sla · lom (noun)
any winding or zigzag course marked by obstacles or barriers
sla · lom (verb)
to follow a course with many twists and turns
This is not the first week I'm muttering "Shabbot slalom" to myself. By 1:00 this afternoon, I felt like I was hurtling through an obstacle course on the way to Sabbath...peace? Yet another week when I think I might have to observe (if I could dare call it that) Sabbath from sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday, rather than starting at sundown tonight, Friday.I suppose it could be worse, or at least more complicated.
If I were an uber-observant Jew, I'd have to get everything prepared before sundown. I am not uber-observant (anything), but each Thursday I start feeling a certain urgency around making sure my apartment is clean, laundry has been done, and there's enough food for the weekend. (Do not ask how I define "enough food.")
I have my Jewish mother to thank for this deeply embedded pattern because this went on in our home when I was growing up. Thursday was house cleaning, laundry, ironing, and food shopping day. It was also the day my mother went to The Beauty Parlor and the day I generally got yelled at to clean my already impeccably tidy room.
On Friday night, usually after sundown, we'd light Sabbath candles, recite prayers, and tuck into something of the fish persuasion before schlepping off to synagogue. Yes, fish on Fridays in our Jewish home, which is probably why I start hankering for sushi by 4:00 pm on Fridays. Go figure. Go...fish?
