Just a theory...
***Please note, the following post is purely the product of a mind in desperate need of more sleep...Friday night brought me on my semi-annual Shabbat dinner at the Rabbi's house. Only the hostess was not one of the rabbi's, and I don't think I actually saw any of the rabbi's. But that's neither here nor there. No, what's important is that I went. I left my comfort zone behind and attended dinner with 9 strangers, with the express goal of having a good time.
And I did. Have a good time that is.
But more importantly, I was remdinded of a theory of mine. See, in Judaism we have many, many, many...many rituals. We have rituals for births, deaths, marriage, bread, wine, dinner...you name it, there's a ritual. We even have one for handwashing before a meal. Which is more like hand rinsing, but again neither here nor there.
So the ritual for hand rinsing goes a bit like this:
-Wait in line for the sink with the special cup.
-Talk to your neighbors while waiting.
-Rinse hands while laughing about how you can never remember the words to the prayer; say prayer.
-Walk silently back to table to await the blessing over the challah.
This last step is the most important. We are not allowed to talk until after we've had a bite of bread. And we can't have the bread until it's been blessed and passed out by whomever is reciting the blessing. (See what I mean about rituals?) So we sit there, silent. Or as silent as we can be, which isn't much. Mostly we end up giggling about the fact we're even expected to remain silent. There are hand gestures, charades, really bad sign language, and head bobs, all in attempts to communicate without using actual words.
This is where my theory comes in. I believe that this hand-rinsing ritual was not, in fact, created because it was important to remain silent until the bread has been blessed. Nope. My theory?
The whole thing was devised to see just how long you can make a room full of hungry Jews be silent.
I know, I know. It probably has some very solemn and important meaning behind it. But it's my theory and I'm sticking to it.
Labels: Jewish musings, shabbat
posted by Erin @ 7:22 PM
3 Comments:
I bet it's torture being the first one in line to wash your hands because then you have to be silent the longest! :-)
At least you don't get ackward and uncomfortable like normal dinner silences are. :)
K
Haha, I think every culture has a tradition to test patience like this...in ours, it's called a wedding! 12 hours long...argh!
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