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Sunday 5 October 2014

Two days of celebration

Yesterday, the family converged on daughter.2s flat to end the fast of Yom Kippur. I, of course, didn't fast, it's against my principles, I'm an atheist (thank god). But I see no ethical reason not to enjoy a good nosh-up with family.

We had salmon beigels as canapes, for people who (like me) just couldn't wait. And cake. Then several kinds of fish, roast vegetables, chollah and a mountain of potatoes, followed by too much dessert. I ate too much, drank too much and had a great time. We got home just after midnight.

Then today, to inlaws.2 for the pidyon haben for the new baby recently arrived to my daughter.1's husband's sister.. This is as specified in Numbers 3:45-47. If you're not a Cohen or a Levy, then your firstborn son is destined for the cohenate, the priesthood. And if you don't want your new baby to be taken, you have to buy him back for five shekels, where a shekel is 20 gerahs. For some reason, the fundamentalist christians who want to strictly adhere to the bible have forgotten about this requirement, I don't know why, they quote the bible to support so many of their loony ideas.

So the father of the newborn paid a handy Cohen the requisite five shekels, after thoughtfully making the decision to keep the baby. I suggested to him that he should haggle, but apparently that's not usually done. Anyway, the mother kept tight hold of the baby throughout, in case the father made the wrong decision.

I would have haggled. Never take the first price you're offered. In the case of my 100 mbit line, I wound up paying about half the initial asking price.

Actually, it wouldn't have made any difference, the handy Cohen gave the shekels back as a gift. He doesn't have to do that, but if he didn't, he'd be a pretty unpopular guy!

And then, of course, we all ate. And drank, and generally had a very good time. And there was cheesecake!

Meanwhile, a small flock of children ran riot around the garden, making extensive use of grandson.1's newly repaired bubble gun.

4 comments:

  1. You mixed us up!! It was Daughter. 2's sister-in-law.
    Love,
    Daughter. 2

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  2. Oops. Yes, I do keep doing that. Maybe I should rename you both, swap the names around? Or would that be even more confusing?

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  3. Yes, I've noticed you do. Perhaps you should stick labels on our foreheads as memories aids?

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  4. Maybe if you wore name badges?

    ReplyDelete