What I Brought to Dinner: February 20, 2009

Roast carrots, potatoes, sweet onion, and artichoke hearts.

So it has kind of been a hell of a week. Things go like that sometimes, of course, and the trick is to find a way of getting past it as soon as possible. So tonight, my sister and I decided to have Shabbat dinner together with our kids.

Amy hosted a lovely traditional meal: soup, gefilte fish (yuck, but it belongs on the table anyway), chopped chicken liver, roast chicken, challah, my roast vegetables.

I am not religiously observant so even when I remember to light candles at home, we don't make a big deal out of Shabbat. But Amy has been sort of experimenting with adhering more strictly to the rules and regs. From sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday she doesn't turn on the lights in her house, doesn't use other electric devices, doesn't do anything that could be considered work. (Of course I am so dense that she had to explain to me there was a reason the house was so dim.)

It was nice, eating by candlelight and chatting with my sister for a few hours without anything blaring or glaring at us, except for four pissed-off children who wanted to play Wii. The kids eventually managed to find things to do that didn't involve electricity. (Josh and Alex kept forgetting and turning on the lights, then going "Oh, sorry!" It's easy to tell whose kids they are. Oh well.)

Am I rejuvenated? It's hard to say. I'm not sure that sitting around in the dark will prepare me spiritually to face the rest of my week, or frankly anything else. But sitting around with Amy might.