Avivah Werner

A play and free ices

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Avivah

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I just got home from taking the kids to a musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.  We did a lot of the preparations for Shabbos yesterday afternoon so we could enjoy going out on a Friday morning without rushing or being worried there wouldn’t be time to do all that needs to be done when we got back. 

The performance was excellent – very well done and very fun.  Though it’s generally based on the classic Biblical story of Joseph, I told my kids to watch it as if it had nothing to do with that and was just about a person named Joseph and things that happened to him.  Otherwise, they would be bothered by inconsistencies or things that didn’t seem appropriate.  

Since it was the dress rehearsal, we were able to enjoy it without having to pay the $10 per person fee that will be charged tonight (there was a basket for voluntary donations).  We’ve had similar opportunities in the past to attend wonderful performances of all sorts for free or for a token cost because we attended the dress rehearsals.  It’s only because the kids are homeschooled that we can take advantage of these showings, since most kids are in school during the day. 

My ds15 stayed home, as did ds18 months, so I just took six kids with me.  The days of everyone being young enough to go to one performance are for the most part over – because of the singing by females in a number of them, ds doesn’t go to things like this with us.  Fortunately he doesn’t feel bothered to be missing it.  And it made it easier for me that he did stay home, since I didn’t have to take a child too young to sit still for more than five minutes. 

The almost three year old did great, though it was a long time for him to sit, so he wanted to go out about fifteen or twenty minutes before the end.  I went into the hallway with him and joined the other two or three mothers with toddlers.  🙂  Fortunately, the door was open so I was able to still view the performance.  And afterwards I bumped into a couple of homeschooling moms I haven’t seen for 2.5 years when we met at a planetarium show I took the kids to, which was nice.

Afterwards, I took the kids to get ices from Rita’s.  Today is the first day of spring, and every year, Rita’s has complimentary ices on this day.  (If you’re seeing this today, check their website to find the location closest to you, and you might be able to still take advantage of this if you have the desire and can find the time.)   Since we got there at 1 pm, there was virtually no line (when we went two years ago, it was after school hours so the line was huge and we waited for over a half hour); I hardly had time to park the van before the kids were ready to load up again!   Dd14 got an ices for ds15 to enjoy, since he wasn’t with us.  He would have been more sorry to miss that the performance. 🙂   A tip from my kids – the fruit flavors are much better than the flavors that imitate cake or candy.

Even though I’ve already shared with you that I try to make a cleaning schedule that is relaxed for everyone, at this time of year, I make more of an effort to do fun activities outside of the house.  I want pre-Pesach to be a time of enjoyment, and things like this help add a nice balance to our schedules.

Avivah

Comments

4 responses to “A play and free ices”

  1. Janet Avatar
    Janet

    Avivah, reading your posts is always an education, because I have never heard of almost any of the Jewish vocabulary you use. Something I’m wondering about – why does your oldest son not go to events with females singing? Do adult males not watch females performing?

    Reply
    1. Avivah Avatar
      Avivah

      Sorry about the vocab and unfamiliar references, Janet. I’ve gone back and forth on this; when I used the English translation instead of the terms I would usually used, it felt artificial since I write the way that I talk; when I used the Hebrew and English translation, it seemed wordy – I did that for a while but at that point realized most of my readers were familiar with terms that I used so the translation was unnecessary.

      Now I’ve been thinking about this issue again, since so many of my current readers aren’t familiar with these terms, so I’m starting to again use the term and add the translation.

      For Orthodox Jews, males over the age of 13 don’t watch women performing or listen to them sing at live performances (this doesn’t include family members – we love singing together as a family at our Shabbos/Sabbath table!). It’s one of our modesty guidelines to keep women from being objectified and men from objectifying. This is a very simplistic explanation but I hope it is somewhat helpful!

      Reply
  2. Janet Avatar
    Janet

    One of the reasons I’ve been drawn to your blog is the Jewish terminology. Don’t worry too much about explaining everything – we are all sitting at a computer at which we can look things up!

    I suspected that was the reason ds didn’t go to the play, but the only Jews I have known were I guess not Orthodox – they behaved just like the culture around. And I definitely understand the importance and benefits of modesty – I wish more Christians understood!

    Reply
    1. Avivah Avatar
      Avivah

      Janet, unfortunately the concept of modesty seems to have been almost lost in secular society. About a month ago we went to an evening of ‘magic and illusions’ hosted by an Orthodox institution. As soon as the lights went on at the end, my oldest son was very upset and so were the other kids who were with me – the second performer wasn’t Orthodox and obviously didn’t understand the instructions the planners explicitly gave him. So as part of his act a scantily clad woman was doing some provacative dancing; I glanced over at them as soon as she came on stage and started dancing and my older four kids all had their heads averted and their hands over their eyes. They were very disturbed that anyone would have thought that was appropriate, but as I later explained to them, there’s a sensitivity that has been lost so the performer actually thought this was a very clean version of his act.

      Reply

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