L IS FOR LIFE BY CHOCOLATE

My theme for A to Z this year is a wildly different, but very exciting, HERE'S TO YOU all month long. 26 posts to be precise. The most difficult part was narrowing down the 26. All of you deserve your own post. What you will find here is a post by the featured blogger, with traveling music chosen by me that complements said post, and two links. One will link back to the original post and the other to the main page. This year's A to Z is all about making new friends!

Life By Chocolate: Robyn Alana Engel's Blog is often a rollicking good time. She delights in all things chocolate, as you would expect. In fact, I found this little graphic a while back and immediately thought of her:

However, her blog touches on much more than chocolate. She has incredible interviews with famous people. Macauley Culkin is a regular over there. Of course, given his downward career spiral, any publicity is good publicity. But still... Macauley Culkin!  Of course, all of those bits are humorous, like so many things Robyn posts. Her funny bone is intact and firing on all cylinders. She is also kind, warm, and thoughtful. Just an all-around wonderful person. It has been my pleasure getting to know her!

Cue the traveling music, Macauley:



The Day I Became a Woman by Robyn Alana Engel
11/12/13

June 2, 1979

I know, look how tiny and little and flat-chested and blurry, white stone-faced I was and still am--minus the flat-chested factor. Yet this is the day on which I became a Jewish woman. My Bat Mitzvah! The last post inspired this repost from 2010. My ceremony fell a couple of weeks short of my 13th birthday, a number of years short of puberty, and -well- I'll spare mention of other time frames.

The Bar/Bat Mitzvah involves leading a service, chanting from the Torah, and - the worst part (er, greatest honor)- holding the darn thing. Should said "new Jewish adult" drop the Torah, oy gevalt! The entire congregation, in fact, must fast for 30 days. Can you imagine? Minor slippage amounts to sentencing your beloved spiritual network to a month-long fast. You can surely forget the huge stash of cash you did all this for. Let me stress that we're talking about a large group of Jews (those very people who've sacrificed everything, mind you, so you could make it to this glorious point in your otherwise meaningless existence, and "By the way, why aren't you married yet?") not being able to eat for a month because of you. Not a pretty concept. Not pretty at all. One hurdle left, and the pressure was on. Not only did I have to hold it, I had to hold it for a long ass, I mean a righteously sacred tuchas* duration. 

With my little but tenacious arms wrapped around that Baby, the two of us were doing just fine. The audience and I were silent. Intensity pervaded the synagogue's 250 mile radius. All eyes glared anxiously at that Torah. Folks who had never prayed before began bargaining with the Almighty, Moses, Allah, Jesus, and Mr. Kotter. Family members started waging bets on the amount of time before the crash. Everyone held their breath. Their faces turned red. They crossed their fingers and toes, running out to nibble at their last bites of food for a month! But I was doing just fine, holding tight. Still, I needed to play it safe. One does not take chances when it comes to Jews and food. That in mind, I gave the Torah just a wee little boost with my little right knee. At that moment, a loud burst of laughter filled the sanctuary. Apparently, they found this considerate, devout and well calculated maneuver rather humorous. Bastards! I mean, I shall not blame my beloved spiritual hungry community. The tension was lifted, as I boosted that Baby another half inch, still holding on for dear life. 

We made it through to the end, and we got to eat. Mazel Tov!

*Yiddish for derriere, butt, rear-end, or ass.

I am still chuckling. Are you? Robyn's blog is always so much fun and provides a much-needed boost for the spirit. Someone said, "Laughter is the best medicine." If so, you will get plenty of medicine over on Robyn's blog. Enjoy!