Author: Talia

20-something wife, mother, blogger, spiritualist.
Rosh Hashanah

Stuffed Papers for Rosh Hashanah

Talia

Rosh Hashanah is tonight, and our house is looking beautiful and festive thanks to these stuffed papers we made. No tutorial necessary, as these are SO incredibly simple to make. I tried to use the symbolise foods for Rosh Hashanah as as well as a shofar, because… well, duh, it’s Rosh Hashanah. Shofars are it!

I just googled the pictures for each, and saved them and printed them out so that they took up half a page. The boys set to work painting them with watercolours, and then we cute them out. We used the scraps of paper that were cut off to stuff inside the shapes once we’d stapled them! So it turned into a pretty clean and nifty craft!

stuffed papers for Rosh Hashanah

stuffed papers for Rosh Hashanah stuffed papers for Rosh Hashanah

Personal

My baby aint a baby anymore

Talia

My baby, my sweet little girl is 21 months old tomorrow. When her eldest brother was this old I was nearly ready to pop with her second brother. When her second brother was this old, I was more than half way through my pregnancy with her. 

This week I realised she’s not a baby anymore. She’s big. She has long legs, and tells big stories with her hands. She is sneaky and cheeky, and can follow almost any instruction you give her. She has a cute little bob haircut and her clothes are size 2. TWO! Geeze. She is not a baby anymore. When her brothers got this big I was relieved and excited for the next stage of toddlerhood, especially because I was also looking forward to the arrival of a new little squish. But this time it’s different.

I do plan to have another child. Heck, I might even go crazy and have two more children. But not now. Her brothers didn’t scream this loud or high pitched, they weren’t as emotional, and they didn’t still feed 3+ times during the night and at any possible chance (even asking when I’m on the toilet!) during the day. I know my body needs a little rest from the stress and pressure of pregnancy, birth, and the first year after, but knowing this rationally does not stop me being a little sentimental, and a little sad, that I definitely don’t have a baby in my house anymore.

Of course I don’t want to be all down about her growing up – it is after all a great blessing and a really joy to see her and her brothers grow and mature each day. Luke and I are often commenting to each other saying “Wow, don’t you think Eli is so grown up with his words?!” or “Do you remember when Lior couldn’t read ANYTHING, and now he can sounds stuff out so good!”, “I love that Ahava is so great at helping and sharing now.” etc. So in honour of that gift, here are some things that make me grateful to have a full blown toddler daughter instead of a baby one.

  1. She’s fun. She loves to read and play peek-a-boo and do games and things like this. She has a lovely smile.
  2. She is a good helper. She can go fetch things, and follow instructions. She likes to be in on the action, which I usually get frustrated with, but am making a conscious effort to be grateful for and to try and include her more rather than just giving her a different task.
  3. I absolutely 100% love the way she stares and copies. Sometimes it’s me she copies (cue cute games we can play!), but often it is her brothers. She simple HAS to be the same as them and have her own little crown if we’re making crowns (lovely Rosh Hashanah craft), or if the boys are playing dressing ups she also wants to to play dress ups. 
  4. She is able to really show love in a tangible way. We all know babies love us, or at least need us and feel attached to us, but it’s so nice when they’re older enough to express it. She gives cuddles and kisses, and pats on the back. 
  5. Toddlers are cute. Need I say more?
  6. Toddler babble – also cute.
  7. Also, I can put her hair up now, and even though she HATES having her hair brushed she loves having her hair done up & often insists on it (yes, this makes hair time just as difficult as you imagine it to be…)

Ahava Miriam

Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Yom Kippur

Children’s Book Review – High Holidays // VIDEO

Talia

I was pleasantly surprised when my book order came through nice and quickly last week. I had bought a number of books to add to our collection for the Fall Feasts – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, and usually it takes AGES for things to arrive to us, but this seems to be another advantage to living in a capital city now – faster shipping. 🙂

Anyway, we got a bunch of books which I’ll list below, and I’m really happy with them. I love books for their unique ability to make you feel warm and fuzzy, loved, not alone, and excited for the holidays that are approaching. Books are wonderful. I’ve done a video below with a little book review (includes cameos of cute/annoying children) of each of the books we got in this pack.

If you have any suggestions for books that you love for these holidays, or for other Jewish holidays than I’d love to know about them! Please leave them in a comment below so we can all gain from your experience.

