Good Job, FCPS

I'm Jewish. This isn't exactly breaking news since I've been Jewish my entire life and have written about various aspects of Judaism several (or many) times on this blog. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, are kind of a big deal.  Except for the few years in elementary school when I attended a Jewish school, I would miss school on these holidays. I know some of my non-Jewish friends were jealous that I had excused absences, but it wasn't like I was going to the movies or Kennywood. I was at synagogue and maybe we would have lunch with family or family friends after services on Rosh Hashanah. Even though most (but not all) teachers were understanding about the reason for taking off school, I always felt behind after missing classes. This was especially the case in high school, college, and graduate school. Although I had the "day off," the homework and assignments didn't go away.

After finishing graduate school, I worked a variety of jobs including the one where I'm at now. Every year, I have to take vacation days for these holidays. I always feel like I'm wasting my vacation time. Again, I'm not traveling anywhere or even having a staycation day. Just like when I was in school, my work doesn't go away on these days. The projects are still there when I return, and my inbox is filled with unread messages. There was even one year where an organization I worked organized an entire community-wide event on Rosh Hashanah. That was fun spending months helping to plan an event and then not being able to attend or participate.

I write all this because Fairfax County Public Schools announced a new calendar for 2022-2023 which includes days off for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and other religious holidays such as the Hindu festival Diwali and the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. I'm happy that my kids won't have to miss school for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur like I did. Well done, FCPS!

Now, for the 2023-2024 school year, can we talk about winter break? With some of these new days off for holidays, there doesn't need to be 2+ weeks off in December!

Yom Kippur 2020

Every few years, I write a post about Rosh Hashanah or Hanukkah featuring various videos to celebrate the new year (like I did last week) or the festival of lights. I don't typically write about Yom Kippur though. Well, except for the time that Train had a song where Patrick Monahan sang "How could you leave on Yom Kippur?" That remains one of the strangest lines in pop music this century. (I could share my thoughts about Train right now, but that would be totally off topic. And at a time where I'm asking for forgiveness, I probably don't want to insult Train.)

Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It's a day where people 13 and older don't eat or drink from sundown to sundown. (There are obviously exceptions for those who are sick, pregnant, or unable to fast.) You spend much of the time in synagogue praying, you don't work, and you refrain from sexual activity. Traditionally, you don't bathe or wash, put on perfume or lotions, or wear leather shoes. The leather shoes thing has bothered me for years. In the old days, leather shoes were considered a luxury, which is part of the reason why you're supposed to wear sneakers or sandals instead. For me, I'd much rather wear sneakers than leather shoes as they are more comfortable, so I continue to wear leather shoes. Of course, since I'm doing services from home this year, there is no debate for me. I'm wearing only socks. Problem solved!

The services at home thing really isn't new for me anymore. I've been doing them since March. What is new is that Yom Kippur is the only day of the year where I don't watch TV, I don't turn on the radio or listen to music, and I don't use my computer or phone. This year, I'll have to turn on the computer to participate in services. 

During Yom Kippur, there is a memorial service called Yizkor. With my dad passing away earlier this year, this will be the first time I'll participate in Yizkor during Yom Kippur. I suspect that it will be less emotional being at home instead of in the same room as others thinking of their loved ones.

We often host a "break fast" gathering at our house with friends and family with bagels, cream cheese, lox and more. I'll definitely miss that this year. 

So it turns out that there is one (just one) amusing Yom Kippur, so I'll share it here.

If you're observing Yom Kippur, have an easy fast and a meaningful day.

Donald Trump Must Repent

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish year, begins on Tuesday at sundown. This is a day of prayer, repentance, and self-reflection. There's also no eating or drinking for approximately 25 hours.

Although Republican nominee Donald Trump is not Jewish, he may learn from his daughter and son-in-law to ask for forgiveness on this holy day. Sure, he already apologized for his behavior on the video with Billy Bush before changing the subject and criticizing former President Bill Clinton (who is not running for President) for doing worse, but that's not what this post is about. On Monday, Trump did the unthinkable. Something so outrageous and unbelievable that he will probably lose the Pennsylvania vote because of it. Viewer discretion is advised from Trump's Facebook post.

The horror! The horror! Smiley cookies are delicious treats. You can purchase Smiley cookies from a restaurant called Eat 'N Park. There is no such restaurant called Smiley Cookie. Well, maybe there is but the restaurant pictured is an Eat 'N Park.

