Fiddler On The Roof Safed Style

it is 8:30 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  Shabbat ended just a while ago.  i did my farewell prayer with wine.  i finished it all.  i had a lovely Shabbat.  the weather was quite warm although the houses remain cold.  i opened all of the windows this morning to get the lovely fresh air.  the dogs woke me up at 7:00 a.m.  i was pretty tired.  i don't remember what time i went to sleep.  i do remember finishing a murder mystery novel.  i had another senior moment last night.  i set up the candlesticks with bowls of olive oil.  i then put up the water kettle for Shabbat.  i gave the electric one to the Sephardi grandma, downstairs.  i checked the calendar for the time of candle lighting and somehow; i got very mixed up.  i thought i had an hour more to lighting so i went online.  suddenly i noticed that it was already getting dark.  i had missed the candle lighting by half an hour and it was already very close to the start of Shabbat.

i also saw that i had left the kettle on the gas.  i quickly turned off the gas with my elbow and put the kettle on the electric hotplate.  i had finished the cooking and cleaning hours earlier.  i truly do not know what happened to me.  at least i didn't miss the Shabbat like a couple of weeks ago.  i am slowly losing my mind.  i received 3 freshly baked challah rolls and some cake from the Sephardi grandma.  i found it difficult to eat the roll.  i guess, i am used to matzah.  i decided to share the bounty with my friends on the next block.  they didn't venture out to buy bread or cake before Shabbat.

i took the dogs for their last run.  it was about 9:00 p.m.  it was so quiet in the neighborhood.  you didn't hear a peep.  i knocked on my friend's door but she didn't answer.  she was already upstairs in her bedroom.  i stopped off at their home this morning after i took the dogs out.  it was a shock to see me.  you don't usually visit someone that early.  my friend's husband told me that he was going to read the torah portion from his balcony roof at 8:00 a.m.  i got home and got dressed for 'services'.  it was a lovely and warm morning.  i got there about 8:15 a.m. and he was in the middle of praying out loud.  his voice resonated trough the street.  there were two or three young men in the parking lot participating in prayer.  they were all wearing masks and keeping a good distance apart from each other.

i went upstairs to my friend's balcony and sat and listened to the torah reading.  i also caught the lovely sun on my arms and face.  my friend's husband was standing on a staircase above the balcony to the third floor.  it felt so lovely to be in the lovely air, feel the sun and hear words of torah. i left as soon as the reading was over.  he even did the blessing for the new moon.  i got back home at 9:00 a.m. and broke my nightly fast of 12 hours.  i had two cups of chai tea with almond milk and two small oat banana muffins.  they were simply, yummy.  i prayed for about two hours and then took the dogs out for another run.  i read a day's worth of psalms and then took a nap.  i got up and had a small snack of cashews and a pear.

at 4:00 p.m. i took the dogs out once again. i ran into my friend.  we walked back to my house and sat outside in the courtyard for about an hour.  i walked her back to her house and came home.  there was a steady stream of people strolling down my street today.  most of them were young and unmasked.  at 6:00 p.m. i had the traditional third meal.  i had a small piece of salmon,  a slice of veggie kugel and some grated beet and carrot salad.  i also had a huge piece of matzah and a boiled egg.  i went to lie down for a bit.  i didn't sleep.  i rested in the master bedroom with the two dogs.  we were all tired and warm.  it was getting dark when i suddenly felt a chill and got up and put on my sweats , heavy socks and a robe. 

i am pretty tired still.  my head aches a bit; probably from the wine.  i am warm again.  time to start taking off some layers.  maybe i'll watch a bit of t.v. until the dogs want to go out for their last run.  the Sephardi grandma just brought up the Shabbat leftovers for the dogs.  there is a week's supply of chicken, schnitzels and meat patties.  i won't be cooking for awhile.  the Sephardim  don't eat leftovers.  we askanazim live off them.