Book List:

  • Shabbat is Coming by Tracy Newman
  • Rosh Hashanah is Coming by Tracy Newman
  • Sammy Spider’s First Simchat Torah by Sylvia A Rouss
  • One Good Deed by Terri Fields
  • Sadie’s Sukkah Breakfast by Jamie Korngold
  • Talia’s Yum Kippur by 

high holiday books

Recipes

Delicious grilled zucchini salad

Talia

    

It’s September and I can start feel Spring riding in on the wind – asking me to think about BBQs and salad and all those good things we can enjoy in our loong and warm Summer. Grilling veggies is one of my favourite ways to make a salad because it gives them great taste and interest, and looks beautiful too.

This salad is also on my backup list for Rosh Hashanah, should one of my other recipes not turn out, or I change my mind at the last minute. I am prone to doing that… 

I have to say, that I have served this in a REALLY simple way before – just the grilled zucchini marinated in olive oil, salt and pepper, and nothing else, and it is YUM. But this? This is even better. Definitely try to incorporate the preserved lemon into this if you can (it’s one of those ingredients that’s 100% worth having in the pantry, and super simple to make) – it really gives it a beautiful subtle kick!

Ingredients:

  • 2x zucchini
  • Seeds of 1/2 pomegranate
  • Skin of 1/4 of a preserved lemon
  • handful of mint leaves
  • small handful of flat leaf parsley
  • olive, salt, pepper

Process:

First up, start heating your griddle pan so it’s nice and hot.

Slice your zucchini length ways about 1cm thick. You want them to be thick enough that they stay together when they cook, but thin enough to enjoy.

On a plate lay down some olive oil, salt and pepper, and mix the zucchini into it – getting the oil on all sides.

Lay your zucchini down on the griddle pan so that you get those beautiful stripes. Only turn the zucchini once so that the lines don’t get muddy.

Finely chop your mind leaves, parsley, and preserved lemon. Add them to a small bowl along with the pomegranate seeds. Add a small amount of olive oil, and salt.

Once all the pieces of zucchini are cooked place them on the serving platter and sprinkle the pomegranate mix over the top. Easy!

*****

This salad is parve, but if you’re serving it with a vegetarian meal, or fish, you could easily add feta as I have to the last photos. 🙂

Here’s the dairy version if you’re serving this with a vegetarian or fish meal. I’ve used feta but you could also use some goat’s cheese!

Personal

An Introduction

Talia

Hello! I’m Talia, and this is my blog.

I’ve been blogging with WordPress since 2005, and this little blog is my latest re-invention. I’ll get into more of that later, but first let me do the normal instructions.

I’m married and have three kids. We live in Brisbane, QLD, Australia. A beautiful part of the world. We homeschool, and are lovers of the outdoors and nature. We recently made a big God-driven move to Brisbane to start attending an Orthodox Synagogue. Our experience so far has been really positive, and we’re grateful for the way this community has welcomed us, and for the things we are constantly learning about ourselves.

Some of you will be here because you’ve followed The Climbing Tree for many years, but when you get here you’ll notice that there’s (practically) no content left here! Perhaps you’re wondering why that is. Towards the end of 2016 and into the start of 2017 I had a case of burnout. I was unable to stay awake past 10am (but you know, there’s only so much napping with you can do with 3 kids under 4, so I would power on…) and my whole body felt heavy. My doctor did some surveys and tests and my stress and anxiety were off the chart (not ACTUALLY off the chart – just really high!), and so I took a break. Actually, I went a little crazy, and I deleted everything on this blog, and I deleted everything from my Facebook, and all sorts of things. That’s a bit of another conversation though.

Looking back now, almost a year since this first started, but probably 8 months since I actually acted on it, this was all part of the breaking away from the “old me” to embrace the new purpose and life Hashem has for me. A bit of a cocoon situation, you know? I’m sure I’ll talk about that more in future blog posts.

This blog isn’t necessarily a religious blog, but in all honestly, this is such a huge part of my life, that even when I try to just talk about homeschooling I end up talking about the parasha studies the kids are doing. Even just about art journaling seems to focus on spiritual matters. Not that I’m complaining!