My children have been to Eat 'N Park. I'm not sure how I can explain to my kids that someone running for President called Eat 'N Park, Smiley Cookie. I'm sorry but I can't continue with this post. I just hope that Trump does the right thing here. I'm not even sure an apology is enough.

h/t @emilyzikoski

Asking For Forgiveness

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins on Tuesday evening. I'll spend much of the Tuesday evening and Wednesday at synagogue praying for forgiveness while also trying not to think about the fact that I'm not eating or drinking. However, another important part of this holiday is asking those you have wronged over the past year for forgiveness. While I still need to contact several people, in looking at my blog posts, I think there's some atoning I have to do.

I apologize to Chicago Cubs OF Chris Coghlan for essentially calling him a racist. That wasn't fair. He might be a dirty baseball player, but I crossed the line.

I'm sorry for criticizing the grammar used by Dale Lolley, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter for the Observer-Reporter of Washington (PA)

I'm sorry for using Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back to describe the 2015 Pittsburgh Penguins draft class.

I'm sorry for making fun of Parents Magazine. I may even read one of the last two or three editions that are sitting in a pile under the newspapers.

I'm sorry that we didn't get Jagoff in the dictionary. That would have been cool.

I'm definitely not sorry for winning free burritos for a year again. They are quite tasty.

I'm sorry for criticizing how Peyton Manning dresses. I mean, you would think with the amount of money he makes, he could dress better. I'm going on a tangent here. Sorry for the tangent and sorry Peyton.


For those of you observing Yom Kippur, have an easy and meaningful fast and day. Now, do I need to look at my Twitter posts from the past year to see what I wrote there?

Taking Kids To High Holy Day Services

Yom Kippur ended nearly a week ago and Rosh Hashanah is now two weeks behind us. So, of course, I'm writing about the High Holy Days/High Holidays today. I'm all about timing.

Anyway, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of reflection, prayer, celebration (in the case of Rosh Hashanah) and atonement (in the case of Yom Kippur). Going to synagogue for these holidays/holy days is a bit more challenging with two children. Fortunately, the synagogue we attended included many families and services specifically geared towards kids. Unfortunately, if you (and by you I mean me) wanted some individual time for prayer, that wasn't going to happen.

This isn't going to be a religious post, so please don't leave just because of the topic. It's more about the experience going to synagogue for the high holidays with kids rather than, well, something else.

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we got to synagogue early compared to when the preschool service started. Almost immediately after we got our seats in the main sanctuary, our five-month old started crying. He exited the sanctuary leaving me alone with my 3 year-old son. Naturally, the 3-year old was a little restless though he enjoying playing with my tallit. (That line could sound dirty. A tallit, or tallis, is a prayer shawl. I'm not sure that makes it sound better. How about a picture of a Steelers tallis instead?)



It didn't take long until we exited the sanctuary to find the preschool service. The preschool service was outstanding with an energetic and patient teacher, and after a successful trip to the potty (for my 3 year-old, not me), we went back to the grown-up service. We entered during the Torah service and saw them carry the Torah around the room. Unfortunately, I quickly realized we came in during the end of the Torah service. We arrived just in time for...the Rabbi's sermon! While my kids might be fascinated by some prayers/songs, they weren't going go get anything out of the likely 15-minute sermon. It was more likely that they would distract others. We quickly left.

During the morning Yom Kippur service, we went straight to the kids' service. After that ended and with both kids occupied, I wanted to go into the main service for a few minutes. The room was packed, so I managed to squeeze into the middle of a row. About 2 minutes after I entered, the Rabbi called up two members of the congregation...to present the annual appeal asking the congregation to give money to the synagogue! I was stuck. There was no way I could discretely sneak out, so I stayed and listened and hoped it would end quickly. When it did, I pushed (not literally) my way out.

I guess the morale of this story is that I'm not ready to take my kids to the main Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. Maybe next year?

Yom Kippur Football

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish year, occurred this weekend. On this day, you refrain from eating and drinking for approximately 25 hours (or 25 & 1/2 hours if the rabbi ends services a little late on Saturday night). This is also the only time of year where I go on media lock down meaning no internet, TV, phone, radio, music, etc. While I'd like to be one of those people who writes how refreshing it is to live without these modern-day items we take for granted, I rely on all of this during the day.

