Heights welcome the spring. It was such a beautiful sight, to see families sitting on their porches, enjoying the sunshine and relishing that Yom Tov / Shabbos feeling. Kids running around, visiting their friends' houses and the adults, dozing lightly as the sun descended. Gorgeous.

And then there was me, hobbling unglamorously on my left foot because I took a tumble on the first night of Yom Tov, on my way to the first seder. I was walking from 770 to the Machon Chana dorm, tripped on a crack in the pavement (what do you expect, its NY), flew and landed at the feet of startled shul-goers who were exiting from the Free Shul on President Street. My precious cargo of matzos went flying as I landed heavily on my right knee. As I lay on the floor (in pain) I peeked up to see about 15 pairs of eyes staring at me. Nice. Somehow I managed to pick up myself, my matzos and wobble to the Seder with the help of some classmates. But the crack in the pavement was not so kind, for it lent a nasty infection to my knee which took the opportunity to fester itself over the 3-day Yom Tov. BH now all is well, the pain and swelling is slowly subsiding with the help of antibiotics, and IY'H I will be good as new by Yom Tov.

Despite my injury, everything was amazing, especially the home-made Pesachdike coffee ice-cream and yes, the beet-and-potato salad still tasted great the 6th time over on Shabbos afternoon. Perhaps the only thing better than the food were the Chassidim and their warmth this Yom Tov. Everyone was welcoming and inviting, and Rabbi Majeski was amazing as usual in his delivery and explanation of the Hagaddah al pi Chassidus. Some guests hopped impatiently from foot to foot, nudging the Seder on. Others (like me) adopted the path of least resistance by dozing silently in their seats - it was was 2:30 a.m. after all, and I had consumed more matzos and wine than I thought humanly possible. ZZZZzzzzzz...............

A gutten moed / Chag Sameach, everyone.... got matzah?

Burning the Chometz in the back alley erev Pesach.... By 2:00 p.m., the air in Crown Heights was filled with the smell of burning food, plastic, paper, you name it. In my house (and I am sure in every other home), the smell of disinfectant and household cleaning detergants added an interesting dimension to the burn smells...

Speeding along to erev Pesach.... I searched..... and I found..... I present my bedikas chometz kit..... (as it turned out wrapping the bread in foil was a baaaaaad idea cos the bread would not burn that way and I had to unwrap everything the next day by the big bonfire) Lesson for the day : If the instructions say "wrap the chometz in paper" then wrap the chometz in paper. Getting creative before Pesach is not recommended.

Finally, the beautiful Niagara Falls. Ok ok so the pic is the little dark (look harder!) but it was absolutely gorgeous and everything I had imagined. I had been wanting to go to Niagara Falls ever since I watched Superman 2 (I was like 5 years old) and Superman saves this little boy from the Falls....

The edge of Lake Ontario, on the way to Niagara Falls. Toronto really is a pretty place....

So, we went out with Sholom Rozensweig for a meal and it was fab....

Verandah with a view... part of Thornhill, Toronto, as seen from the Watembergs' back lawn.

I know its a little early to be ready for Pesach but since I am off on my little hiatus tomorrow and I'll only be back erev Pesach, I thought it would be a good idea to be prepared as much as possible. This is the first year I have had to do Pesach cleaning on my own. Mum, I don't know how you did it all those years.....

All in all it was a positive experience, and I am really proud of how sparkly (literally, see pix below) the kitchen looks.



I haven't even finished lining everything with foil and I already get the feeling that I am living in a spaceship, but hey, its only for a week. This is what you get for having a studio apartment I guess... A kosher and freilichen Pesach everyone!! And for goodness' sake, smile as you're scrubbing those counter-tops or lining those shelves ! Its a mitzvah!!!