I’m not here to teach you – even though I am, and always will be a teacher, my focus has to be on teaching my children as we homeschool, and learning about God through the lens of Judaism. This is my calling right now,  and perhaps one day I will be at a place to teach adults. For now I just want to share my life here on this blog and the things that I’m learning and doing. 🙂

Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Yom Kippur

High Holiday Activities for Kids

Talia

This is a list of activities I’m doing with my kids (1, 3, 5) for Elul and the High Holidays. This list starts on the 10th of Elul (totally not organised to start on the 1st!), and goes through to Simchat Torah. I live outside of Israel, so Rosh Hashanah has 2 days, and Sukkot has 8. ????

Feel free to play along with us! I’ll be sharing lots of pictures on my instagram – @taliacarbis

Elul 10: Draw a picture of the high holy days and what they mean to you.

Elul 11: Shabbat. To discuss – What have you done this year that makes you proud and that you think makes Hashem proud?

Elul 12: Journal prompts – “What have you done that you need to forgive yourself for?” “How can you extend more grace and mercy to yourself this month?”

Elul 13: Do an accordion fold Autumn leaf banner – https://au.pinterest.com/pin/227783693636526633/

Elul 14: Decorate the word Truth in bubble letters

Elul 15: Choose a new book for the High Holidays to order online.

Elul 16: Make a mobile to hang from the wall with symbols for Rosh Hashanah.

Elul 17: Catch up day.

Elul 18: Shabbat -Discuss what it means to repent, and what it means to forgive. Discuss how this practically works in your family.

Elul 19: Write a prayer of repentance to Hashem and

Elul 20: Rosh Hashanah stuffed papers : https://au.pinterest.com/pin/227783693630087301/

Elul 21: Practice writing Hebrew words related to Rosh Hashanah

Elul 22: Make Rosh Hashanah cards and mail to family and friends

Elul 23: apple pattern colouring ins – https://au.pinterest.com/pin/227783693630381070/

Elul 24: What are your goals for the next year? These might be personal goals, educational, spiritual… etc.

Elul 25: Shabbat – Catch up day (after sunset)

Elul 26:Make a round challah

Elul 27: Apple fritters

Elul 28: Plan a delicious Rosh Hashanah menu

Elul 29: Erev Rosh Hashanah – Bake a round challah

High Holiday activities for kids

Tishri 1: Rosh Hashanah – Dip apples in honey

Tishri 2: Rosh Hashanah – Catch up day

Tishri 3: Shabbat – Make up story about a family (just like ours) and what they did through the holidays. (Possibly theme – giving Tzedakah, being grateful, etc.)

Tishri 4: Using fabric paints, decorate a plain shirt for Sukkot or the High Holidays in general.

Tishri 5: Today Lior gets to choose a special dinner.

Tishri 6: Choose some photos from Rosh Hashanah and make a mini scrapbook out of them. (Part 1)

Tishri 7: Choose some photos from Rosh Hashanah and make a mini scrapbook out of them. (part 2)

Tishri 8: Colouring In

Tishri 9: Erev Yom Kippur – 10 Commandments game – talk about how Moses came back with the second set of tablets on Yom Kippur

Tishri 10: Yom Kippur + Shabbat – Think of something you can give up today while Mum and Dad fast.

Tishri 11: Start building the sukkah!

Tishri 12: Today Eli gets to choose a special dinner!

Tishri 13: make a dried orange decoration for the sukkah – https://au.pinterest.com/pin/227783693630413951/

Tishri 14: Erev Sukkot – Make edible sukkahs – https://au.pinterest.com/pin/227783693636526632/

Tishri 15: Sukkot Sabbath – Wear a special Sukkot t-shirt you have made.

Tishri 16: Sukkot – make sukkot cards to give to people when they visit.sd

Tishri 17: Sukkot + Sabbath – Read “Sammy Spider’s First Sukkot”

Tishri 18: Sukkot – Nature scavenger hunt – paint the items to be used as decoration

Tishri 19: Sukkot – Have friends over to play in the sukkah

Tishri 20: Sukkot – Today Daddy gets to choose a special dinner.

Tishri 21: Sukkot – Write out and decorate a special Sukkot prayer for 5778.

