Blase! and...a fast coming up.

[Guest guest]

I can't believe how blase I am about my book being read out on LBC

radio! The first week I stayed up to listen (3-4 a.m.) and was half

dead the next day. All attempts to get our stereo to work on timed

recording have failed, so I have relied on someone on the LBC

yahoogroup who manages to tape it, plus the presenter himself, Tim

Crook, who sends me a tape. Now I don't even try to set up the timer,

I just go to sleep and couldn't care less!

This morning I woke up at 4 a.m. anyway just in time to hear Tim say

" you have been listening to the 3rd episode of Dark Tapestry " etc..

and his usual plug he gives the bookshop. I grunted, and went back to

sleep.

After today, when I next post on this group, I will be fasting. The

25 hr fast of the 9th of Av, (Hebrew month) begins an hour before

Sabbath ends on Saturday,and finishes at dark on Sunday night. It is

the final culmination of the previous few weeks of relative mourning

in our calendar for the destruction of the Temple thousands of yrs

ago. As all Jewish fasts, it's a fast of water as well as food, but

only two fasts in the year are 25 hrs long, this one and Yom Kippur.

The other four begin at dawn and end at dark so are much shorter.

Tisha B'Av, as it's known in Hebrew, isn't quite as serious a fast as

Yom Kippur, so breastfeeding mothers are exempt. Tavya plans to fast

till noon tomorrow, no longer, but is worried about being thirsty

overnight as she goes through gallons of water while bf Rafi. Others

who are exempt are anyone who is ill. On Yom Kippur very few are

exempt.

The weather forecast is worryingly hot. I have noticed over the years

that, despite any heatwaves around Tisha B'Av, it seems to cool down

for the day itself, as if God was being kind to us, but this year He

seems to have no such compassion. I guess we don't deserve it, eh.

The best way to cope with this fast is to stay quiet and sendentary

and out of the sun. I am lucky enough to have aircon in a few rooms

(bedroom, kitchen study) so we will stay in those rooms and not exert

too much, saving fluid and energy. It's also important not to have

salty or spicey foods before the fast and to drink a lot of water.

When the fast ends we usually eat little. People who stuff their faces

usually just get sick. I always make a vegetable soup and toast, and

we drink plenty and just recover. Children are exempt from ALL fasts

until they reach the age of majority (boys 13, girls 12). We will all

be glad when Sunday is over; the Jewish calendar then enters a joyous

phase after the weeks of mourning. And we will be able to do all the

things we have been restricted from doing the past 3 weeks; have

weddings, listen to music, have our hair cut, etc. DD1 says there

will be a huge surge on the national grid as everyone switches their

washing machines on to catch up with all that laundry! (not 3 weeks

worth, but 9 days worth, although essential washing has been done

anyway, as few people have enough clothes for kids etc to last 9

days).

Sorry for self indulgent post, just thought you'd be interested!

Ruthie