Anyway, I don't need to tell you the importance sports plays in the United States and around the world. So what happens when sports, particularly in Alabama on a college football Saturday, coincides with Yom Kippur? This:

As a bit of a tangent, when I first moved to Northern Virginia, I attended Yom Kippur services at George Mason University. Although I didn't know anyone, I naturally talked with some of the folks sitting around me. When I mentioned to one guy that I was from Pittsburgh, he said sorry about last night referring to a Sunday night football game between the Steelers and either the Browns or Bengals. Per my no TV on Yom Kippur policy, I had recorded the game on my VCR (yes, VCR) to watch after the holiday concluded. I was not thrilled by learning the outcome of the game (and by the result), so I can see where the Alabama synagogue is coming from with this announcement. Of course, the last sentence is a bit much.

h/t Deadspin

Antonio Brown Wearing A Yarmulke

The list of Jewish professional athletes that played in Pittsburgh is pretty small. There's Randy Grossman who played tight end for the Steelers in the 1970s, Josh Miller, the Steelers' punter from 1996-2003, and Pirates pitcher Bob Kipper, who is not Jewish but inspired non-Day of Atonement "Yom Kipper" celebrations after any of his victories. While current Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is also not part of this list, he may have started his own group of professional athletes wearing his own team's yarmulke.

This picture is from Brown's Facebook page with no explanation and appears to have been removed (or I just can't find the picture now). I learned that Pittsburgh's Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha held a Sports Night program featuring Brown about a week ago, so perhaps the synagogue presented the wide receiver with the yarmulke. That's my theory.

h/t The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Blog 'n' Gold

How Could You Leave on Yom Kippur? (Friday Video & NFL Picks)

If Train creates a catchy song and includes David Hasselhoff in the song's video, I'm going to share that video here. At around the 2:05 mark of the video for 50 Ways To Say Goodbye, I'm pretty sure the line is "How could you leave on Yom Kippur?" That can't really be the line though, right? That would even be more random than the Black Eyed Peas saying Mazel Tov and L'Chaim in a song.



On to my NFL picks. After a decent 7-5-1 week (I selected the 49ers when the line was 7; the final line ended up being San Francisco favored by 7.5), I'm now 47-52-4 on the year. Here are my week 8 picks:

Truly Sean’s Ramblings

There is a lot I could complain about from the past weekend. For starters, Sears delivered a new dishwasher, but it was damaged, so we still have our old dishwasher. After several phone calls and a trip back to the store, we’re getting another new dishwasher in about two weeks. Although this situation is/was frustrating, it looks like we might save a little money on the purchase, so this could turn out to be okay.

Meanwhile, I could complain about the Pittsburgh Steelers performance in Sunday's 34-31 loss to Oakland. Neither the running game or defense looked good, but the Steelers bye week comes at a perfect time. Hopefully, Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and Rashard Mendenhall get healthy. Meanwhile, the team has two weeks to prepare for the next game. Use that time well!

Now I will complaint about the NFL, CBS and DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket. I purchased Sunday Ticket so that I can watch every Steelers game (and every other NFL game) from the comfort of my home. On Sunday, DirecTV blacked out the Steelers-Raiders game since the local CBS station decided to carry the game. (DirecTV doesn’t air in-market games.) However, instead of showing the Steelers game at the regularly scheduled time of 4:25, CBS showed overtime of the Saints-Chiefs game followed by the end of the Dolphins-Jets game. CBS did not start airing the Steelers game until the second quarter started which was after 5:00. Now, I understand not showing the Steelers-Raiders game on time in the DC market if the 1:00 game featured Washington or even Baltimore. I wouldn’t necessarily be happy, but I would understand.

So I have several questions here. Since the Redskins-Bengals game ended before 4:25, why switch to the Saints-Chiefs game instead of going with the Steelers game you already had scheduled? Since CBS wasn’t showing the Steelers-Raiders game, why can’t DirecTV show the game until it airs on local TV? The most important question though is why am I paying for Sunday Ticket if I can’t watch the Steelers?

Since Yom Kippur starts tonight, I hope the NFL, CBS and DirecTV atone for their sins! (This may be a bit strong, but they can at least treat their customers better.)

What Do You Eat Before Fasting

Let's say that you will be fasting for 25-26 hours in the near future. You will not have any food or water from approximately 6:00 PM one evening until about 7:30 PM the next day. What do you eat for dinner just before the fast begins?