Tishri 22: Sukkot Sabbath –

Tishri 23:  Simchat Torah – Make torah scroll cookies

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah Menu 5778

Talia

I thought it would be a good idea to plan out my menu for Rosh Hashanah this year, as it’s only two weeks away! This is our first year celebrating Rosh Hashanah and having synagogue services to go to, so I’m not 100% sure how it will all fit together. As far as I can tell there aren’t any communal meals around Rosh Hashanah, but it certainly won’t hurt me to have all these meals planned, and just have them later in the week if we end up eating with someone else.

We have also put in a kosher meat order through our synagogue in time for the Chag, so I hope I’ve ordered the right things… And I hope it doesn’t cost a million dollars… we’ll see.

Rosh Hashanah also directly precedes Shabbat, so it’s 3 days in a row I have to have things ready for. So lots of cooking this week and next to stock up the freezer!

Day 1

Dinner: (starter) Potato & leek soup. (main) Salmon Tarator (this recipe), Roast veg salad, round challah

(Dessert) Upside down apple honey cake

Breakfast: Crepes (pre-made) with berries

Lunch: Hummus bowls with caramelised onions and spiced beef. Garlic bread challah (dairy free)

Day 2

Dinner: (starter) Non-dairy dips and veg sticks (main) Persian honey glazed chicken with jeweled rice, corn on the cob. Round sourdough challah.

Dessert – Baked apples stuffed with raisins. Vegan caramel sauce.

Breakfast: Regular breakfast

Lunch: Haloumi & beetroot salad.

Shabbat

Dinner: Sourdough challah, slow cooker roast beef (this recipe). Israeli cousous salad. Garden salad.

Breakfast: Regular breakfast

Lunch: Antipasti – cheeses, hummus, pickles, almonds, dried fruits, hot smoked salmon,  sun-dried tomato, olives etc. Sliced sourdough challah.

Recipes, Shabbat

Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad

Talia

A delicious salad that you can prepare the day before, or just before eating.

If making this for Motzei Shabbat you could cook the pasta and pumpkin on Friday, and keep them refrigerated, then assemble before eating. You can also prepare this whole dish on Friday and it will easily keep in the fridge until Saturday evening.

Ingredients:

1 fillet of hot smoked salmon
2 handfuls of uncooked pasta (I use gluten free)
Cubed pumpkin – roasted
1 handful of flat leaf parsley
½ red onion, diced
1 big handful of diced pumpkin
Cheddar cheese

Process:

1. Cook your pasta according to the packet instructions.
2. Take your pumpkin and bake it in the oven with some olive oil until soft.
3. Cut up your onion finely. Chop up your parsley, and grate your cheese.
4. Time to assemble! Break up your smoked salmon into the bowl, along with all the other ingredients. Mix in the bowl. If there was some oil in your tray from the pumpkin make sure you add that so you get a nice “dressing” through the pasta salad.

Variations:

You could throw anything into this salad of course, but some variations I like include:

  • Fresh spinach or rocket in place of the parsley
  • Tinned tuna or tinned salmon in I don’t have any hot smoked salmon at home
  • Serve it warm if making it during the week, or eating it as soon as it’s prepared
  • Use sweet potato instead of pumpkin

Rosh Chodesh

Rosh Chodesh Iyar (Ziv)

Talia

Welcome, new month.

 

psalm 30v2

Iyar (Ziv)

It’s the second month of the Biblical year – Iyar, also known as Ziv. The theme this month is light, and lumination. I pray that during this month Hashem shines His light into your life, and shows you where to make your next improvement. Where there is light there is no darkness.

Each Hebrew month has a letter associated with it, and the letter for Iyar is a Vav. The Hebrew letter Vav is a connecting letter, and we see Iyar as a connecting month. Last month was Nissan, where we celebrated Passover, and now we count the Omer every day of Iyar, through to next month – Sivan, where we celebrate Shavuot.

Because we see Iyar as a connecting month, it is also often associated with connecting with Hashem, and we see this shown again as we make our way through the sefirat each day of the Counting of the Omer.

The sense for Iyar is “thought”, which isn’t surprising considering we are spending every day thinking and counting the Omer, and recalling which day we are up to, and how we can grow in the specified emotion.

If you’re not already counting the Omer, and working through each sefirat each day, I would encourage you to do so! It has been a real blessing to me so far, and it is wonderful to spend these 49 days improving your self and preparing for Shavuot – which celebrates the giving of the Torah. You can view all the sefirat and the journal prompts here.

