July 18, 2003
Shabbat Shalom!
Hawaii is the perfect vacation! Oh those balmy breezes and warm ocean water!
I love when the most important decision of the day is where to go for dinner!
T'was wonderful to spend time with Becky Barth.....She is an amazing young woman..... a Captain in the army.....and in her first year of residency in pediatrics......!
Met some Madrichim moms for lunch this week....Moms of Ali and Erin Graff, David and Marc(dec.) Eisenberg, Carin, Dana and Sari Resnick and Dan and Lani Schlafman!
At the Mens'Club installation we saw Lisa Jacob's mom and dad, same as Dana Jacob's grandparents, David and Barbara Weinbaum's parents, parents of Lisa Bronstein (she is engaged!), father of Sydel and Aspen Shirley-Dancoff, and Jeff(President)Silberman.
Other news:
Jessica Makoff(Camp Beth Israel baby in residence) just graduated from Davis! Big sister Jennifer has 3 kids! Abby Greenspan's son will become a Bar Mitzvah in November.....Anne Goldberg is chairing a community wide event in memory of Marla Bennett....."Remembering Marla.." Monday, July 21st 7:30 at the JCC
Keep the news coming!
Remember to click on the hunger, rainforest and the other mitzvah sites!
Check out our Madrichim.homestead.com
webpage(Todah Rabah Rick!) When you see the photo section, Becky Barth looks exactly the same!
Dan, Sydney and Avi are coming for Shabbat.....sooooooo I'd better start cooking.......!
Love,
Eemah
The Israel Committee
of
Congregation Beth Israel
Presents
An Interactive Program
for College Students
To promote pro-Israel, pro-Jewish activities on college campuses
Sunday, July 27th, 4:00pm until 10:00pm
at Congregation Beth Israel
9001 Towne Centre Drive
San Diego, CA
Speakers
Dr. Sanford Lakoff
Founding Chair, UCSD Political Science Department
David Bernstein
Washington, DC Director of AJC, American Jewish Committee
Johanna Rose
San Diego Director of AIPAC, American Israel Public Affairs Committee
An Israeli-style Kosher Dinner and Party will follow
All Students Welcome at No Charge
Co-Sponsors
ADL - Anti-Defamation League
AIPAC - American Israel Public Affairs Committee
AJC - American Jewish Committee
Hillel of San Diego
UJF - United Jewish Federation of San Diego County
Please RSVP to gmalkus@cbisd.org or
Call Gail Malkus at 858-535-1111 ext. 3110
The Israel Committee
of
Congregation Beth Israel
Presents
An Interactive Program
for College Students
To promote pro-Israel, pro-Jewish activities on college campuses
Sunday, July 27th, 4:00pm until 10:00pm
at Congregation Beth Israel
9001 Towne Centre Drive
San Diego, CA
Speakers
Dr. Sanford Lakoff
Founding Chair, UCSD Political Science Department
David Bernstein
Washington, DC Director of AJC, American Jewish Committee
Johanna Rose
San Diego Director of AIPAC, American Israel Public Affairs Committee
An Israeli-style Kosher Dinner and Party will follow
All Students Welcome at No Charge
Co-Sponsors
ADL - Anti-Defamation League
AIPAC - American Israel Public Affairs Committee
AJC - American Jewish Committee
Hillel of San Diego
UJF - United Jewish Federation of San Diego County
Please RSVP to gmalkus@cbisd.org or
Call Gail Malkus at 858-535-1111 ext. 3110
Subject: FW: Enjoyable History Lesson
Enjoyable History Lessons
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children-last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor."
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years
or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would some times knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that History was boring ! !
Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend!