Still Not Happy With the NFL

I originally shared by displeasure with the NFL changing the start time of Steelers-Bengals game in April. Five months later, I'm still upset. There has to be a really good reason for me to miss a Steelers game. Generally, this is limited to a natural disaster or the rare work obligation. I'm attending a wedding that starts at the exact same time as next week's Chargers-Steelers game, but I'm trying to figure out ways to watch the game, even though I'm not sure if they have any televisions where the ceremony and reception take place.* At a minimum, I'll catch part of the game or frequently call family/friends for updates.

Yom Kippur qualifies as a reason why I would miss a game. With the game at 1:00, I could easily see it and then attend services and begin my day of atonement. Since services start at 6:30, the NFL's decision to move the game to 4:15 means I won't see it. A 4:15 start at a West Coast opponent makes sense; a 4:15 start at Cincinnati, a city in the Eastern time zone, doesn't make sense. HOMER ANGRY!



* I'm not sure if the bride or groom read my blog, but I think (hope?) they understand that the Steelers game is almost as important as the wedding. I'm being careful with my words here, since if they do not agree, it could get a little awkward next weekend.

Steelers Game Moved To Yom Kippur

The NFL announced yesterday that the Steelers-Bengals game on Sunday, September 27 has been moved from 1:00 to 4:15 Eastern time. While this isn’t a big deal to most people, it is to me. You see, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and holiest day of the year, starts at sundown that Sunday and continues through sundown on Monday. Yom Kippur is a day of reflection and repentance and the only day of the year that I don’t go online, watch television or listen to music or the radio. The change in time means that I won’t be able to watch the game.

I certainly understand the NFL’s rationale for moving the game. The league initially scheduled the Titans-Jets game at 4:15 that day, which meant that the Jets would have home games during both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. However, why move the Steelers-Bengals game? The league could have easily moved the Jaguars-Texans game. No one cares about those teams unless you have Jones-Drew or Andre Johnson on your fantasy team! Actually, less people care about the Bengals.

I was much more worked up about this until I read the following comment from ppdoc on Profootballtalk.com:

@imabananaman1 - sorry dude. i am an observant Jew and while it is a real bummer when the Ravens play on a holiday there is no question about what to do. Football is football. It is fun. It is interesting. It is a game. The Ravens play at 1 pm and the game will be over prior to Yom Kippur starting and I still can’t go. Why? It is the most holy and awesome day of the year. It is not the type of time that you come into by being wild at a football game for 3 hours and then thinking about all of the things you did the previous year that you regret.

It is an easy answer. DVR the game and sell you tickets. If you don’t want to do that, you have the option to go to the game. If that makes you feel queasy on the inside - good. It should. In the grand scheme of things drinking a beer and screaming for you team doesn’t measure up to one of the Days of Awe.

At least that is my opinion. As Jews you choose to have expensive tix to the games. You choose whether to listen to your conscious or listen to your evil inclination. If that creates spiritual turmoil, then you should spend the time and think hard about what is really important. If it is football, then so be it. But don’t speak for all Jewish people. It is a 30 second bummer for me and then its over. FYI - I never miss games unless it is a Sabbath or a holiday. I travel every year to see my team. I used to drive 6 hours every Sunday am up from Ft. Bragg to go to the games. So I think I qualify as a fanatic.

That is very well put except for the fact that ppdoc is a Ravens fan. That just about ruins his argument.

Anyway, I’m still not happy about this but there’s nothing I can do. I’m sure I’ll write something similar in September, but I ask that no one tells me about the Steelers game during Yom Kippur.* I’ll find a way to record the game and watch it later even though it is doubtful the game will air in the DC area.

Maybe I’ll just spend Yom Kippur in San Diego. That way sundown will begin after the game ends!

h/t One for the Other Thumb


* I’m sure you’re going to remember this five months from now!

Quick Yom Kippur Notes

During fall and early winter, people (OK, me) complain about the fact that it gets dark too early. However, on Yom Kippur, I constantly looked to the synagogue skylight hoping that it would be dark.

I also wanted to point out that during the high holidays, I saw the following yarmulkes: Philadelphia Eagles (3), Washington Redskins, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals (saint in a synagogue?), and a couple with either a basketball or soccer ball pattern plus one Pittsburgh Steelers tie (that was me). Surprisingly, there were no Obamicas or McCippahs as mentioned by Arjewtino referring to VanityKippah.com.