Back to the letter Vav. Vav is the 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and has the numeric value of 6. 6 is the number of man, which I find is really on point, because we are doing so much prayer, self reflection and self improvement this month! It really is a month of focusing on who we are, and who we want to be – submitting ourself over and over again that we might be more like Hashem.

Another big theme this month is healing. Iyar is an acronym for “I Am God Your Healer”. So if you have anything wrong in your body, this is a great month to be praying earnestly for Hashem to heal you! Over and over again Hashem says that the Torah brings healing, so I see this as a perfect time to really dig deep into your Bibles and just bask in Him.

I won’t go into the topic of healing & Iyar too much here, as I’m still learning about it. But I wanted to mention it in case you are doing your own study! I’ve included a few of my favourite links below with more information on this month!

Live A Little Higher – Rosh Chdoesh Iyar

Iyar is a journey – a daily stepping to learn more about God, and to live more for him. And so I think it’s important to remember, that on any journey there are bumps, and parts that sometimes make you trip. If you see those times happen during this month do not be dismayed – soldier on, and keep your eyes on the prize. I temptations come, stand strong! If pains follow you, pray through them.

I pray that Iyar is a month of great healing and spiritual growth for you. xo

Journal Questions

The emotions we cover in the sefirat, as we count the Omer, are Chesed (loving kindness), Gevurah (discipline), Tiferet (compassion), Netzach (endurance), Hod (humility), Yesod (bonding), Malchut (nobility). How am I improving in these areas?
(see this link for more specific questions and exercises related to this)

Are there parts of my body that need healing? Are there parts of my mind that need healing? Pray about these now, and make a habit of praying for them daily during this month.

How can I share G-d’s love with other people this month?

Am I ready to receive the Torah personally? Am I preparing my heart for the next feast – Shavuot?

What do I plan to do this year for Shavuot? If you haven’t already, organise your time off work, and start preparing your menu.

Rosh Chodesh

Rosh Chodesh Nisan (Aviv)

Talia

exodus 12v2 - aviv nisan

Aviv (Nisan)

Aviv is the month of new beginnings. Exodus tells us that it is the beginning of the year. Like how we have different “new years” in our Gregorian calendar (financial new year, new year by year, school year, etc.), there are several new years in the Bible as well. My understanding is that here we start the spiritual new year, and the new year for the feasts calendar.

Aviv is a good opportunity to ponder our beginnings, specifically when we first started our relationship with Hashem. How did He bring you personally out of slavery and into freedom?

Because this is the start of the year, lets take some time to look at the coming year as a whole. Mark each feast or fast day in your calendar, and make a plan for how you intend to celebrate them. Ask for time off work if necessary, and even organise your budget so you have money saved to enjoy the feasts! Even consider the weekly Shabbats, and monthly Rosh Chodesh – how are you called to remember these times, and honour G-d?

This month we celebrate Passover, First Fruits and the Feast of Matzah. We are reminded over and over in this month of the story of the Hebrews leaving Egypt, and how G-d cared for them and faithfully lead them out of slavery and into Freedom. Even in slavery they praised G-d, and trusted Him.

Each month there are different Middot assigned to the month, and this month they are chesed (loving kindness), faithfulness, and loyalty. How can you work on these characteristics?
What does it look like (practically) for you to show loving kindness?
What does it look like (practically) for you to show faithfulness?
What does it look like (practically) for you to show loyalty?

How has G-d shows his chesed (loving kindness), faithfulness, and loyalty to you? What area of your life need a new beginning? Pray for renewal in these areas.

children felt passer seder plate

Clearing the Chametz

During, and in the lead up to Passover Chametz (leaven) represents sin. As we clean out our homes of all the chametz lets pray about what chametz is in our life that G-d wants us to pay attention to and clean out.Do we have any chametz in our relationships that we need to work through?
Do we have any chametz in the form of things we need to submit to G-d? Things we aren’t trusting him to look after (worrying about), or things we want to control.
Do we have any chametz in the form of our mental state, including our emotions? Things we need to repent of and move forward from?

Exodus 12:23 says Adonai himself will pass over your door to be with you and not allow the slaughterer to enter your home and kill you. How does it feel to know that Adonai is with you – in your house, fighting for you, and protecting you? 
Considering using this as a drawing or art journal prompt as you ponder this.